About Us

Our history began with five women who would see each other monthly when they brought their adult children in for psychiatric visits at Madden State Hospital. Having experienced the power of shared experience at these regular meetings, they found themselves frustrated with the lack of additional opportunities for support for their loved ones in the community. They opened the NAMI Metro Suburban Drop-In Center in Oak Park, Illinois. More than three decades later, it is the longest-standing Drop-In Center in Illinois and remains a safe, stigma-free community for thousands of adults living with mental health conditions.

NAMI Metro Suburban began presenting Ending the Silence to local middle and high school students. Our Community Education programming has since grown to include a menu of evidence-based and evidence-informed mental health education and suicide prevention presentations that increase mental health knowledge, facilitate stigma-reducing communication, and encourage healthy coping skills and help-seeking behaviors for oneself or one’s peers. Annually, we reach over 12,000 students throughout the western suburbs.

NAMI Metro Suburban began providing workforce development and employment support services to adults experiencing mental health challenges and barriers to employment. Based on the evidence-based tenets of Individualized Placement and Support (IPS), this program views meaningful employment as a powerful mental illness recovery tool.

NAMI Metro Suburban opened the first Living Room in West Suburban Cook County in La Grange, Illinois. A welcoming, trauma-informed space, the Living Room is a free alternative to the Emergency Department for adults experiencing a mental health crisis or elevation in symptoms.

NAMI Metro Suburban opened its 100% English/Spanish bilingual Living Room in Summit, Illinois, providing culturally affirming and accessible mental health de-escalation, stabilization, and support services to underserved communities.

NAMI Metro Suburban’s Workforce Development and Employment Program began working with transitional youth ages 16–24, providing valuable soft skills development, job preparation workshops, employment placement, and communication, conflict resolution, and mental wellness workshops.

In partnership with Pillars Community Health, NAMI Metro Suburban opened the Loft at Eight Corners in Brookfield, Illinois. The first program model of its kind, the Loft is a teen mental wellness space for youth ages 12 and older who are in 7th grade or higher, through the summer after 12th grade, along with their families. Teens can receive a continuum of mental health support, including informal peer engagement, one-on-one support, crisis prevention and stabilization, family resources, and referrals to additional behavioral health services.

Further reinforcing the power of lived experience and peer support, NAMI Metro Suburban strengthens the behavioral health workforce by creating the CRSS Internship Hub. Students from local colleges pursuing CRSS certification gain hands-on, supervised experience in peer support, group facilitation, outreach, documentation, and recovery-focused communication while working alongside staff and supporting participants at NAMI Metro Suburban’s Living Rooms and Drop-In Center.

NAMI Metro Suburban’s Living Rooms in La Grange and Summit began operating 24/7/365, expanding our capacity to provide a free and accessible alternative to the Emergency Department for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis or escalating symptoms.

NAMI Metro Suburban Transition Support Specialists began providing support to individuals discharging from inpatient behavioral health treatment at Madden Mental Health Center in Maywood, Illinois. Participants receive direct linkage to providers of mental health and co-occurring substance use recovery services; basic needs assistance; pre- and post-discharge mentoring, education, and skills coaching; and connection to housing and employment resources.

NAMI Metro Suburban opened the Oak Park Living Room adjacent to the Drop-In Center on Harrison Street, creating a continuum of support in one location. Open daily from 12–8 p.m., the Living Room provides de-escalation and stabilization support, while the neighboring Drop-In Center offers social, peer-led recovery, and wellness programming that guests can access as their symptoms subside.