Thresholds expands mental health crisis services on Chicago’s South Side

Thresholds celebrates opening of 'Living Room' on South Side Thresholds celebrates the grand opening of "The Living Room," which is a mental health crisis center designed as an alternative to emergency rooms or other hospitalizations.

The Details

The Brief

Chicago nonprofit Thresholds has opened a new space called the Living Room on the city's South Side.

Located near 47th and Halsted, the space offers an alternative to traditional emergency rooms for people experiencing mental health crises.

Thresholds has also launched a South Side Mobile Crisis Response Team. Both services operate 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday, with plans to expand to 24/7 availability.

A new resource on Chicago’s South Side is offering a different approach to mental health crisis support.

The nonprofit Thresholds is expanding its services with the opening of its new Living Room, giving people more options when they need help the most.

A new space for mental health crisis support

What we know

For a person experiencing a mental health crisis, a safe place to reset and regroup with help from someone who understands what they’re going through can offer support.

Thresholds has been a pillar on the South Side for about 50 years. Its South Side center is near 47th Street and Halsted Street, on the border of the city’s Canaryville and Back of the Yards neighborhoods.

In 2024, Thresholds opened its

Center for Mental Wellbeing – South, providing mental health care and substance use treatment. Now, its network of support is expanding again with the opening of the Living Room inside the center.

The organization held a celebration on Friday, drawing community members, police officers and other stakeholders.

"It's a place where we say, 'We see you,'" said Dee Atkins, chief of community engagement at Thresholds.

The space features a kitchen, fireplace, bookshelf, washer and dryer, two bedrooms and a bathroom. People experiencing a crisis can access the space without needing to meet eligibility requirements.

"We're meeting people exactly where they are, so one of the first things you feel when you come into the Living Room is that element of warmth. If you need a cup of coffee, if you haven't eaten all day, if you haven't slept and you just need a nap," Atkins said.

The Living Room is staffed by peers who have walked a similar path.

"Living rooms are alternatives to emergency rooms and hospitals or other institutional settings. They're not quite drop-in centers, but they're places where people with mental health crises — both large and small — can come for support," said Mark Ishaug, president and CEO of Thresholds. "We really want this to be part of the ecosystem of great services for people who need us the most. And you can come here with the ability to pay or not. We turn nobody away."

Founded in 1959, Thresholds helps people reclaim their lives through mental and behavioral health care, housing and employment support, advocacy and community outreach.

• Living Room locations, hours and phone numbers
• What you can do:
• Thresholds also operates

Living Rooms on Chicago’s North Side and in McHenry County.

South — 734 W. 47th St., Chicago. Open 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday. Call (773) 537-3900.

Ravenswood — 4423 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago. Open 24/7. Call (773) 537-3601.

McHenry County — 616 S. Illinois Route 31, McHenry. Open 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday, and from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Call (815) 348-4500.

On Friday, Thresholds also announced the launch of its Mobile Crisis Response Team for Chicago’s South Side. If you’re experiencing a crisis or know someone who is, you can call (773) 572-5300. Thresholds lists the crisis line’s hours as 7 a.m. Monday through 7 a.m. Saturday.

Thresholds plans to expand the South Side Living Room and mobile crisis response services to 24/7 availability.

The Source

The information in this report came from FOX Chicago reporting and Thresholds.