URGENT UPDATE: 20+ arrested at Woodlawn Clinic

UPDATE 1:12AM: 20+ arrests so far, police arresting other mental health patients inside.
First live stream here (inside): http://www.ustream.tv/channel/spmoberg
Second live stream here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tangello#utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=9907...

URGENT UPDATE: 12:30 AM, 4/13/12 -- 30 police have entered the Woodlawn Clinic and are cutting down the barricades that patients and supporters have erected as a prelude to arresting dozens of patients and health workers who occupied the clinic today at 5PM to protest Mayor Emanuel's plan to close Woodlawn, among half the city's mental health clinics slated for closure.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contacts:
Corey Barnes (773) 319-7268 / Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle (773) 355-8222
Mental Health Movement / Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP)

Patients and Advocates Occupying Woodlawn Mental Health Clinic Hold Press Conference at 10am Friday
Mental Health Movement barricaded inside Woodlawn Clinic until Rahm Emanuel backs off clinic closures

WHAT: Press conference from occupied mental health clinic
WHEN: Friday April 13th at 10am
WHERE: 6337 S. Woodlawn Ave.
WHO: Patients of mental health clinics facing closure who are occupying the Woodlawn Clinic

Dozens of people who use Chicago's mental health clinics along with other advocates are still barricaded inside the Woodlawn Clinic at 6337 S. Woodlawn, one of 6 clinics facing closure. They intend to remain there until Mayor Emanuel agrees to keep all of Chicago's public clinics open, fully funded and fully staffed. The will hold a press conference at 10am on Friday April 13th to release their first statement.

Two of the clinics slated for closure - the Northwest Clinic in Logan Square and the Northtown Clinic in Rogers Park - shut their doors last Friday. Four others (Woodlawn, Auburn/Gresham, Back of the Yards and Beverly/Morgan Park) are scheduled to close April 30th. The Mental Health Movement, which put out a report and a video undermining the Chicago Department of Public Health's claim that all patients will continue to receive care, has been calling for hearings on the clinic closures since October. Despite repeated promises and a resolution calling for hearings, the Emanuel Administration has prevented any hearings from taking place in order to avoid public scrutiny of the plan, which has come under fire even from Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.

"We have tried everything we could to be heard. We visited Mayor Emanuel when he was a candidate. We delivered him over 4,000 letters. We have talked to almost all 50 Alderman. We have held press conferences, rallies and even sat-in for 10 hours on the 5th floor of City Hall. We are the ones who know the disaster these clinic closures will mean for our communities and our city but Mayor Emanuel been unwilling to listen to us, so we are taking drastic measures to avoid a tragedy and defend our human rights," says N'Dana Carter, who goes to one of the city clinics and is a spokesperson for the Mental Health Movement.

The people barricaded in the clinic have enough food and supplies to stay for months and are threatening to do so unless Mayor Emanuel meets the following five demands:

Keep all 12 city mental health clinics public, open, fully funded and fully staffed
Stop plans to privatize Chicago's 7 neighborhood health centers
Hire more doctors, therapists, nurses, social workers and other clinic staff
Reinstate the drug assistance program
Expand the public mental health safety net to cover unmet community needs

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