By Townhall Chicago News Staff
The Cook County Department of Public Health on Friday announced $475,000 in grants to expand community-based mental health programming for young people ages 12 to 24 in four suburban communities.
The villages of Bellwood, Maywood and Park Forest and the city of Calumet City will each receive $118,750 to implement Cook County Shop Talk, a 12-month initiative that brings mental health education and connections to care into barbershops, beauty salons, schools, parks and other spaces where young people gather, according to a news release from the department.
“Young people don’t always walk into a clinic when they’re struggling, but they do sit in a barber’s chair, hang out at the park and show up at school every day,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said in the release. “Shop Talk brings mental health support into those trusted spaces so that more young people in suburban Cook County can get help before a hard moment becomes a crisis.”
The initiative was funded through a budget amendment sponsored by Commissioner Tara Stamps and builds on Stamps’ S.H.O.P Talk program, which brought teen mental health conversations into barbershops and hair salons across suburban Cook County.
“Too many of our young people are carrying the weight of grief, trauma, violence, family stress and other challenges without knowing where to turn,” Stamps said in the release. “I championed this investment because support should be accessible, culturally responsive and available in places where young people already feel comfortable.”
The four municipalities were selected through a competitive review process based on community need, program quality and organizational capacity, according to the release.
Each community tailored its approach. Bellwood will create events where youth can discuss mental health challenges including grief, social media pressures and community violence. Local barbers, stylists, coaches and youth workers will be trained as “Trusted Messengers” to provide support and connect young people to resources.
Maywood’s West Cook Youth Wellness and Safe Spaces Initiative will train community leaders to recognize emotional distress, reduce stigma and connect young people to behavioral health services. Calumet City’s Shop Talk for Healing Initiative will create spaces where youth, particularly Black youth and other youth of color, can talk openly about mental health and trauma. A Youth Advisory Council will help shape events. Park Forest will use recreation as an entry point for mental health conversations, hosting monthly events in barbershops, beauty salons and community-based youth spaces, according to the release.
“We know that young people do not always seek help through traditional clinical settings,” Dr. Kiran Joshi, chief operating officer of the department, said in the release. “By bringing conversations about mental health into familiar, trusted spaces and equipping community members to recognize when a young person may need additional support, these programs can help identify concerns earlier and create pathways to care.”
Dr. Erik Mikaitis, CEO of Cook County Health, said the program “is one of the ways we are building mental health support in the community so that we can reach young people earlier, connect them to care and help prevent challenges from becoming crises,” according to the release.
The department also announced $92,270 in separate grants on the same day to three organizations implementing restorative practices in schools and community power building in suburban Cook County.
Information about Cook County Shop Talk events over the next 12 months will be available at cookcountypublichealth.org.
