Faced with numerous barriers to mental and behavioral healthcare access, residents in a cluster of neighborhoods on Chicago’s west side impacted by high rates of poverty and violence took matters into their own hands 10 years ago. They voted to open a taxpayer-funded mental health center dedicated to serving their communities.
Today, the Encompassing Center is one of a handful of such centers operating in Chicago: 3% of taxpayers’ property tax dollars in the district support the center’s services. Last year, more than 400 residents of East and West Garfield Park, North Lawndale, and Chicago’s Near West Side took advantage of this vital community resource, which opened in 2019 with Catholic Charities as its service provider.
“Our Center does not charge people who live in the targeted area for the services they receive, because the Center is being paid for by their property taxes,” says Michelle Byrd, a mental health therapist and Near West Side resident appointed in 2017 to the west side’s nine-member Expanded Mental Health Services Program Governing Commission.
“That was needed — something that belonged to the people,” Byrd says.
Responding to community needs
Many residents in communities served by the Encompassing Center are dealing with daily stressors like how to put healthy food on the table, how to keep the lights on, and how to afford basic mental healthcare services without adequate insurance. Others carry the added stresses of navigating violence and trauma as part of everyday existence. These issues can compound symptoms of anxiety, depression, and sleeplessness.
The Encompassing Center team responds with compassionate, trauma-based services, with a goal of building trust with the people and communities it serves.
“There’s no judgment,” says Dr. Jennifer Smith, LCPC, Director of the Encompassing Center. “The things going on in the world today are exhausting. We all have to come together and see how it’s impacting us.”
While much of the work done at the Encompassing Center is individualized and deeply personal, the mission is fundamentally about supporting and building community.
Dr. Smith says that’s why her team focuses not only on providing mental health services but also on “truly building what the community requested and needs.” For example, the center sponsors a food pantry, clothing closet, and social events. Book clubs and social events give area residents opportunities to be involved and learn about available services.
About 150 people come to the Center seeking support every month. The clinical team provides counseling services around grief and loss, trauma, and suicide prevention. They offer anger management, peace circles, parent coaching, and couples therapy; connect with local schools, businesses and organizations; and attend community events to build awareness and provide mental health education.
Making community connections
Bilingual Therapist Silvia Urriago has worked at the Encompassing Center for four years, hosting groups on parenting skills, coping strategies, and how to manage stressful situations as a parent. She says she enjoys being able to serve people who otherwise would not have access to mental healthcare.
“I’m also focusing on schools, talking with children about their worries and feelings and telling them, ‘Don’t be afraid to go to school,’” Urriago says.
She visits Matthew Manor, a Catholic Charities senior housing community, once a week, offering residents a private space to talk with her. She says she helps those who are processing losses, provides support with technology, and tries to build rapport with seniors who may not be comfortable talking about their mental health.
“The people who live in these communities are the reason the Center exists,” says Laura Kuever, Associate Vice President, Empowering Families, Catholic Charities. “This center helps amplify their voices.”
Byrd is among nine members of the Governing Commission which meets monthly with Catholic Charities leaders who work together to adapt to the community’s changing needs and to explore new initiatives to further build trust with residents who may be reluctant to visit.
For example, after learning of a recent increase in suicides in the community, Dr. Smith consulted with the Governing Commission and hired a suicide prevention educator. The educator can also work closely with staff at Catholic Charities Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide (LOSS) program to support affected families. Other new initiatives the Encompassing Center is exploring include financial seminars in partnership with Wintrust, coat drives, and — recognizing violence is real concern in the communities served by the Encompassing Center — a mobile unit that would bring resources straight to people’s homes.
“I think we’re helping people in the healing process, giving clarity about mental health and what that is. We’re helping to eliminate barriers and dissolve that stigma,” Byrd says, adding that the center is having an impact because, ultimately, it’s the community that has ownership.
“We’re grateful for where we are and how far we’ve come,” Byrd says, “and I think there is more work to be done.”