U.S. Representative Jackie Walorski visited Winamac last week, as part of an apparent victory tour.
She said her meet-and-greet was prompted in part by a recent South Bend Tribune article highlighting Pulaski County’s role in securing her reelection last month. “If you could hear me shouting from the mountains, I was, because the point they were making up there is that the smallest county in the district, Pulaski County, is the county that produced just as many votes that we lost by in St. Joe County, and literally carried this election,” she said. “And when I saw that they were writing about Pulaski County, I’m like, ‘I am coming to Pulaski County and just thanking this county.'”
But the event was also an opportunity for local officials to offer input, ahead of the start of the legislative session in January. Pulaski County Sheriff Jeff Richwine said help for the mentally ill is a particular concern. “I was just looking this week; we’ve had like six calls from people that obviously have mental trouble,” he said. “And they wind up in our jails. We can’t handle them; we can’t afford them.”
Walorski responded that resources are being provided in the recent continuing resolution that funds the federal government through April, as well as other legislation. “Once we get through the first of the year and some of those resources start shaking loose and shaking into the agencies, I think we absolutely will see an uptick in being able to offer more help for the mentally ill,” she said.
She also stressed the need to help those suffering from opioid addiction, calling it a “national crisis.”
