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DuPage County opening new community health center in Wheaton

Soft lime green and orange walls, warm wooden panels and airy spaces greet you as you enter the DuPage County Health Department's new community health center.

"Often, mental health services buildings look a little institutional, and they may look a little government-like. We want this to be a different environment," public information officer David Hass said. "It's intended to break down those barriers."

A grand opening and ribbon-cutting for the 33,000-square-foot facility is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, at 115 N. County Farm Road in Wheaton. Some services, including the department's 24-hour crisis services and offices for the DuPage County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, already have opened in the center.

"The hope is that with this new, more welcoming space, we can expand services," Hass said. "That would really be our intent, to do more for the community. We want to emphasize vocational training, socialization, recreation, and we really want to do more of that here, with this building."

A large, divisible multipurpose room in the center of the building provides a space for that recreation and socialization. Community groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and a newly formed Heroin Anonymous group, will host meetings in the room. There are also opportunities for residents to take part in activities such as basketball, art classes and book clubs in the space.

Another focal point of the building is a calming courtyard area, where clients will be invited to eat, relax and mingle. Eventually, NAMI hopes to open a small, public coffee shop at the front of the building too.

NAMI has trained "peer specialists" that will work in a unique part of the building called "The Living Room," spotted with comfortable chairs, books, artwork and large windows looking out to the courtyard. Hass said it is meant to be an alternative to emergency rooms for people in an emotional crisis.

"It's intended to resemble more of a room in your home, than an emergency room," Hass said. "It starts to remove the stress from an emotional crisis. When you're sitting here looking out at nature, looking out at plants, it's just a different environment than perhaps being in an emergency room. This is a much more calming, much more nurturing environment and that, along with the peer specialists, will be able to help people get past the crisis that they're in."

Three other key areas of the building include crisis services, psychosocial rehabilitation and a daily drop-in center.

A crisis hotline and suicide prevention hotline are run in the crisis services area, which also houses 12 beds for people experiencing an increase in psychiatric symptoms to stay overnight for about three to five nights.

Psychosocial rehabilitation targets vocational training, to give clients job skills and help them find employment and enter mainstream society. A large kitchen attached to the multipurpose room will teach clients staying overnight how to prepare meals and expand their ability to live independently.

And the daily drop-in center provides a place for clients to come in to talk with counselors, get involved with clubs, relax and socialize.

"We want to assist all residents to achieve optimal health status, across all aspects of health," said Karen Ayala, the health department's executive director.

Individuals in need are encouraged to use the DuPage County Health Department's services. For an intake appointment, call (630) 682-7400 during business hours. Residents with urgent behavioral health issues can call the crisis services hotline 24/7 at (630) 627-1700.

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  Workers put the finishing touches on the DuPage County Health Department's new community health center in Wheaton. Scott Sanders/ssanders@dailyherald.com
  David Hass, public information officer for the DuPage County Health Department, explains the purpose of "The Living Room" in the department's new community health center. The room is intended to be a comfortable alternative to an emergency room for people facing an emotional crisis. Scott Sanders/ssanders@dailyherald.com
  The DuPage County Health Department's new community health center in Wheaton features a central courtyard that will provide a safe environment for clients to eat, relax and mingle. Scott Sanders/ssanders@dailyherald.com
  The DuPage County Health Department is opening its new community health center in Wheaton on Oct. 15. Scott Sanders/ssanders@dailyherald.com
  "The Living Room" in the DuPage County Health Department's new community health center is a unique feature that provides people in crisis situations a less clinical-looking setting to receive counseling. Scott Sanders/ssanders@dailyherald.com
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