Medical/Health Resources
Mental Health First Aid is a course that teaches you how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The training gives you the skills you need to reach out and provide initial help and support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem or experiencing a crisis.
Mental Health for Children With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Navigate Life Texas, a project to inform and empower parents of children with disabilities or special healthcare needs, has a Mental Health for Children With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities page. This page provides ideas on how to talk to your healthcare provider and the people working with your child if you think your child might be having mental health symptoms.
Mental Health Online Screening
One of the quickest and easiest ways to determine whether you are experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition is to take a mental health screening at mhascreening.org. The screening is free and anonymous.
Taking a screen can help you to better understand what you are experiencing and get helpful resources. After that, consider talking to someone you trust about your results and seek out a professional to find the support you need.
Mental Health Resources for Kids, Teens and Young Adults
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has resources geared toward kids, teens and young adults. NAMI also provides a coloring and activity book and step-by-step guidance to help parents explore and talk to children about emotional topics or mental health challenges.Mental Health Resources for LGBTQI Individuals
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersexed (LGBTQI) community represents a wide diversity of thought, perspective, understanding and experience. For individuals identifying as LGBTQI, it’s important to recognize how your experience of sexual orientation and gender identity relates to your mental health.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) provides a variety of resources as well as important things to consider when seeking an LGBTQI-competent mental health care professional.
Miracle Flights provides free commercial airline tickets to pediatric patients ages 17 and under in need of life-changing medical care far from home. Families must meet certain requirements and apply online using the online application for requesting each flight.
The organization also provides flights for service dog retrieval and/or training. Miracle Flights’ service dog program is open to all individuals who need help retrieving/training their service dog.
Mother’s Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes
Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes provides safe, pasteurized donor human milk to premature and critically ill babies.
Milk Bank WGL also supports moms who donate milk after loss and distributes reduced-cost or free donor milk to chronically ill middle and low-income children.
This non-profit organization serves over 50 hospitals and hundreds of families throughout Illinois and Wisconsin.
A website devoted to the management of a metabolic diet, information about products, recipes.
myFace is a nonprofit organization that provides individuals and families affected by cleft and other craniofacial differences access to personal stories, education and support.
Resources include:
- Information on craniofacial conditions
- Parent resources
- Virtual craniofacial support groups and networking opportunities
- Educational webinars and podcasts
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.
The national NAMI website provides information on supports, services and treatment options that may help. The NAMI National Helpline is (800) 950-NAMI (6264). You can also text “HELPLINE” to 62640 or go to NAMI.org/help to chat with a HelpLine specialist.
Visit the NAMI Illinois website for information about Illinois programs and services.