Survivors External Resource Directory

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Browse our resources to find organizations who offer additional resources on domestic violence, trauma, mental health, and substance abuse.

To locate domestic violence services near you, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) (P) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY).

American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence
The mission of the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence is to increase access to justice for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking by mobilizing the legal profession. The Commission addresses the acute need to increase the number of well-trained and supported attorneys providing representation to victims by providing creative training opportunities for lawyers, law students and other legal advocates.

Asian & Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence
The Asian & Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence is a national resource center and clearinghouse on gender violence in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. It serves a national network of community-based-organizations; advocates and professionals in legal, health, mental health, and social services; government agencies; state coalitions; national domestic and sexual violence organizations; and activists from communities and social justice organizations working to eliminate violence against women. Its goals are to strengthen advocacy, promote community organizing, and influence systems change. It identifies and addresses critical issues, provides technical assistance and training, conducts research, and engages in policy advocacy.

Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence
ATASK primarily serves Asian families and individuals in Massachusetts and New England who suffer from or are at risk of suffering from domestic violence. Our clients include a range of Asian ethnic populations. ATASK embraces and represents all ages, cultures, abilities, and sexual preferences.

Asista
Asista works to centralize, enhance and expand immigration assistance to frontline advocates and attorneys who provide legal assistance to immigrant victims.

Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP)
BWJP provides training and technical assistance on civil, legal, and criminal justice system issues related to violence against women, including survivors who have been charged with crimes. For assistance, call 1-800-903-0111 and follow the prompts to access assistance on the issues on which you have questions

The Center on Domestic Violence – University of Colorado Denver

Founded in 2000, the Center on Domestic Violence is an academic, research and service center based at the University of Colorado Denver. The Center established the first graduate-level academic program in the nation to address the serious social issue of domestic violence through leadership development. The Center’s programs prepare individuals, organizations, and communities with the knowledge and ability to reduce, treat, intervene and prevent interpersonal violence.

Three primary goals define the Center’s work: (1) Develop skilled and informed leaders across the country for the movement to end interpersonal violence; (2) Inform and empower service providers, advocates, and policymakers through original research; and (3) Serve the community through direct services, capacity building initiatives, training and advocacy.

These combined efforts are reflected in the center’s mission: to end domestic violence by fostering institutional and social change through leadership development, education, research, and community collaboration. 

The Center for Survivor Agency and Justice
The Center for Survivor Agency and Justice is a national organization dedicated to enhancing advocacy for survivors of oppression-based intimate partner violence. CSAJ seeks to promote survivor-centered advocacy by enhancing the work of attorneys, by organizing communities, and by offering leadership on critical issues facing survivors and advocates throughout the nation.  CSAJ strives to enhance advocacy by cultivating a community of attorneys and advocates who are skilled in survivor-centered advocacy and capable of meeting the entire spectrum of civil legal assistance needs of survivors through their own advocacy and in partnership with others.

Community United Against Violence
CUAV is the nation’s first LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning) anti-violence organization. Their mission is to prevent and respond to violence against and within our diverse LGBTQ communities. CUAV accomplishes this through peer-based counseling, direct assistance, education and outreach, grassroots organizing, and policy advocacy.

Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence
The Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the costs and consequences of partner violence at work – and eliminating it altogether.  From policy and programs to legal issues and legislation, CAEPV is a credible source for information, materials, and advice.

FaithTrust Institute
FaithTrust Institute is an international, multifaith organization working to end sexual and domestic violence. It provides communities and advocates with tools to address the religious and cultural issues related to abuse. The FaithTrust web site contains many resources that can be ordered to assist with these efforts.  FaithTrust Institute works with many communities, including Asian and Pacific Islander, Buddhist, Jewish, Latino/a, Muslim, Black, Anglo, Indigenous, Protestant and Roman Catholic.

Futures Without Violence
Futures Without Violence, formerly Family Violence Prevention Fund, has worked to prevent and end violence against women and children around the world for over 30 years. In 1994, Futures Without Violence was instrumental in developing the landmark Violence Against Women Act passed by the US Congress. Striving to reach new audiences and transform social norms, Futures Without Violence trains professionals such as doctors, nurses, athletic coaches, and judges on improving responses to violence and abuse. They work with advocates, policy makers and others to build sustainable community leadership and educate people everywhere about the importance of respect and healthy relationships – the relationships that all individuals, families, and communities need and deserve.

Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project
The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project is a grassroots, non-profit organization founded by a gay male survivor of domestic violence and developed through the strength, contributions and participation of the community.  They support victims and survivors through education, advocacy and direct services.

Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence
For more than a decade, the National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence has supported health care practitioners, administrators and systems, domestic violence experts, survivors, and policy makers at all levels as they improve health care’s response to domestic violence. The Center develops educational resources, training materials, and model protocols on domestic violence and screening to help health care providers better serve survivors of domestic violence.

Incite! Women of Color Against Violence
INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence is a national activist organization of radical feminists of color advancing a movement to end violence against women of color and our communities through direct action, critical dialogue and grassroots organizing.

Institute on Domestic Violence in the African-American Community
The Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community (IDVAAC) is an organization focused on the unique circumstances of African Americans as they face issues related to domestic violence, including intimate partner violence, child abuse, elder maltreatment, and community violence. IDVAAC’s mission is to enhance society’s understanding of and ability to end violence in the African-American community.

Jewish Women International – Domestic Violence in the Jewish Community
JWI is the leading Jewish organization empowering women and girls – through economic literacy; community training; healthy relationship education; and the proliferation of women’s leadership. Our innovative programs, advocacy and philanthropic initiatives protect the fundamental rights of all girls and women to live in safe homes, thrive in healthy relationships, and realize the full potential of their personal strength.

Legal Momentum
Legal Momentum is the nation’s oldest legal defense and education fund dedicated to advancing the rights of all women and girls. Over the past 40 years, Legal Momentum has made historic contributions through litigation and public policy advocacy to advance economic and personal security for women. Our current programmatic work is focused on five strategic goals: increasing pathways into quality employment opportunities, protecting workplace rights of vulnerable populations, strengthening the safety net, expanding rights, justice, and services for victims of violence, and promoting gender equity.

MINCAVA (Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse) Electronic Clearinghouse
The MINCAVA Electronic Clearinghouse contains educational resources about all types of violence, including published research, funding sources, information about upcoming training events, individuals and organizations that can provide technical assistance, and lists of training manuals, videos and other resources.

National Center for Children Exposed to Violence
It is the mission of the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence (NCCEV) to increase the capacity of individuals and communities to reduce the incidence and impact of violence on children and families; to train and support the professionals who provide intervention and treatment to children and families affected by violence; and, to increase professional and public awareness of the effects of violence on children, families, communities and society.

National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence
The mission of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence (NCDSV) is to design, provide, and customize training and consultation, influence policy, promote collaboration and enhance diversity with the goal of ending domestic and sexual violence.

National Center on Elder Abuse
The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) serves as a national resource center dedicated to the prevention of elder mistreatment.  Since its inception, the NCEA has operated as a unique, multi-disciplinary consortium of equal partners with expertise in elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.  Not only have the NCEA’s collaborators come from various professional fields, the NCEA has proved a valuable resource to many professionals working in some way with older victims of elder mistreatment, including: adult protective services; national, state, and local aging networks; law enforcement; health care professionals; domestic violence networks; and others.

National Clearinghouse on Abuse Later in Life
The Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence created the National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL) in 1999 with funding from the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women. Since 2002, NCALL has been providing technical assistance to the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, Enhanced Training and Services to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women Later in Life Program. Today, NCALL is a nationally-recognized leader on program development, policy, technical assistance, and training that addresses the nexus between domestic violence, sexual assault, and elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. NCALL’s mission is to eliminate abuse in later life.  Through advocacy and education, NCALL strives to challenge and change the beliefs, policies, practices, and systems that allow abuse to occur and continue.  NCALL also aims to improve victim safety by increasing the quality and availability of victim services and support.

National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women
The National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women, a nonprofit organization founded in 1987, is a resource and advocacy center for battered women charged with crimes related to their battering. Through its work, the organization aims to increase justice for — and prevent further victimization of — arrested, convicted, or incarcerated battered women. The National Clearinghouse works with battered women who have been arrested and are facing trial, as well as those who are serving prison sentences. Staff provide customized technical assistance to battered women charged with crimes and to members of their defense teams (defense attorneys, advocates, expert witnesses and others). Staff also conduct training seminars for members of the criminal justice and advocacy communities, and for the general public, regarding the unique experiences of battered women defendants.

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
The Mission of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence is to organize for collective power by advancing transformative work, thinking and leadership of communities and individuals working to end the violence in our lives. NCADV’s work includes coalition building at the local, state, regional and national levels; support for the provision of community-based, non-violent alternatives – such as safe home and shelter programs – for battered women and their children; public education and technical assistance; policy development and innovative legislation; focus on the leadership of NCADV’s caucuses developed to represent the concerns of organizationally under represented groups; and efforts to eradicate social conditions which contribute to violence against women and children.

National Council on Child Abuse and Family Violence
NCCAFV provides prevention services by bringing together community and national stakeholders, volunteers and professionals to prevent intergenerational family violence: child abuse and neglect, spouse/partner abuse, and elder abuse and neglect.

National Domestic Violence Hotline
The National Domestic Violence Hotline creates access by providing 24-hour support through advocacy, safety planning, resources and hope to everyone affected by domestic violence. You can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−SAFE (7233) or TTY 1−800−787−3224.

National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence (Alianza)
Alianza is part of a national effort to address the domestic violence needs and concerns of under-served populations. Alianza’s mission is to promote understanding, initiate and sustain dialogue, and generate solutions that move toward the elimination of domestic violence affecting Latino communities, with an understanding of the sacredness of all relations and communities.

National Network to End Domestic Violence
The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), a social change organization, is dedicated to creating a social, political and economic environment in which violence against women no longer exists. It is a membership and advocacy organization of state domestic violence coalitions, allied organizations and supportive individuals that provides leadership on public policy related to domestic violence.

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV)
The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV) was established to inform, coordinate and strengthen public and private efforts to end domestic violence. Through technical assistance and training, development of resource materials and special projects, the NRCDV enhances and expands the domestic violence intervention and prevention efforts of communities and institutions. PCADV has received core funding to operate the NRCDV since 1993 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with supplemental funds from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support VAWnet, its national online resource center, and other private and public grants.

The Northwest Network of Bisexual, Transgender, Gay and Lesbian Survivors of Abuse
The NW Network increases our communities’ ability to support the self-determination and safety of bisexual, transgendered, lesbian and gay survivors of abuse through education, organizing and advocacy. We work within a broad liberation movement dedicated to social and economic justice, equality and respect for all people and the creation of loving, inclusive and accountable communities.

Resource Center on Child Protection and Custody
The Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Child Protection & Custody (CPC) is part of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges’ Family Violence Department and provides information and tangible assistance to those working in the field of domestic violence and child protection and custody. In addition, the CPC identifies and develops model policies, protocols, and programs that are sensitive to the legal, cultural, and psychological dynamics of child protection and custody cases involving family violence.

National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center
The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center is dedicated to restoring safety to Native women by upholding the sovereignty of Indian and Alaska Native tribes. It is a Native nonprofit organization that was created specifically to serve as the National Indian Resource Center (NIRC) Addressing Domestic Violence and Safety for Indian Women. Under this grant project and in compliance with statutory requirements, the NIWRC seeks to enhance the capacity of American Indian and Alaska Native (Native) tribes, Native Hawaiians, and Tribal and Native Hawaiian organizations to respond to domestic violence.

Southwest Center for Law and Policy
The Southwest Center For Law And Policy provides legal training and technical assistance to tribal communities and to organizations and agencies serving Native people. We are the host of the National Tribal Trial College providing free legal training for attorneys, judges, law enforcement, advocates and community members on: domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, dating/relationship violence, firearms, violence, abuse of elders, abuse of persons with disabilities, victims’ rights, sex offender registration and notification, forensic evidence, tribal court, and trial skills.

Stalking Resource Center
The Stalking Resource Center (SRC) was created in 2000 by the National Center for Victims of Crime in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women.  The mission of the Stalking Resource Center is to enhance the ability of professionals, organizations, and systems to effectively respond to stalking. The Stalking Resource Center envisions a future in which the criminal justice system and its many allied community partners will have the best tools to effectively collaborate and respond to stalking, improve victim safety and well-being, and hold offenders accountable.

Survivor Project
Survivor Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the needs of intersex and trans survivors of domestic and sexual violence through caring action, education and expanding access to resources and to opportunities for action. Since 1997, we have provided presentations, workshops, consultation, materials, information and referrals to many anti-violence organizations and universities across the country, as well as gathered information about issues faced by intersex and trans survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

U.S. Department of Justice, Violence Against Women Office
The mission of the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), a component of the U.S. Department of Justice, is to provide federal leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to reduce violence against women and administer justice for and strengthen services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. OVW administers financial and technical assistance to communities across the country that are developing programs, policies, and practices aimed at ending domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

Women’s Rural Advocacy Programs
Women’s Rural Advocacy Programs is a cooperative of Domestic Violence Community Advocacy programs serving southwestern Minnesota whose mission is to provide supportive services including crisis intervention, advocacy, and safe-housing, for women and their children victimized by domestic violence.

The following is not a comprehensive list of domestic violence organizations in Chicago and Illinois.

A Safe Place (Zion, IL)
As the leading advocate for eliminating domestic violence in northern Illinois, A Safe Place provides information and training about domestic violence to students, professionals and the general community. A Safe Place is the sole provider of services exclusively addressing domestic violence in Lake County, Illinois. Through multi-faceted programs we assist victims in transforming their lives after domestic violence, prevent future abuse by addressing its root cause through abuser intervention programs, and educate the community about domestic violence and how we can all be involved in its end.

Apna Ghar (Chicago, IL – North Side)
Apna Ghar provides emergency shelter and transitional housing, along with a range of supportive services, to survivors of domestic abuse in the Chicago area. All services are free and available to survivors regardless of race, religion, ethnic origin, or socioeconomic status. A large proportion of Apna Ghar’s clients are immigrants from India, Pakistan and other Asian and African countries. Some have suffered the traumas of war and dislocation in addition to domestic violence, and 85 percent are low-income. To meet clients’ needs, services are culturally appropriate and provided in multiple languages.

Between Friends (formerly Friends of Battered Women and Their Children) (Chicago, IL – North Side)
Between Friends is a nonprofit agency dedicated to breaking the cycle of domestic violence and building a community free of abuse. In 1986, Between Friends was founded by volunteers from the National Council of Jewish Women and the North Shore Junior League of Evanston as a small grantmaking body dedicated to raising funds for local domestic violence programs. Today, Between Friends’ comprehensive programs and services include a toll-free Crisis Line (800-603-HELP), direct crisis intervention services for individuals and families, counseling for victims and their children, court advocacy, and prevention and education efforts, including healthcare education and our extensive teen dating violence prevention program, REACH (Relationship Education: A Choice for Hope). Each year, we work with thousands of individuals through these programs, all offered free of charge.

Illinois Department of Human Services Bureau of Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention
The Bureau of Domestic & Sexual Violence Prevention supports comprehensive, community-based services to reduce the incidence of domestic and sexual violence and to ensure that survivors have acccess to safety, medical care, crisis support, legal advocacy and counseling services for themselves and their significant others. The Bureau also supports services to reduce and prevent domestic violence through education to abusers and assistance to the court system.

Center on Halsted (formerly Horizons Community Services) (Chicago, IL – North Side)
Center on Halsted LGBTQ Violence Resource Line was created in response to the growing need for victim assistance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive (LGBTQH) people. AVP is the only LGBTQ-specific program committed to addressing violence against and within LGBTQ communities in Illinois. It serves LGBTQ victims, witnesses, and friends of those who have experienced bias/discrimination, or domestic, sexual, hate or police violence in the Chicago area. The LGBTQ Violence Resource line is answered during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, and callers can expect a response within one business day. The line can provide callers with safety planning, information and referrals, personal, legal and media advocacy, public outreach and education, and reporting assistance. There are no fees for Violence Resource Line services. If you or someone you know has experienced discrimination, or domestic, sexual, hate or police violence, please contact the LGBTQ Violence Resource Line at 773-871-CARE (2273).

Chicago LGBT Youth Resource Guide
A guide containing further organizations promoting activism, drop-in programs, legal services, outreach and housing opportunities for youth in Chicago.

Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network (Chicago, IL – Downtown/Central)
The Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network (CMBWN) is a collaborative membership organization dedicated to improving the lives of those impacted by domestic violence through education, public policy and advocacy, and the connection of community members to direct service providers.

Connections for Abused Women and their Children (Chicago, IL)
Connections for Abused Women and their Children, formerly Chicago Abused Women Coalition, is committed to ending domestic violence. Using a self-help, empowerment approach, we provide a shelter for women and children, and counseling, advocacy, and a 24-hour hotline for people affected by domestic violence. We work for social change through education, service collaboration and institutional advocacy.

Crisis Center for South Suburbia (Tinley Park, IL)
The Crisis Center for South Suburbia is a non-profit community organization that provides emergency shelter and other essential services for individuals and families victimized by domestic violence and addresses the societal issues that contribute to domestic violenc

Family Rescue (Chicago, IL – South Side, Downtown/Central)
Family Rescue is dedicated to eliminating domestic violence in the Chicago community by providing comprehensive support services and shelter to victims of domestic violence; particularly to abused women and their children; engaging in advocacy to promote future system change and encouraging prevention through community education.

House of the Good Shepherd (Chicago, IL)
House of the Good Shepherd offers an intensive residential recovery program for women with children who are struggling to overcome the trauma of domestic violence.  We promote healing and recovery for the mothers and children we serve, and empower the women to become self-sufficient so they can live thriving lives, free from poverty and violence.  Our services include individual, family, and group counseling; classes in domestic violence, substance abuse, wellness, and positive parenting; a Learning Center where women work on education and job readiness; training in budgeting and money management to ensure financial stability; and an Aftercare Program with support groups and services that promote long-term recovery.  We welcome abuse survivors regardless of race, ethnic origin, economic status, religious affiliation, marital status, or sexual orientation.

LifeSpan Center for Legal Services & Advocacy (Chicago, IL – Downtown/Central & Des Plaines, IL)
Life Span provides comprehensive services for women and children enabling them to stay together without violence, and/or to help women eliminate the abuse from their lives, build upon their strengths, and become self-sufficient. Life Span is committed to providing victims of abuse a range of non-residential options by defining domestic violence as a crime as well as a social problem. Life Span is also committed to reducing community acceptance and tolerance of abuse and increasing community awareness of domestic violence and sexual violence. Life Span provides community education and technical assistance to ensure responsive and appropriate treatment and delivery of public services to victims of domestic and sexual violence. LifeSpan is a leader in the provision of expert services from counseling and criminal court advocacy to legal representation in all types of family law cases.

Metropolitan Family Services – Calumet Center (Chicago, IL – South Side)
Called the “Miracle on 103rd Street” by U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., Metropolitan Calumet has been serving families throughout the Greater Roseland community for more than 50 years.  Families struggling with poverty and violence turn to Metropolitan Calumet for vital and supportive services provided by professional, caring staff. Programs and services include: ACES (At Risk Counseling and Education Services), Additional Learning Opportunitites (ALO), Adoption Preservation, African American Initiative, CLASS (Community Leaders Achieving School Success), Community Schools, Counseling, Differential Response (Pathways to Strengthening & Supporting Families), Extended Family Support, Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS), Family Violence Intervention Program, Family Works, Legal Aid, Mentoring Towards Success, Mentors of Mothers (MOMs), MOMs Plus, Parents Plus, Project STRIVE, Safe Start, School-Based Services, Seniors Homeowners Program, Systems of Care, and Upward Bound.

Metropolitan Family Services – Midway Center (Chicago, IL – Southwest Side)
At Metropolitan’s Midway Center, families and parents find strength and caring counsel to overcome incredible challenges. Children thrive and learn in safe environments like our full-day Midway Children’s Center and youth center. Serving families and individuals of all ages since 1988. Programs and services include: Adoption Preservation, Community Schools, Counseling, Elder Abuse Investigation, Family Violence Intervention Program, Healthy Families, Legal Aid, Mentors of Mothers (MOMs), Parents Plus, School-Based Services, Senior Caregivers, The Children’s Center (Midway), and Youth Center.

Mujeres Latinas en Acción (Chicago, IL – Near South Side; North Riverside, IL)
Mujeres Latinas en Acción (Mujeres), a bilingual/bicultural agency, empowers Latinas  by providing services which reflect their values and culture and being and advocate on the issues that make a difference in their lives. Founded in 1973, Mujeres is the longest standing incorporated Latina organization in the nation. Over the years Mujeres has developed a comprehensive array of social services and advocacy initiatives that promote non-violence, reproductive health and leadership development. Mujeres offers services that support all programs, which include general intake, volunteer training and childcare.

Pillars (La Grange, Berwyn, Hickory Hills, Summit, Western Springs, and Hodgkins, IL)
Pillars is a not-for-profit social service organization formed through the July 2006 merger of Community Care Options (1928) and Pillars Community Services (1968). Pillars keeps our communities healthy and strong by providing quality, community-based services for over 10,000 individuals and families annually who are facing challenges and crisis. Pillars utilizes a community wraparound approach, offering a wide spectrum of fully-integrated services that collectively offer the strongest possible safety net.

Rainbow House (Chicago, IL)
Rainbow House is a not-for-profit agency dedicated to the goal of reducing the incidence of domestic violence and the devastating impact that often goes with it. As part of that effort, Rainbow House works with communities and families across Chicago to address the roots of violence. Since 1982, Rainbow House has provided critical intervention, compassionate care, legal assistance, therapeutic solutions, educational outreach and consistent, seamless support to women and children across the City of Chicago whose lives have been shattered by domestic violence.

Sarah’s Inn (Oak Park, IL)
Sarah’s Inn is committed to ensuring a violence-free society with guaranteed rights, protection under the law and equal access to services for all women and their families. We believe in the strength of the women and families we serve. We are dedicated to restoring and preserving the dignity and self-sufficiency of battered women and their families by providing a broad range of comprehensive services in the areas of safety, prevention, intervention, advocacy, education and support.

Turning Point (Woodstock, IL)
Turning Point is a domestic violence agency with a mission to confront violence against women and children in McHenry County, Illinois. We offer the following programs and services: 24-hour Crisis Intervention and Response, Emergency Shelter, Individual and Group Counseling, Trauma-Based Mental Health Services, Children’s Individual and Group Counseling, Partner Abuse Intervention Program (PAIP), Adolescent Alternatives, Parenting Program, Latino Bilingual/Bicultural Services, Legal and Non-Legal Advocacy, Information and Referral, Prevention and Community Education, and Emergency Food and Clothing Pantries.

Victim Advocacy Support Program (Rogers Park, IL)

Victim Advocacy Support Program (VASP) provides comfort and emotional support for victims of domestic violence and other violent crime. VASP guides them as they struggle with the aftermath of transgressions.  Services include:

  • Case management
  • Court support and assistance
  • Orders of Protection
  • Information and referral services
  • Law enforcement intervention
  • Criminal and civil justice advocacy

YWCA Evanston/North Shore (Evanston, IL)
The YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity. At the YWCA Evanston/North Shore, we carry out this mission by providing a wide range of programs and services to meet the needs of the unique and diverse communities we serve, including: domestic violence services; flying fish aquatics; building healthy relationships, violence prevention programming for youth; young women’s leadership; economic empowerment; and racial justice initiatives.

For a clickable list of state mental health departments, go to https://www.nasmhpd.org/content/mental-health-links

American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association, founded in 1844, is the world’s largest psychiatric organization.  It is a medical specialty society representing more than 36,000 psychiatric physicians from the United States and around the world. Its member physicians work together to ensure humane care and effective treatment for all persons with mental disorders, including intellectual developmental disorders and substance use disorders. APA is the voice and conscience of modern psychiatry.

American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association (APA) is a scientific and professional organization that represents psychology in the United States. With more than 154,000 members, APA is the largest association of psychologists worldwide. The mission of the APA is to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people’s lives.

Anxiety Disorders Association of America
The Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA) is the leader in education, training, and research for anxiety and stress-related disorders. The ADAA promotes professional and public awareness of anxiety and related disorders and their impact on people’s lives; encourages the advancement of scientific knowledge about causes and treatment of anxiety and related disorders; links people who need treatment with the health care professionals who provide it; helps people find appropriate treatment and develop self-help skills; and works to reduce the stigma surrounding anxiety and related disorders.

National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors (NACBHD)
NACBHDD is the only national voice for county and local behavioral health and developmental disability authorities in Washington, DC. Through education, policy analysis, and advocacy, NACBHDD brings the unique perspective of our members to Congress and the Executive Branch and promotes national policies that recognize and support the critical role counties play in caring for people affected by mental illness, addiction, and developmental disabilities. NACBHDD is also an active partner in efforts to improve access to, funding for, and quality of behavioral health services, especially those that serve the most vulnerable in our communities. Key issues include: protecting Medicaid coverage, ending the stigma of mental illness, better treatment for veterans, achieving parity in insurance coverage for behavioral health care, affordable housing and vocational training for those with mental illness or developmental disabilities, and many more.

National Association of Mental Health Planning and Advisory Councils (NAMHPAC)
NAMHPAC provides technical support, opportunities for people to share information and ideas across states, and a national voice on mental health planning issues. The people active in NAMHPAC and a small part-time staff write resource materials, organize trainings, and assist each other through telephone, fax and e-mail technical assistance. NAMHPAC provides support, policy development, knowledge products, and technical assistance to the nation’s State-based mental health planning and advisory councils. NAMHPAC is a non-profit organization whose membership is nation-wide and includes members form each State and Territory mental health planning council.

National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD)
The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) represents the public mental health service delivery system in all 50 states, 4 territories, and the District of Columbia. NASMHPD is the only national association that represents state mental health commissioners/directors and their agencies. NASMHPD informs its members on current and emerging public policy issues, educates on research findings and best practices, provides consultation and technical assistance, collaborates with key stakeholders, and facilitates state to state sharing.

National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is the unifying voice of America’s behavioral health organizations. Together with our 1,950 member organizations, we serve our nation’s most vulnerable citizens — more than 6 million adults and children with mental illnesses and addiction disorders. We are committed to providing comprehensive, quality care that affords every opportunity for recovery and inclusion in all aspects of community life. The National Council advocates for public policies in mental and behavioral health that ensure that people who are ill can access comprehensive healthcare services. And we offer state-of-the-science education and practice improvement resources so that services are efficient and effective.

Mental Health America
Mental Health America (formerly known as the National Mental Health Association) is the country’s leading nonprofit dedicated to helping ALL people live mentally healthier lives. With our more than 320 affiliates nationwide, we represent a growing movement of Americans who promote mental wellness for the health and well-being of the nation – everyday and in times of crisis. Mental Health America advances its mission by: educating the public about ways to preserve and strengthen its mental health; fighting for access to effective care and an end to discrimination against people with mental and addictive disorders; fostering innovation in research, practice, services and policy; and providing support to the 60+ million individuals and families living with mental health and substance use problems.

National Resource Center for Psychiatric Advance Directives (NRC-PAD)
The National Resource Center for Psychiatric Advance Directives provides comprehensive information on psychiatric advance directives, legal documents that people with mental illnesses can create to specify, in advance, their preferred course of treatment if they should experience a mental health crisis.  The website provides a state-by-state breakdown of relevant statutes and listings of local resources for patients and families, discussion forums, answers to frequently asked questions, testimonials from people who have used PADs, and information on the latest research findings concerning mental health issues.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities. In order to achieve this mission, SAMHSA has identified 8 Strategic Initiatives to focus the Agency’s work on improving lives and capitalizing on emerging opportunities (prevention of substance abuse and mental illness; trauma and justice; military families; recovery support; health reform; health information technology; data, outcomes, and quality; and public awareness and support).

Asian Human Services

Asian Human Services exists to provide quality, compassionate, and culturally competent services in over 28 languages to low-income Asian-American and immigrant and refugee communities in metropolitan Chicago.

The Center for Contextual Change

The Center for Contextual Change is a private group practice with three offices in the Chicago area. Our clinicians take a strengths based relational approach to working with individuals, couples and families utilizing a variety of interventions including DBT, CBT and Body Based Interventions such as Yoga and Somatic Experiencing. We offer sliding scale and pro bono sessions so that financial circumstance is not an obstacle to quality mental health services.

The Center on Halsted (formerly Horizons Community Services)

Center on Halsted Mental Health Services staff has been meeting the psychosocial needs of Chicago’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) community and allies for more than 25 years.  They provide a variety of services, including support, therapy, and educational groups. These services are meant to connect and unite LGBTQ men, women, families, and allies who share similar issues and struggles.

Chicago Department of Public Health – Division of Mental Health

The Chicago Department of Public Health makes Chicago a safer and healthier place by working with community partners to promote health, prevent disease, reduce environmental hazards and ensure access to health care for all Chicagoans.

Chicago LGBT Youth Resource Guide

A guide containing further organizations promoting activism, drop-in programs, legal services, outreach and housing opportunities for youth in Chicago.

Chicago Women’s Health Center

Chicago Women’s Health Center (CWHC) is a collective that includes health care providers, counselors, outreach health educators, and doctors who work together to provide health education and affordable, respectful, and accessible gynecological and mental health care to women and trans people in the Chicago area.

Community Counseling Centers of Chicago

Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4), a behavioral health advocate and social service provider, offers quality, comprehensive customer-oriented services tailored to the diversity of its consumers.  C4 helps people overcome mental health problems, substance use disorders and the trauma of sexual assault and abuse.

Haymarket Center

Haymarket Center was founded in 1975, as a non-profit agency, to bring about a change in the public perception of alcoholism and its treatment. Since then, Haymarket Center has grown into a comprehensive alcohol and other drug treatment organization, licensed by the state of Illinois, which receives funding from private, city, state, and federal agencies.

Heartland Alliance

Heartland Alliance advances the human rights and responds to the human needs of endangered populations—particularly the poor, the isolated, and the displaced—through the provision of comprehensive and respectful services and the promotion of permanent solutions leading to a more just global society.

Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Mental Health

The Division of Mental Health (DMH) provides a wide variety of services at all levels for adults and children throughout the state. These services are offered through hundreds of DMH partners called “Providers” (i.e. mental health clinics, agencies and hospitals). Providers serve as ‘front doors’ to enter the publicly funded system of mental health care.

Illinois Psychiatric Society

To advocate for the highest quality care for patients with psychiatric disorders which include substance use disorders; to support public and private resources for treatment, research, and education; and, to represent the profession of psychiatry and serve the needs of its membership.

Howard Brown Health Center (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender health center)

Howard Brown Health Center provides mental health services specifically tailored for the LGBTQ community, through counseling and psychotherapy available in our Behavioral Health Services department. Individual, couples, family, and group therapies are provided by our team of experienced counselors, social workers, and psychologists.

Live Oak

Live Oak is a group of psychotherapists and consultants who provide counseling and educational services that enhance the emotional and psychological well being of individuals, families, organizations and communities.

Mental Health Association of Illinois

MHAI is dedicated to promoting mental health, working for the prevention of mental illnesses and improving care and treatment for persons suffering from mental and emotional disorders.

Metropolitan Family Services

The Metropolitan Family Services provide and mobilize the services needed to strengthen families and communities.  They offer a wide variety of services through our staff, which includes licensed clinical social workers and counselors, case managers, mental health professionals, early childhood educators and lawyers.

Sage Community Health Collective

Sage Community Health Collective is dedicated to providing trauma-informed, body positive and harm reductionist healing services.  Their collective is built around the tenets of mutual respect, actual capacity, deep compassion, and love for each other and our community.

Thresholds

Thresholds assists and inspires people with severe mental illnesses to reclaim their lives by providing the supports, skills, and the respectful encouragement that they need to achieve hopeful and successful futures.

Womencare Counseling Center

Within a relational model, Womencare supports adults, adolescents, couples, families, and communities in the face of trauma, loss, and life transitions to restore life’s meaning and the capacity to form healthy relationships based on mutuality, respect, accountability and caring.

Shery Mead Consulting
After she was threatened with the loss of custody of her children, Shery, a former consumer of mental health services, founded a peer organization whose focus was specifically “unlearning the mental patient role” and created New Hampshire’s first peer-run crisis respite program.  She has developed training for judges and lawyers about making reasonable custody decisions in cases where one parent has a psychiatric diagnosis.  Shery offers a broad range of training based on individual needs. These may include training in trauma-informed peer support, warmline skills, peer run crisis alternatives, evaluation and research training (with Dr. Cheryl MacNeil), and training for professionals in recovery-based practice.

Pat Deegan and Associates, LLC
Pat Deegan & Associates, LLC is a consumer/survivor/ex-patient run organization.  Its mission is to improve the personal, social, economic and cultural well being of people with psychiatric disabilities through ex-patient directed study and research.  The organization conducts research to broaden the knowledge of recovery, resilience, empowerment and healing; promote self-determination for people with disabilities; create new resources, including self-help and peer support materials; amplify the voice and support initiatives of people of color, women, children and youth, and gay men and lesbians who have been diagnosed with mental illness; discover, interpret and preserve the historical perspective and collective heritage of people receiving services in mental health systems; and investigate problems with and propose solutions to the forces that oppress and devalue people with disabilities.

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
The mission of the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is to protect and advance the rights of adults and children who have mental disabilities. The Center envisions an America where people who have mental illnesses or developmental disabilities exercise their own life choices and have access to the resources that enable them to participate fully in their communities.

First Nations Behavioral Health Association (FNBHA)
FNBHA was established to provide an organization for Native American indigenous people to advocate for the mental well being of Native peoples by increasing the knowledge and awareness of issues impacting Native mental health. The purpose of FNBHA is to provide national leadership to all groups, institutions, and individuals that plan, provide, and access Native American behavioral health services.

National Alliance of Multi-Ethnic Behavioral Health Associations
NAMBHA is a non-profit organization representing a myriad of racial/ethnic behavioral health associations. Its purpose is to bring organizations representing diverse people of color together as a single voice to increase the effectiveness of advocacy, ensure a positive impact on the use of resources, and to collectively share expertise on behavioral health issues that significantly affect people of color. The mission of NAMBHA is to collectively promote the behavioral well-being and full potential of people of color and to eliminate disparities in behavioral health services and treatment through policy reform, culturally appropriate research and evaluation, systems change and transformation, acquisition and distribution of resources, and consumer involvement.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
NAMI is a grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons living with serious mental illness and their families. NAMI is dedicated to the eradication of mental illnesses and to the improvement of the quality of life of all whose lives are affected by mental illness.

National Latino Behavioral Health Association (NLBHA)
NLBHA was established to fill a need for a unified national voice for Latino populations in the behavioral health arena and to bring attention to the disparities that exist in areas of access, utilization, practice-based research, and adequately trained personnel. The mission NLBHA is to provide national leadership for the advancement of Latino behavioral health services.

National Mental Health Association (NMHA)
NMHA, a nonprofit organization addressing all aspects of mental health and mental illness, works to improve the mental health of all Americans, especially the 54 million individuals with mental disorders, through advocacy, education, research and service.

National Disability Rights Network
The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) is the nonprofit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and the Client Assistance Programs (CAP) for individuals with disabilities. Through training and technical assistance, legal support, and legislative advocacy, NDRN works to create a society in which people with disabilities are afforded equality of opportunity and are able to fully participate by exercising choice and self-determination.

→ Click here for a list of NDRN member organizations in every state and U.S. territory.

Adaptive Environments
Adaptive Environments promotes design that works for everyone across the spectrum of ability and age and enhances human experience.  AE provides access to information and guidance about the civil rights laws and codes and education and consultation about strategies, precedents, and best practices to help design places, things, communication, and policy that integrate solutions to the reality of human diversity.

Disability Rights International
Disability Rights International is dedicated to promoting the human rights and full participation in society of people with disabilities worldwide. Disability Rights International trains and supports advocates seeking legal and service system reform and assists governments in developing laws and policies to promote community integration and human rights enforcement for people with mental disabilities.

Vera Institute of Justice – Accessing Safety Initiative
To foster collaboration and cross-learning and to better ensure the safety of victims with disabilities and Deaf victims, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) will fund six to ten pilot sites with local agencies that serve people with disabilities and local agencies that serve victims of violence.  Vera, in partnership with OVW, has launched the Accessing Safety Initiative (ASI), which works to enhance the capacity of to address the needs of women with disabilities and deaf women by providing education and technical assistance to the service providers in the grantee communities. Vera’s Accessing Safety Initiative helps its partner jurisdictions—states and cities—enhance the capacity of their social services and criminal justice systems to assist women with disabilities & Deaf women who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

World Health Organization – Definition of Disability
World Health Assembly Resolution 58.23 calls on the World Health Organization to work towards ensuring equal opportunities and promotion of human rights for people with disabilities, especially those who are poor.

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS)
ISTSS is an international multidisciplinary, professional membership organization that promotes advancement and exchange of knowledge about severe stress and trauma. This includes understanding the scope and consequences of traumatic exposure, preventing traumatic events and ameliorating their consequences, and advocating for the field of traumatic stress.  ISTSS offers research, resources, professional and public education, and treatment guidelines.

National Center for PTSD
The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was created within the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1989, in response to a Congressional mandate to address the needs of veterans with military-related PTSD. Its mission is advance the clinical care and social welfare of America’s veterans through research, education, and training in the science, diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD and stress-related disorders. The website is intended to serve as an educational resource concerning PTSD and other enduring consequences of traumatic stress.

PILOTS Database
The PILOTS database is an electronic index to the worldwide literature on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental-health consequences of exposure to traumatic events.  It is produced by the National Center for PTSD, and is available to the public on computer systems maintained by Dartmouth College.  There is no charge for using the database, and no account or password is required.

SanctuaryWeb.com
SanctuaryWeb is the web site of CommunityWorks, a consultative, educational and organizational development company focusing on reducing the potential for conflict and violence in treatment settings, at school, or in the workplace using The Sanctuary Model®.

Sidran Institute
The Sidran Institute, is devoted to helping people who have experienced traumatic life events and to promote greater understanding of: early recognition and treatment of trauma-related stress in children; understanding of trauma and its long-term effect on adults; strategies leading to greatest success in self-help recovery for trauma survivors; clinical methods and practices leading to greatest success in aiding trauma victims; and development of public policy initiatives that are responsive to the needs of adult and child survivors of traumatic events.



National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Established by Congress in 2000, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) is a unique collaboration of academic and community-based service centers whose mission is to raise the standard of care and increase access to services for traumatized children and their families across the United States. Combining knowledge of child development, expertise in the full range of child traumatic experiences, and attention to cultural perspectives, the NCTSN serves as a national resource for developing and disseminating evidence-based interventions, trauma-informed services, and public and professional education.

Safe Start Initiative
The Safe Start Initiative is funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The goal of the Safe Start Initiative is to broaden the knowledge of and promote community investment in evidence-based strategies for reducing the impact of children’s exposure to violence.