Mental health is the foundation of everything. It forms the basis of our relationships with others and our ability to be productive members of society.
However, we are all vulnerable. Perhaps we carry emotional scars from a difficult childhood. Or we face the loss of someone we love. Or we can’t seem to emerge from a dark cloud of depression that makes it difficult to meet our day-to-day responsibilities.
Our Mission: Opening doors to mental healthcare so people can cope, heal and thrive.
YFC was founded on the belief that everyone deserves access to quality mental health care when they need it. Too often, the cost of treatment is a barrier for those who need our services. In these cases, we offer fee subsidies to ensure quality care is available for all.
“Simply put, [mental health] treatment works, if you can get it. But in America today, it is clear that many people living with mental illness are not provided with the essential treatment they need.” — Michael Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness
Each year, our generous donors, funders, volunteers, and special events participants make it possible for us to provide over $300,000 in fee subsidies to our clients who demonstrate financial need. The compassion and generosity of people just like you make a world of difference in the lives of the people we serve.
Our Impact
We serve a diverse population of clients from 85 zip codes in Lake, McHenry, and Cook counties as well as southern Wisconsin. The top five communities represented in 2020 are: Libertyville (265), Waukegan (187), Mundelein (177), Vernon Hills and Grayslake (116 each), and Gurnee (93).
Access to care
Youth & Family Counseling strives to improve access to care by identifying and reducing barriers that stand in the way.
- Transportation barriers: While the COVID-19 pandemic severely restricted our ability to provide services in locations other than our main Libertyville office in 2020, we look forward to renewing our co-location efforts to reach our community members throughout Lake County as we enter a period of recovery.
- Language barriers: We deliver counseling in Spanish as well as English to serve Lake County’s growing Hispanic population. YFC has six therapists who are fluent in both English and Spanish.
- Financial barriers: We still provide our sliding scale fee subsidies to people who are low-income and uninsured or underinsured. We are also in-network with most Illinois insurance plans, including Medicaid managed care plans, which few providers accept.
Your generous support truly makes a difference in the lives of children, teens, adults and families.
At Youth & Family Counseling (YFC), we believe that everyone should have access to mental healthcare. Online giving is a secure and easy way to help community members who face financial, language or other barriers to treatment receive professional counseling when they need it. Thank you for partnering with us to build healthy individuals, strong families and thriving communities in Lake County!
Many employers will match your personal gift. Please take the time to pursue a matching gift from your company.
You can change the trajectory of someone’s life by joining our monthly giving program. Your recurring gift will provide counseling treatment for children, teens and adults who depend on our fee subsidies, accessible locations, and competent, culturally sensitive care.