Winnebago County deputies find relief in new wellness program, ‘recharge room’

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Inside the Winnebago County Justice Center, in the basement, next door to a break room, is a work in progress.

The room will become the “recharge room,” part of a new wellness and resilience program at the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office.

“I wanted it here because it is needed and it is not talked about,” said Sheriff Gary Caruana.

Working in law enforcement can be mentally challenging.

Caruana said he has asked the County for funds to hire a counselor to help his deputies and staff have a “safe space” and place to decompress.

The department brought in Marissa Ebert, a licensed professional counselor and director of the program.

“I gotta tell you I’m happy with what she’s doing. She’s raising the bar for herself and for our department,” he said.

Ebert is married to a Rockford firefighter and the daughter and granddaughter of a sheriff’s deputy.

“What I have learned in my profession and being married to a responder, you need a separate life outside of work. Really, we all do. We just can’t identify with one role,” she said.

Deputies can set up confidential sessions to talk to Ebert. The “recharge room” is focused on physical wellness, which also includes an infrared sauna and ice bath as part of its programming.

Ebert said it is uniquely designed to help the body heal and recover.

“The reason we have that is, looking at the bigger picture, because mental [health] is very important, but it is one small piece of the puzzle,” she said.

So far, about 15% of the 400 staff members have used the wellness program.

“You see it fall off of them and they are like… ‘I feel good,'” she said.