The Grow Wellness Foundation, NFP is a Naperville, IL-based non-profit, with a mission of expanding community mental health support and addressing mental health barriers such as stigma, accessibility, and the integration of mental health services into primary care.
Since 2022, the Foundation has provided greater accessibility to mental health and wellness services for underserved or marginalized populations through heavily subsidized individual and family therapy services. At the heart of this work is the value of our collaboration with other for-profit and not-for-profit mental wellness providers, as well as community leaders, to provide mental health support to those lacking access, from the Foundation’s work in schools to support from local businesses and community organizations. The Foundation’s fundamental belief is that mental health access is not a privilege, but a right for all.
It takes a village to build mental health awareness and response strategies that will make a lasting impact, and it has been evident that the Organization’s supporters and partners have made a world of a difference in moving the needle.
Grow Wellness Foundation helps those who cannot afford services
Along those lines, in the last year, the Grow Wellness Foundation, NFP has provided funding for therapy hours for 117 clients throughout DuPage, Kendall & Kane Counties, including individuals from Naperville, Aurora, Downers Grove, Lombard, Warrenville, Wheaton, Joliet, Lisle, Bolingbrook, and Woodridge. The Foundation’s on-site Naperville-based therapy offerings focus on those ages 12+ who are facing challenges including depression, anxiety, trauma, self-esteem issues, loss, grief, relationship issues, life transitions, multicultural issues, and more.
The Foundation has also provided on-site therapeutic services in the form of individual therapy sessions and therapy groups for more than 200 High School and Middle School students in Aurora and Naperville, as well as Community Partnerships serving Little Friends, Max’s Mission, and North Central College.
The Foundation hopes to expand services in the future
In the years ahead, the Foundation seeks to further expand its impact across Naperville and adjacent communities, both in providing more one-on-one therapy offerings as well as expanding programming across community schools. In addition, the goal is to continue to expand the reach of strategic partnerships with other organizations with like-minded missions to provide coordinated and comprehensive mental wellness community resource offerings and events, and knowledge sharing to identify key community mental health pain points and gaps.
Funding sources for the Foundation range from grant funding to corporate and individual donors to organized fundraising events. To date, all program funding received goes directly to service delivery to maximize community benefit.
The Grow Wellness Foundation’s overhead expenses are minimal, at most, due to the volunteering of time by those so tremendously passionate about their mission, as well as a result of the efforts of their strategic partners. In addition, all proceeds from Grow Well Yoga + Barre + Fitness in Naperville’s 5th Avenue Station building are directly funneled through the foundation to provide additional support for community mental health programming.
Spotlight Guests: Adam Ratner, Co-Executive Director, and Zac Larson, Board Member
