10 years after his death, the family finances an addiction laboratory in the name of his son

Trent Bartolomucci died in October 2014. His family is trying to keep his name alive through a laboratory dedicated to drug abuse education and training.

June 26, 2024, 5:52 p.m. CDT | Updated June 26, 2024, 5:56 p.m. CDT

NEW LENOX, IL — Nearly 10 years after their son died from addiction, a New Lenox couple has channeled their grief into creating a facility dedicated to substance abuse education and treatment.

Trent Bartolomucci was 21 when he died in October 2014. His death was a heartbreaking chapter in his years-long battle with addiction, said his mother, Kim Bartolomucci, and a shocking turn of events after he had seemingly overcome addiction.

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“We thought he had made it, but with addiction you can never let your guard down,” Bartolomucci said. “You always have to keep fighting it.”

After his death, Bartolomucci sought an outlet for her grief, even though she struggled through it with difficulty.

“I don’t want Trent’s name to be forgotten or for anyone else to suffer like that,” she said. “I knew I didn’t want to go around talking to people about addiction – I just couldn’t do that at the time.”

The family established a foundation in his name with the goal of building a workforce of addiction counselors through partnerships and programs at Governors State University and providing scholarships to students pursuing master’s degrees in addiction studies.

Feeling the need to direct their efforts in a different direction, the family worked with Governors State to create the Trent Bartolomucci Behavioral Health Lab. Located in a wing of the college, the lab will serve as a central hub for education and training related to substance use disorders and their treatment. It will be used to provide future substance use counselors and other health care professionals with important experiential learning opportunities to support individuals with substance use disorders and their families, and to practice working as part of a team with other professionals.

Students and trainees will participate in role-playing and simulation activities in small groups and will eventually also conduct some community counseling sessions, with faculty members able to virtually observe and supervise via a secure video system. The comfortable, welcoming environment of the laboratory with unobtrusive technology provides a safe and confidential environment for drug use counseling and simulations.

“Now everyone will benefit from this,” Bartolomucci said, “and they will touch thousands and thousands of lives. We are equipping other people to do this work.”

“Thrown into this world”

Trent grew up in New Lenox and attended a private school until eighth grade. He then transferred to Lincoln-Way Central High School, where he played football his freshman year. Soon after, he began experimenting with drugs, his mother said. His grades dropped and his parents intervened. They sent him to a treatment center. When he returned, he went through periods of problems.

“It grew like all addictions grow,” Bartolomucci said.

After graduating, he attended junior college in Carterville, where his grade point average dropped but he made progress in health courses, eventually earning his associate degree. He then attended Alabama, Colorado, Indiana University, and the University of Missouri – and was accepted to all of them.

“Suddenly he rediscovered his love of learning,” Bartolomucci said.

He chose the University of Missouri, where he maintained a 4.0 grade point average and earned his master’s degree in the accelerated accounting program.

Then he suffered a relapse. His family visited him in September 2014, just a month before his death.

His death forced his parents to help, which led to the creation of the foundation and now the laboratory that bears his name.

With the Trent Bartolomucci Behavioral Health Lab at its center, the Department of Addiction Studies and Behavioral Health aims to be a strategic hub for education, service and support for students, trainees and community members, Governors State University said in a news release. It will bring together faculty and staff from across the university, the College of Health and Human Services, the College of Education and Human Development and the Counseling and Wellness Center to achieve the ultimate goal of increasing access to evidence-based treatments.

“I always wanted to keep the resources in this region,” Bartolomucci told Patch. “I could have partnered with a major university, but that doesn’t help the people here.”

“…I was thrown into this world because I had to,” Bartolomucci said. “In this way we will be able to reach thousands.”

The Trent Bartolomucci Behavioral Health Lab, 1 University Parkway, will open on Thursday, June 27, at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.