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Throughout its 50-year history, Thresholds has created innovative, award-winning programs that honor and respect people with mental illnesses and helps give them the tools to create a meaningful life. Strong leadership, an enduring vision, and a solid belief in the resilience and value of all individuals has made Thresholds one of the nation’s most successful and respected provider of services for people with severe mental illness.
Before the 1960s, there were few treatments for mental illness. People with psychiatric disabilities were often hospitalized and heavily sedated for lengthy periods, stripping them of their lives, and often, their humanity.
Since its founding in 1959, Thresholds has worked to challenge and change those practices. As the agency’s mission statement says, "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."
Everyone contributes to society. Everyone should live a life of value, self-respect, compassion, dignity. Everyone has untapped potential, with gifts and skills to develop.
Those guiding principles have enabled Thresholds to question and challenge the accepted practices of the times, to lead the mental health field in new kinds of treatments, and to continuously stretch the boundaries of mental health care. As a result, Thresholds has developed innovative programs that have served as nationwide models.
Strong vision and leadership have guided Thresholds from the beginning. Throughout its history, Thresholds has established innovative programs that often serve as models for others around the world.
Reach, Access and Impact
Thresholds is Illinois’ oldest and largest organization delivering services to people with severe mental illness. For 50 years, Thresholds has served the greater Chicagoland community with more than 100 program locations in the metropolitan Chicago area and Kankakee and McHenry counties. With its diverse array of services, Thresholds reaches the most vulnerable populations in the area. Whether we are helping someone experiencing homelessness, a deaf person with mental illness, someone struggling with both mental illness and addiction, or an individual looking for education and employment, Thresholds serves its members with compassionate care and innovative programs. More than 7,000 people annually depend on Thresholds to help reclaim their lives and live more independently.
Our organization serves people with severe and persistent mental illness with a range of programs designed with the individual’s recovery as a goal. Thresholds provides services in a host of area neighborhoods where access to other services is sometimes unavailable or difficult to obtain. That access to excellence in service is enhanced by a highly trained staff, the use of cutting-edge treatments and the Thresholds mission of providing supports and skills needed to achieve hopeful and successful futures.
The impact of Thresholds’ successes with its members can be measured in many ways. Whether a safe place to live, a new sense of self, education or a job, the impact on the lives of Thresholds’ work with its members is immense. The Thresholds team of more than 500 clinical staff provides more than a million service hours of care annually. Nearly 800 Thresholds members reside in agency housing, and outreach staff make another 60,000 visits to members living in the community. Within one year of joining a Thresholds program, 90 percent of Thresholds’ members remain out of costly hospital care and nursing home care.
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Be Inspired
Thresholds has never been a more important resource. Watch this inspiring video to hear more about our programs, services and recovery stories. Watch Video
Community Partners
Thresholds depends on partners in the community – people just like you. Find out more about how to join the Thresholds community by clicking here!
Donate Today
With your support, we can expand our reach, improve our access to care, and strengthen the impact of every dollar spent on programs.
Our Mission
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.
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