Center on Halsted

Behavioral Health Services:Behavioral Health Services offers individual, relationship, and family psychotherapy, therapy groups, and letters of support to access gender affirming surgeries. Behavioral Health staff assess and treat all mood and anxiety symptoms, substance use, provide critical support during traumatic periods, addresses issues pertaining to building healthy relationships, and supports healthy identities around sexual identities and gender identity/expression, and living with HIV/AIDS. In response to COVID-19 services were provided primarily through virtual sessions and groups.

Education & Victim Advocacy: Through direct services, advocacy, and education, the Anti-Violence Project addresses domestic violence, sexual violence, and community violence related to LGBTQ and allied populations. Core services include trauma-informed individual and group therapy, case management, legal and systems advocacy, and the LGBTQ Violence Resource Line to provide linkage to referrals, crisis stabilization, and safety planning. The Anti-Violence Project engages in prevention work through facilitating trainings and workshops, hosting community events, and participating in local and national coalitions.

Culinary Arts Services: Center on Halsted has a strong history of job training, particularly since the opening of our current facility in 2007. Center on Halsted launched the Silver Fork Culinary Job Training Program in November 2010. This is the first professional culinary arts training at Center on Halsted designed specifically for underserved and at-risk adults. Silver Fork addresses short and long-term vocational needs, and ensures the successful outcomes of our community members while focusing on shortages within the Chicago employment market. Graduates of our Silver Fork program are trained and prepared to enter this growing workforce. In addition to cooking, the students take a Food Service Safety Management Certification course and those who pass have management level certification for Illinois and the City of Chicago. We also take the BASSET certification for serving alcohol in Illinois. We spend time writing resumes, role playing how to handle stressful situations, and offer job assistance. Additionally, we offer a mock interview workshop with industry professionals.

Youth Housing Initiative:Center on Halsted's Youth Housing Program (YHP) is currently designed to house up to eight youth in two apartments, two to a bedroom. All youth in the program are part of the LGBTQ+ community; were experiencing homelessness or severe housing instability prior to entering the program; and are survivors of violence. The staff provides wrap around services including: case management, direct services, housing, employment, and education guidance, and life skills training in alignment with their Individual Action Plans.

Volunteer Services: Volunteers help advance Center on Halsted's mission through participation across the organization. New volunteers attend a two-hour orientation followed by a two-hour training. During the training and orientation, volunteers learn about best practices, volunteer requirements, available opportunities, and Center on Halsted's history and mission. Once on-boarded, volunteers receive monthly updates and can access an online portal with current organizational needs. Volunteers support nearly every department including facilitating youth programming, providing behavioral health therapy, assisting with special events, preparing meals for seniors, watering our rooftop garden, and helping with administrative tasks. Using its database of over 2,900 statewide referrals, the HUB and Hotline staff answered more than 8,840 phone calls, texts, geosocial, and internet/email contacts and provided more than 16,400 units of service to clients during FY23.

Youth Services:The Youth Department provides youth ages 13-24 two main program opportunities: the general Youth Program and the Youth Housing Program Initiative, described in greater detail below. Within both of these programs, youth are provided a variety of support and developmental resources including: case management; personalized individual intervention support; Anti-Violence support via the Youth Anti-Violence Advocate through a joint partnership with the Anti-Violence Program at Center on Halsted; Youth-specific Behavioral Health Support; special programming for leadership development; teen specific opportunities; and social and cultural programming.