After four years of pushing for public funding to purchase a mobile clinic to serve people in need throughout the south suburbs, The Link and Option Center’s Twin Green decided to take matters into her own hands.
“I couldn’t wait on that,” Green said Wednesday during the unveiling of the large bus that aims to provide 2,000 mental health screenings and 300 to 500 maternal health visits each year, starting this month.
Green, through her own efforts and private donations, raised the $600,000 needed to launch the mobile clinic, though she is still pushing elected officials to help raise another $900,000 to keep it staffed and operating for years to come.
The mobile clinic, which Green nicknamed Carry, will rotate through high-need areas in the south suburbs, including Harvey, Dolton, Riverdale, Markham, Robbins, Chicago Heights, South Holland and Hazel Crest, four days a week.
Green said multiple municipalities and healthcare centers agreed to host the mobile clinic, including Thornton Township, Rich Township and Cook County Health.
The mobile clinic is equipped to provide prenatal screenings, maternal wellness checks, mental health assessments, postpartum depression screening, addiction support, diabetes and hypertension monitoring, trauma‑informed counseling and referrals to OB‑GYNs and hospitals to people regardless of insurance coverage.
A mobile crisis response van will accompany the clinic to provide immediate crisis behavioral health support when needed.
Green said witnessing changes over the past two decades in the community where she lives and works inspired the idea for a mobile clinic. She was especially moved as she saw people’s mental health suffering during and following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At the local grocery store, (people) would be out, the children in front of the door asking for food, money to buy food, and it was just saddening to see,” Green said.
President and CEO of The Link and Option Center Twin Green speaks Wednesday about a mobile clinic recently purchased to provide free mental health services throughout Chicago’s south suburbs and far South Side. (Olivia Stevens/Daily Southtown)
She said she would give people her contact information and ask them to reach out to her for support but knew her efforts would be more successful if she could remove barriers to care by bringing the services to them.
“These are the very people we need to reach, the ones that are resistant to coming into brick and mortar facilities,” Green said. “Turning a high effort visit into a low effort visit — this is what it’s about — bringing something attractive, fluid, well-equipped, well-staffed and ready to serve.”
State Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin, state Sen. Michael Hastings, Rich Township Supervisor Calvin Jordan, and Cook County Commissioners Kisha McCaskill and Donna Miller spoke in support of the clinic Wednesday.
The Link and Option Center, based in South Holland, launched a mobile clinic to provide mental and maternal health services. (Olivia Stevens/Daily Southtown)
Miller, who in March won the Democratic primary to represent Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District, highlighted a continued need for more Black healthcare professionals, with 2023 data from the Association of American Medical Colleges showing fewer than 6% of doctors in the United States identify as Black or African American.
“We need to train the next generation to be the providers of that healthcare for our community,” she said.
Miller said she will continue to push for funding at the federal level to address community mental health needs.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com