Board of Aldermen 05-25-2021 Page 57
Alderman Klee
Thank you Madam President. | am going to ask for a personal privilege for a moment but | would like thank the
United Way or | should say congratulate the United Way for all that they have done. They are an amazing
group and | appreciated Michael Apfelberg’s shout out to my mask pushing as | used to put it all the time. The
United Way did incredible things during this pandemic. They were right there. They helped all the other non-
profits. Everybody worked together so well and | was proud to work with them. I’d also like to give a shout out
and a thank you to the Toll Street Mission. This past weekend they put together a clean-up of Whitney Street
and all the side streets. | worked with them, | worked with all the volunteers. It was absolutely amazing, they
did much further than what | had done with Locke Street and so on. They cleaned the streets, they literally
cleaned the streets as well as the sidewalks and so on. But they also helped people clean their yards. They
brought rakes and as a result there were people out there that were raking and cleaning, they offered plants,
they did all kind of things. They went so far above and beyond. They normally have kind of a block party but
this year because of the COVID pandemic going on, they didn’t want to have that. But they still had cotton
candy and there were a lot of children that volunteered, grabbed rakes went over there and did that. They had
hot dogs. Soel Sisters came out and made boxed lunches or bagged lunches | should | say for everybody. It
was truly an amazing day on Saturday and | was so proud to stand with these people and to get my hands dirty
once again.
And the next thing I’d like, Madam President, | am going to call it a personal privilege and I’d like to just read
something that | wrote if that’s OK with you.
President Wilshire
Yes.
Alderman Klee
Thank you. And | ask the other members, thank you so much for putting up with this. As | said
| am going to ask for a personal privilege as | would like to speak to something somewhat personal. May is
Mental Health Awareness Month and | believe that it is important to have those difficult and for some
uncomfortable conversations. Many of you may know that | recently lost two dear friends, both 66 years old
and both the most wonderful and kind hearted men that | was in awe of... One passed from an undiagnosed
heart disease that may not have taken his life IF he had gone to his Doctors rather than ignoring his symptoms.
If he had gone to his doctors, | honestly believe that he would have received priority care because in this
country we pay attention when someone has chest pains. Sadly, | lost my other friend to suicide. David lost
his battle with his mental illness. He leaves behind a beautiful young wife and 2 beautiful daughters who are
just starting their lives. As | said he lost his battle with his mental illness. He was NOT undiagnosed and | am
sure that the physician that he was seeing did what they could to help through both medication and
counselling. The one thing that they could not help with is perceived shame and the stigma that too many like
David experience. | am asking you all today to help me and so many others start that conversation and
reduce, if not eliminate, that stigma and shame of mental illness. This was not David’s first attempt at suicide
but as you know today it was his last and most successful. Not only did David leave behind so many who
loved and admired him but he left us all with so many unanswered questions. | am not sure if David were here
today, if he would be able to actually answer any of these questions because unlike cancer, heart disease or
diabetes so much is unknown about mental illness and how to help those who suffer. Telling someone to be
strong and tough your way through does not help someone with a mental illness. No one wants cancer, heart
disease or diabetes and NO ONE wants any mental illness. We can’t just tough our way through it... we need
to make sure that everyone who needs help gets help and if they refuse then we just need to be there when
they are ready for us to help. Compassion and Love will not cure or fix a mental illness but it helps to know
that you are not alone and there is no shame in what you are going through.
