Wayne Township Mental Health Board

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Wayne Township Mental Health Board

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Wayne Township Mental Health Board funds and supports local services for mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance use prevention/treatment for Wayne Township residents.

09/17/2026

School has been back about three weeks now, which means the newness has worn off.

This is usually when things start showing. The first couple weeks run on adrenaline and fresh notebooks. Week three is when the real schedule sets in, when the friend group shakes out, and when a kid who is struggling stops being able to mask it.

It's true for adults too. Whatever you told yourself you'd do differently this fall, you know by now whether it's actually working.

So, a mid-September check-in, for you and for the people in your house:

Is anybody running on less sleep than they need?
Has anyone gone quieter than usual?
Is the schedule you built in August actually livable, or are you just powering through it?

Three weeks is early enough to adjust. Dropping one activity, moving bedtime, or asking for help now is a lot easier than doing it in November when everyone is depleted.

You're allowed to change the plan.

09/11/2026

Today we remember September 11, 2001, and everyone lost that day.

We also want to recognize a group that carries something specific: the first responders, veterans, and service members who ran toward it then, and the ones who still do that work in our community every day.

Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and dispatchers see things most people never will, and they're expected to go back out on the next call. Veterans carry experiences that don't translate easily to civilian life. For both groups, the culture has often been to absorb it and say nothing.

That's changing, and it should keep changing.

If you serve or have served: asking for support is not a weakness and it is not a career risk in the way it once was. You spent your career showing up for other people. You're allowed to let someone show up for you.

Veterans Crisis Line: call 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Available 24/7, and you don't need to be enrolled in VA benefits.

Fox Valley Veterans Council provides emergency support for area veterans and their families. foxvalleyveterans.org.

To the first responders and veterans in Wayne Township: thank you. And please take care of yourselves too.

09/10/2026

Today is World Su***de Prevention Day.

If you're reading this and things have felt unbearable lately, we want to say a few things plainly.

You are not a burden. The people who love you would rather be inconvenienced a hundred times than lose you once.

What you're feeling right now is not permanent, even though it feels permanent. That feeling is a symptom, not a forecast.

And you do not have to be in crisis to reach out. You just have to be tired of carrying it alone.

988 is the Su***de and Crisis Lifeline. Call or text, any time, free and confidential. Veterans can call 988 and press 1.

WAYS offers counseling for Wayne Township residents on a sliding scale. 630-231-7166.

NAMI DuPage provides support and education for individuals and families. namidupage.org.

And to everyone who has lost someone: today is hard, and we're thinking of you. You are not alone in it either.

One more thing. If somebody comes to mind while you're reading this, text them. Right now, before you scroll. It takes ten seconds and you will never regret having done it.

09/09/2026

Tomorrow is World Su***de Prevention Day. Before we get there, here's the thing most people get stuck on.

You suspect someone is struggling. You don't know what to say. So you say nothing, and you hope you're wrong.

Here's what helps: ask directly.

"Are you thinking about su***de?"

That question feels enormous to ask. But asking does not plant the idea, and it does not make things worse. Research has been clear on this for years. What it actually does is give someone permission to stop pretending.

If the answer is yes:

Stay calm. Your reaction tells them whether it's safe to keep talking.

Don't argue, minimize, or rush to fix it. "That sounds really heavy" beats "but you have so much to live for."

Don't leave them alone, and don't promise to keep it secret.

Help them connect to support. Call or text 988 together, right there with them.

You are not expected to be a therapist. You're expected to be a person who noticed and stayed. That's the part that matters, and almost anyone can do it.

***dePreventionMonth #988

09/07/2026

Happy Labor Day, Wayne Township.

The holiday exists because people fought for the idea that work should have limits. That a person is more than their output, and that rest is something you're owed rather than something you earn after everything else is finished.

That fight isn't really over. Most of us still carry the quiet belief that resting means falling behind.

So today, if you have the day off, actually take it. Don't spend it catching up on the work you didn't finish last week.

And if you're working today, and plenty of people are, thank you. The nurses, the retail and restaurant staff, the drivers, the first responders. Holidays look different when your job doesn't stop for them.

Rest is not laziness. It's maintenance. You cannot pour from an empty cup, and you cannot run on empty forever without something giving.

Take the day if you've got it.

09/04/2026

Labor Day weekend is here, and holiday weekends are more complicated than the ads suggest.

For some people it's a break they badly need. For others it's three days with nothing scheduled and too much quiet, or a house full of family that's harder than being alone, or a reminder of someone who isn't at the table this year.

All of those are normal. None of them mean something is wrong with you.

Two small things worth doing before Monday:

Check in with one person you haven't heard from lately. A text is enough. "Thinking of you, no need to reply" asks nothing of them and still lands.

And decide now who you'd reach out to if the weekend got heavy. Having the name ready makes the call easier to make.

Support does not close for the holiday. 988 is available all weekend, 24 hours a day, free and confidential.

Have a good one, Wayne Township. Take care of each other.

09/02/2026

September is Su***de Prevention Awareness Month, and it is also National Recovery Month.

Both of those come down to the same idea: people can get through things that feel unsurvivable, and they are far more likely to when somebody notices and stays.

This month we're going to talk about how to ask someone directly if they're okay, what to do when the answer is no, what recovery actually looks like day to day, and where support exists right here in Wayne Township.

Some of it will be hard to read. We're going to do it anyway, because silence has never protected anyone.

If today is a heavy day for you: 988 is free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day. Call or text.

And if today is a good day, that counts too. Keep going.

08/31/2026

Today is International Overdose Awareness Day.

It's a day to remember the people we've lost, to acknowledge the families still carrying that grief, and to talk honestly about something that has touched more households in DuPage County than most people realize.

Overdose deaths are preventable. That's the whole reason this day exists.

Here's what you can do:

Carry naloxone. Also called Narcan, it's a nasal spray that reverses an opioid overdose. It's free through the DuPage Narcan Program, and there's a pickup location right here in our township at the Bartlett Police Department, 228 S. Main Street. You can also request a kit by mail. You do not need a prescription, and you do not need to explain why you want one.

Know it works on anyone. Naloxone cannot hurt someone who is not overdosing. If you're not sure, use it.

Know where to call. The Illinois Helpline for Opioids and Other Substances is 1-833-2FINDHELP, free and available 24/7. For treatment in our area, Serenity House and Haymarket Center are both listed on our resources page.

Talk about it. Stigma is what keeps people from asking for help and keeps families silent in their grief. Every conversation makes the next one easier.

To everyone remembering someone today: we're holding that with you. Your person was more than how they died.

If you're struggling right now, call or text 988. Any time.

Tomorrow begins September, which is Su***de Prevention Awareness Month. We'll be here for that conversation too.

08/30/2026

Next Monday is International Overdose Awareness Day. Before we get there, we want to say something plainly.

Recovery is possible. People do get better.

Substance use disorder is a health condition, not a moral failure. We know that from the research, and we know it from the thousands of people in DuPage County living in recovery right now, working jobs, raising kids, showing up.

But shame keeps people from asking for help, and shame is often the thing that kills. When someone believes they are a lost cause, they stop reaching out. When they believe getting better is possible, they call somebody.

So if you're struggling, or you love someone who is: there is help in this area.

Serenity House has provided substance use treatment across Chicagoland for over 30 years.

Haymarket Center offers comprehensive behavioral health and substance use services.

Both are listed on the Wayne Township Mental Health Board resources page.

And if you're in crisis right now, call or text 988. Any time, free, confidential.

Nobody is beyond help. Not the person you're worried about, and not you.

08/26/2026

Everyone's back on a schedule now. School, work, practices, meetings, the whole machine running again.

This is usually when burnout starts building, and it rarely shows up as one dramatic moment. It shows up as small things:

You're tired even after you sleep. Small problems feel bigger than they should. You're going through the motions at work. You've stopped doing the things you actually enjoy because there's no room left. You're short with the people you love most, which then makes you feel guilty, which is one more thing to carry.

Burnout is not a character flaw and it is not a sign you can't handle your life. It's what happens when the demands stay high and the recovery time stays at zero.

The fix is not a spa day. It's finding one thing you can let go of.

Look at your next two weeks. Find one commitment you said yes to out of obligation and let it go. One. You do not owe anyone an explanation beyond "I can't take that on right now."

That sentence is a complete sentence.

Address

27W031 North Avenue
West Chicago, IL
60185

Website

https://www.waynetownshipmhb.com/

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