The Haymarket Center in Chicago's West Loop is the nonprofit beneficiary for HankFest 2005. The Center is dedicated to helping adults and families affected by alcohol and substance abuse. Make a donation or volunteer today.

HAYMARKET CENTER SERVES THE COMMUNITY

Haymarket Center is a comprehensive alcohol- and substance-abuse treatment facility serving men and women — with special programs for pre-natal and post-natal chemically dependent women. While the agency began out of the desire of Msgr. Ignatius McDermott to provide alcoholics a place for recovery, its mission has broadened to include those afflicted with other chemical dependencies, as well. Through residential, outpatient and special detoxification treatment programs, it serves the chemically dependent and their families.

Haymarket Center provides holistic care, treating the presenting malady — the chemical dependency — while addressing other physical and mental health issues and offering a spiritual context for healing. It operates facilities in the West Loop (at 932 West Washington), in Uptown, in the Grand Boulevard community and in Schaumburg, as well as an outreach outpost at O’Hare International Airport.

Clients come from public safety agencies and the criminal justice system, from private and voluntary health care, mental health and social services providers, and from word of mouth — it’s a name known on the streets and previous clients recommend it. In addition to its detox and maternal detox treatment programs, Haymarket Center provides a full-service on-site medical clinic, outpatient treatment, services for the homeless, and recovery and support programs.

Haymarket Center was founded in 1975 by Msgr. McDermott and Dr. James West It serves some 14,000 clients annually, operating the largest alcohol and drug treatment and detoxification program in the city.
The Haymarket Institute offers professional continuing education, in-service training, workshops and DUI risk education. Funding comes in large part through contracts with various public agencies, third-party payments (insurance), and private donations.

For admissions information, call 312-CAN HELP (226-4357). For other information, call 312-226-7984.

HISTORY OF HAYMARKET CENTER

Haymarket House was founded on New Year’s Eve 1975 by longtime colleagues in the field of substance abuse, Msgr. Ignatius McDermott and Dr. James West.

It was named for its location, near the Haymarket Square, where, in 1886, a clash between striking workers and police brought a profound change in society’s attitude toward the working poor. The founders’ goal was to bring about as profound a change in the public perception of alcoholism.

As Haymarket House came into being, Illinois lawmakers had agreed to decriminalize public drunkenness, opening the way to a new form of substance abuse treatment, the social setting detox. (Dr. West was to utilize this model in later years as medical director of the Betty Ford Center.)

The new official attitude was welcomed by Msgr. McDermott and others tired of seeing alcoholics jailed repeatedly or sent to mental health facilities. But there was no place or program for the treatment of their addiction.

Housed initially in a brick structure at 12 S. Peoria St., Haymarket House was a haven for those needing its services. Although urban renewal forced two early moves, a satisfactory location was found in 1985, at the corner of West Washington Boulevard and North Sangamon Street. Here the variety of service began to expand, with the new Illinois Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse ready to provide funding for programs.

The McDermott Foundation was formed soon after, to support the McDermott Center, the name given the new facility. More than $10 million raised during the ensuing decade financed structural improvements and renovation of the six story, three building complex.

The inclusion of women as clients in great numbers was to follow and programs intended to benefit their children are today of crucial and growing importance.

Haymarket Center
932 W. Washington Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 226-7984
www.hcenter.org