What DuPage County's $3.8 million in 'transformational' grants will help nonprofits do
The Tri-Town YMCA in Villa Park will open nearly 5,000 appointment slots for after-school mental health counseling services with the support of a $335,000 grant, DuPage County officials announced Tuesday.
The Wayne Township food pantry will use a $25,500 grant to set up an online ordering system, a convenient option for low-income households, seniors and people with disabilities to pick out meals.
A $500,000 grant will help Northeast DuPage Family and Youth Services open a new community counseling center in Bloomingdale.
Those and other projects will receive a total of $3.8 million under a new grant program launched by the county and the DuPage Foundation to address mental health challenges, food insecurity, housing instability and substance use disorders.
"This support could not have come at a more crucial time as our agencies are experiencing an exponential increase of calls for help from DuPage neighbors," Tri-Town YMCA CEO Sarah O'Donnell said.
County board members dedicated $10.6 million in federal pandemic aid to establish the grant initiative. A committee of county and foundation officials in June dispensed more than $1 million in "immediate intervention" grants to 16 social service groups. The latest round of grant-supported projects are broader in scope.
"These transformational grants are intended to very simply be life-changing," county board member Julie Renehan said.
The 17 nonprofit organizations selected for funding include:
• Access Community Health Network: $300,000 to provide overdose prevention training and mobile harm reduction outreach.
• B.R. Ryall YMCA in Glen Ellyn: $253,000 to implement an after-school mental health program by Naperville's Alive Center.
• Bridge Communities: $200,400 to help families facing homelessness stabilize their lives.
• Glen Ellyn Children's Resource Center: $100,000 to pilot a social-emotional learning program and expand mental health support for students.
• Healthcare Alternative Systems Inc.: $350,000 to hire a bilingual therapist and a community health worker.
• KidsMatter: $200,000 for mental health first aid classes.
• Mercy Housing Lakefront: $82,710 for mental health services for residents of three affordable housing communities in DuPage.
• Ray Graham Association: $86,940 for a behavioral health clinic that provides counseling, medication administration and crisis services for people with disabilities.
• SamaraCare: $302,704 to expand psychiatric services.
• Senior Home Sharing Inc.: $100,000 for a new counseling program for seniors in group homes.
• Teen Parent Connection: $257,500 to expand mental health and case management support.
• The Community House: $250,000 to establish an office in the Willowbrook Corner neighborhood and to hire a clinician to provide mental health services and case management for young people.
• West Suburban Community Pantry: $235,620 for a partnership with community organizations to ensure quick access to nutritious food.
• World Relief Chicagoland: $270,000 to provide affordable, culturally competent mental health services for refugees and immigrant families.
The Tri-Town YMCA will enlist more than a half dozen project partners to "meet the pressing mental health needs among youth and families," O'Donnell said.
The YMCA plans to create a parent education series with NAMI DuPage and Villa Park Elementary District 45. The Villa Park police department's first social worker also will be hired with the grant, O'Donnell said.
The county has leaned on the expertise of the Downers Grove-based DuPage Foundation to review grant applications. All told, $10 million in American Rescue Plan money will be awarded to nonprofits over five years, while $600,000 of the total will pay for the costs to administer the program.
"Partnering with DuPage Foundation has really taken DuPage County government to another level," county board Chairman Dan Cronin said.
More "transformational grants" will be available in 2024.