Envision Unlimited Blog

Mental illness is challenging to navigate, both for the people who live with it and their loved ones. Often, it can be difficult for friends or family members to know how to best help someone who is experiencing poor mental health. Should you give them space? Check in with them more often? Ask how they're doing, or offer a distraction?

With the recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day each year, we are always reminded of Dr. King’s support for a culture that protects and nourishes every community and every person. He had an important vision for a free and equal world and dedicated himself to expanding opportunity, ending all forms of discrimination, and pursuing social justice.

Creative outlets are beneficial for everyone. Whether it's crafting, cooking, dancing, or even decorating your home, creativity helps us relax, explore new perspectives, and express ourselves. Aside from their recreational benefits, creative activities can be exceptionally impactful and empowering for individuals with mental illness or developmental disabilities.

Also known as psychiatric rehabilitation, psychosocial rehabilitation focuses on restoring functional independence to people who live with mental illness. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), it is "the process of enhancing the recovery of individuals with severe mental illness by teaching or restoring psychological, behavioral, social, and vocational skills that will enable them to function in their community."

If you've been feeling depressed, anxious, or stressed lately, you're not alone. According to statistics recently released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the number of adults receiving mental treatment increased from 2019 to 2021.

There's a mental health crisis in our country and Envision Unlimited continues to step up with innovative approaches to help build better mental wellness for an often-overlooked population of people with disabilities.

For more than four years, Mark Daniels has been a champion of and mentor for Envision Unlimited members sharing his passion for the arts at the Westtown Center with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He has launched a recurring cartoon club, hosted field trips to the Art Institute and other Chicago-area art museums and exhibits, and most recently inspiring members to try a new physical challenge and get themselves swinging (literally) their golf clubs at the driving range.

For all of us at Envision Unlimited, 2022 has been a year of breakouts. A strong comeback from challenges we overcame during the pandemic, expanding our housing programs, innovative growth of our mental health services, record success with our employment programs, supportive and resilient new staff who have joined us, and the generous donors who continue to support our work have strengthened our foundation.

Envision Unlimited, a full spectrum of care organization that provides support to people with intellectual, development and psychiatric disabilities in Chicagoland and Central Illinois, has welcomed 110 new individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and more than 80 direct service staff with the acquisition of residential housing formerly under management of St. Coletta’s of Illinois.

Our staff is the best. That includes everyone from our direct service providers who care for our members to our clinical therapists in Mental Health Services, and from our program directors at our Day Centers to our board-certified behavior analysts in Autism Services.