Rob Mueller, executive director of World Corp, urged the McHenry County Mental Health Board to increase prevention funding for young people and to sustain street-outreach programs during public comment at the board meeting.

Mueller said he was "completely grounded in gratitude" for two years of board funding for street outreach and described his organization’s work with children, low-income residents and people experiencing homelessness. "Prevention for youth before corruption is as important as putting a band aid on the current state of people in the throes of mental health and addiction," he said.

Mueller said his agency’s caseload has grown and that the group focuses on outreach to people who have not been helped by other services. He described physical fitness as an important component of recovery and credited earlier grants with supporting street outreach and "Warped Court" efforts in the area's first two funding years. "I'm living proof of that," he said of exercise's role in personal recovery.

He asked the board to consider longer-term funding so organizations can expand prevention programming alongside crisis response. "We need more resources for these younger kids before they fall into the throes of a mental health crisis or an addiction crisis or homelessness," he said.

Mueller's remarks were delivered during the meeting's public comment period and did not request a specific board action.

The meeting then moved on to presentations from local providers seeking mental-health funding.