Centerstone Receives Grant from Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation to Form Giant Steps Toward Wellness for Giant City School

Centerstone, a national leader in behavioral health care, received a $300,000 grant from the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation’s Covid School Wellness Initiative to provide mental and emotional health services to Giant City School District students, families and school staff who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The social and emotional effects of the pandemic on adults and children are likely to be long-lasting,” said Belinda Hill, Giant City school superintendent/principal. “A new era of school wellness is evolving to support students and families.”

Overcoming the negative effects of isolation, fear and lack of social interaction in children will be a shared responsibility between schools and families. To that end, Centerstone and the school created “Giant Steps toward Wellness,” a program that will focus on individual recovery and mental health services.

The goals of “Giant Steps toward Wellness” include:

• Promotion of citizenship to students through social work services
• Ongoing support and education for parents and school staff
• Promotion of well-being to the entire school system
• Increasing support for teachers and staff to aid in overcoming emotional issues school-wide
• Providing a public relations specialist to communicate with families and staff to increase feelings of support and knowledge

“The Covid School Wellness Initiative is an attempt by ILCHF to address emotional stress and distress caused by the pandemic,” said Amy Starin, PhD, LCSW, ILCHF’s Senior Program Officer for Mental Health. “What is unique about it is that we encouraged applicants to address the emotional wellness of not only children, but also parents, caregivers and school staff.”

Centerstone is a nonprofit health system providing mental health and substance use disorder treatments. Centerstone’s mission is delivering care that changes people’s lives and they achieve that mission through a robust offering of services and programs, including (but not limited to):

• Mental health counseling
• Addiction recovery
• Children and family services
• Residential care
• Crisis services
• Intellectual and developmental disabilities services
• Therapeutic foster care

Centerstone provides its services nationally through the operation of outpatient clinics, residential programs, the use of telehealth and an inpatient hospital. We also feature specialized programs for the military community, employee assistance programs (EAP), and are a partner of the National Football League’s NFL Life Line. Centerstone’s Research Institute provides guidance through research and technology, leveraging the best practices for use in all our communities. Centerstone’s Foundation secures philanthropic resources to support the work and mission of delivering care that changes people’s lives