Mayor Lori Lightfoot announces $8 million in mental health grants largely focused on Chicago’s South and West sides

The city of Chicago has awarded $8 million in grant funds for 32 community groups to increase mental health care programs, with much of it focused on the South and West Sides, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Tuesday.

Nearly all the projects will expand mental health services for young adults, children, and adolescents, city officials said. Some of the grant recipients will receive $240,000 while others will receive $350,000 every year through 2020, Lightfoot said.

The funding can be used to hire staff, expand existing services, fund new programs in communities of high need and promote collaborations that integrate mental healthcare with primary care, city officials said.

In addition, the city’s public health department also will provide $1.6 million for increased services for the homeless through Heartland Alliance Health and Lawndale Christian Health Center.

In a news release, Lightfoot said the money will provide “tens of thousands of additional Chicagoans in our under-resourced communities with the care they need--regardless of their ability to pay, health insurance status or immigration status.”

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Esther Corpuz, the CEO of Alivio Medical Center, one of the grant recipients, called the grants an “important investment in our essential mental health safety net."

“Ensuring the availability of trauma-informed mental healthcare is critical to closing the healthcare gap and bringing first-rate care to our communities,” Corpuz said in the statement.

As part of her 2020 budget, Lightfoot increased the amount of spending for mental health services but has been criticized by progressive groups for not following through on a campaign promise to reopen public mental health clinics closed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel during his first term.

According to the mayor’s office, the $8 million in grants will be funded from $5.3 million in corporate funds that were included in the 2020 budget, and $2.7 million in federal community development block grants as part of the CARES Act.

gpratt@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @royalpratt

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