On most days, the brown brick bungalow on the campus of Evanston’s St. Francis Hospital offers a place of respite for adults experiencing the pain of a personal or mental health crisis.
On Wednesday, Oct. 2, however, there were cupcakes. Staff, donors and board leadership from Turning Point Behavioral Health came out to celebrate the one-year anniversary of The Living Room, a drop-in center for people who need a listening ear and more.
As the latest of their peer support facilities celebrates its first-year milestone, staff at Turning Point Behavioral Health say they’re committed to supporting their clients even as federal cuts threaten health insurance access.
Some of those who come to The Living Room are in desperate need of some support.
They might include someone who is fleeing a violent situation, someone who’s suicidal or thinking of hurting someone else, someone who’s about to be evicted or someone about to be kicked off their health insurance.
“Someone will come here so they can use this space and have someone listen to them,” said Living Room director Jennifer Hernandez. “We want to provide a welcoming environment.”
Recovery support specialists, or “peers,” are onsite for the listening. Turning Point hires as peers individuals who have previously experienced issues with mental health, substance use, or other similar crises, and can empathize with and support visitors in a nonclinical setting.
“Someone comes in and says ‘I’m depressed.’ I say, ‘hey, me too, let’s talk about it!’” joked peer Lindsey Shonberg.
The peers work with visitors in crisis to help them de-escalate, and when necessary help them come up with a safety plan to leave the facility successfully and continue caring for themselves.
Turning Point Behavioral Health Board President Randy Roberts and CEO Ann Rainey pose for a photo at the Evanston Living Room at 311 Elmwood Avenue on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (Joshua Irvine/Pioneer Press)
Staff members from Impact Behavioral Health Partners and PEER Services, which offer mental health support and substance use prevention and treatment, respectively, are also present at the Living Room to provide a “warm handoff” for visitors needing those services.
The Evanston bungalow has seen 149 visits in the last year. Hernandez says that traffic was initially slow but has picked up as community members became aware of the services.
The Living Room’s services are free of charge: both the Evanston location and its counterpart in Skokie, which has operated for the last 14 years, are funded by a combination of state grants and private donations, as is a “mobile” Living Room in Evanston and Turning Point’s Mobile Crisis Response team.
In 98% of cases, according to staff members, visitors leave the Living Room without moving onto clinical care or a hospital setting like St. Francis.
Many of the clients that do, however, rely on public health insurance. Ninety-four percent of patients using Turning Point’s outpatient therapy and case management services, for instance, qualify for Illinois Medicaid.
The federal megabill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4 includes nearly $1 trillion in cuts to the federal health care program and is expected to push millions of Americans off their insurance.
CEO Ann Rainey – no relation to the former Evanston alderman – says Turning Point wants to help keep its clients insured.
“We’re going to work really hard to make sure our clients stay on Medicaid and if they lose it to get it back,” she said.
Part of that responsibility will fall to Living Room staff, who can help clients access social services like housing support and health insurance.
“We exist for people who don’t really have options,” Rainey said. “And I hope we can protect them.”
The Evanston Living Room is located at 311 Elmwood Avenue and is open daily from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
A similar Living Room operates in Skokie at 8324 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, (847) 933-0051.