Trilogy, Inc. awarded grant to expand integrated healthcare clinic

Chicago — Trilogy, Inc., a behavioral healthcare organization serving people in recovery from serious mental illness, is the recipient of a four-year federal grant from the national Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced John Mayes, President and CEO of Trilogy, Inc. Trilogy, located in the Chicago community of Rogers Park, celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2011. The organization provides a full-range of rehabilitation services including psychological and psychiatric services, crisis services, and integrated health treatment to this vulnerable population. Trilogy will partner with another Chicago organization, Heartland International Health Center (HIHC), to expand their existing Integrated Healthcare Clinic to provide access to primary healthcare and behavioral health services for individuals with mental illnesses, substance abuse disorders and other medical needs. HIHC has a proven track record of providing comprehensive, culturally competent healthcare to residents of the north side of Chicago.

"This government grant comes at a crucial time," said Mayes. "Finding new funding sources, private and public, can be an overwhelming challenge. We are thankful to SAMHSA for recognizing the need to provide a continuum of services that addresses the multiple needs of individuals living with mental illness." With Illinois' budget woes reaching a state of critical mass, many organizations serving the state's poor, elderly, homeless, sick and disabled citizens are struggling to keep their doors open and provide a modicum of services so direly needed by their clients. It is the belief of Trilogy and HIHC that Integrated Healthcare is the model that best serves the client and the community. The new Trilogy Heartland Healthcare Home project will adopt a holistic approach to treatment in order to help reduce barriers to primary healthcare and improve the overall quality of life for more than 400 adults with serious mental illness each year.

The funding was publicly announced at Trilogy's annual Open House in October. Nearly 200 people, most of them clients with family members, were overcome by joy as the room erupted into a combination of applause and congratulations along with sighs of relief. The SAMHSA grant provides $1.5 million in funding over four years and began on October 1st.

Gwenn Rausch, Executive Director and CEO of Heartland International Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center, said, "We are proud to work with Trilogy to provide integrated healthcare services. This funding will allow us to address multiple medical problems that we see in our communities such as diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease." She added that this collaboration is an example of how like-mission organizations can pool resources and "form stronger, more impactful and creative approaches" to address the needs of individuals and families during this time of recession.

"The integration of primary and mental healthcare provides an effective solution to this problem by helping to greatly reduce these barriers to care and ultimately produces better health outcomes than traditional methods of care," she added.