The Cary-Grove Area Chamber of Commerce, along with the Greater Crystal Lake Area and Woodstock Area chambers of commerce, recently co-hosted a ribbon-cutting to celebrate New Directions Addiction Recovery Services new home for their “A Way Out” program and their new administrative offices at 500 Coventry Lane, Suite 270, in Crystal Lake.
‘Nothing will ever look or feel the same’
COURTESY PHOTO | Austin Lockwood lost his life at the age of 23 when the alcohol-impaired driver of the car in which he was riding crashed the vehicle into a tree. “A dark cloud will always be over me and all of those who love Austin so much,” said his mother, Sheila Lockwood. Since Austin’s death, Sheila Lockwood has advocated for the creation of a national database to track convictions for drunken driving and for stiffer penalties for those drivers. Increased alcohol use, fentanyl-related ODs top concerns in annual State of Addiction event
Sharing the love
Courtesy photo | Diane Brokaw (right) and her cousin Christy Heine hold some of the teddy bears and flowers that were distributed at three Woodstock nursing homes as part of Share the Love. The idea to spread kindness and generosity in the community over Valentine’s weekend came from a conversation that Brokaw and Heine had when it was clear that the pandemic would not allow for the fourth-grade field trips that Stuff the Stocking for Zach had previously financed. Surprises on Valentine’s Day weekend astonish, delight local residents
Subscribe or Login to continue reading this quality article by The Woodstock Independant
‘Pretty large community of addiction’
Independent photo by Ken Farver |
Executive director Bobby Gattone stands outside the New Directions Retreat Center that opened last week at 14411 Kishwaukee Valley Road. Gattone has been a volunteer board member, one of the first case managers, and grants manager for New Directions. After struggling with alcohol and drug addiction, he was two weeks sober when a friend took him to The Other Side, New Directions’ sober bar in Crystal Lake. He was surprised to see 50 people “having a blast” without drugs or alcohol. “I wanted other people to have that same experience,” Gattone said.