Creating Safe Spaces: How The Loft at 8 Corners Supports Teens’ Mental Health and Wellness
Each year, the first full week in May is recognized as Children’s Mental Health Week, an effort to lift awareness about children’s mental health needs, spotlight the importance of caring for every child’s mental health, and to reinforce the message that positive mental health is essential to a child’s healthy development.
In 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Children’s Hospital Association declared the mental health crisis among children a public health emergency. With increased isolation due to the COVID pandemic, remote learning, and the elimination of many extracurricular activities over the last few years, the need for youth mental health support has only increased.
As a response, our grantee partners NAMI Metro Suburban and Pillars Community Health collaborated to open The Loft at Eight Corners (The Loft), a space to engage, support, and empower youth in their mental health journeys located in Brookfield, which celebrated its grand opening in early March 2023.
We are proud to support The Loft, alongside other funding partners including Community Memorial Foundation, Cook County Department of Public Health, Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation, Naffah Family Foundation, Proviso Township Mental Health Commission, VNA Foundation, and Westlake Foundation.
“The Loft expands our collective understanding of what mental health and well-being can look like in community… It’s important for youth to have multiple entry points for mental health services, led by people – peer recovery specialists – who have walked in their shoes.”
Tina Ramirez Moon: Program Manager of Healing & Resilience, Healthy Communities Foundation
(L-R) Tina Ramirez Moon, Healthy Communities Foundation; Kimberly Knake, NAMI Metro Suburban; Greg DiDomenico, Community Memorial Foundation
“Communities are being called to action to address teen mental health and, together with youth voice at the center of the conversation, we are innovating a way toward mental health and wellness.”
Kimberly Knake, NAMI Metro Suburban
“Opening the doors of [The Loft] is a promising step in strengthening mental wellness and healing for our teens and families.”
Kimberly Knake, NAMI Metro Suburban
The Loft offers a continuum of group and individual support available in English and Spanish and free of charge for local youth and families. All services are provided daily and will be available 365 days a year.
Services provided to local teens and families include:
- Mental Health Screenings, and if needed, one-on-one support with members of The Loft’s Interprofessional Team for individuals and families
- Yoga & Mindfulness: Yoga for all levels is offered regularly in The Loft’s yoga studio
- Support Groups: Educational, support and skills-building groups framed around evidence-based practices are available daily
The Loft was a collaboration between NAMI Metro Suburban and Pillars Community Health and with the community as a whole. The space was designed with input from a local teen advisory board staffed with representatives from high schools in the area. Their feedback was at the center of decision-making throughout The Loft’s development, from the paint colors to the names of the programs and services they offer.
Angela Curran, NAMI Metro Suburban, speaking at the grand opening of The Loft at 8 Corners
“If you keep the people you want to serve at the center of the table, you’ll never make a bad decision.”
Angela Curran, Pillars Community Health
In Illinois, an estimated 145,000 youth from ages 12 to 17 have depression and 1 in 6 youth from 6 to 17 experience a mental health disorder each year. The Loft is a step in the right direction towards youth receiving the necessary mental health care and support they need, offering programming in both English and Spanish, 365 days a year, and free of charge.