PRIMO CENTER

Primo Center makes it a priority to provide integrated physical, dental and mental health services for children and families through partnerships with federally qualified health providers. Our trauma-informed approach allows us to meet our families where they are and develop a plan that meets the needs of individual family members, and empowers parents to support their children and families, find and maintain affordable housing, and realize their personal goals.

Primo Center partners with and cares for parents and children across all life domains, including health, education and housing. We make it a priority to provide integrated physical, dental and mental health services for children and families. Our trauma-informed approach allows us to meet our families where they are, develop a plan that meets the needs of individual family members, and empower parents to support their children and families.

Trauma-informed Care:

Trauma-informed care is an approach to engaging people with histories of trauma. It recognizes the presence of trauma symptoms and acknowledges the role that trauma has played in their lives. A number of key principles guide this approach to care, including the promotion of physical and emotional safety; acting with trustworthiness and transparency; empowering clients; and helping trauma survivors to identify and develop their resilience and other strengths.

Housing First:

Housing first is a philosophy that asserts that housing is a basic human right. It prioritizes the provision of permanent housing to homeless individuals based on the belief that housing is a necessary foundation for attending to other goals, such as getting a job, budgeting or managing substance use issues. Housing first rejects the idea that housing should be dependent on meeting pre-conditions. Housing first has become a mainstream approach to combatting homelessness with a growing body of research supporting successful outcomes and cost-effectiveness.

Primo Center is Chicago’s largest provider of services and shelter for families and children experiencing homelessness. Primo Center works in high-need communities across Chicago, operating facilities in Englewood on the city’s south side, and Austin and West Humboldt Park on the west side.

Housing:

• 330 beds of family shelter with comprehensive services for parents and children
• 12 units of permanent supportive housing including rent subsidies and services

Trauma-informed Care:

• A unique therapeutic community that provides a safe setting that helps families heal
• A harm-reduction approach that meets families where they are and motivates progress

Early Childhood Development Services:

• Early childhood center
• Evidence-based Parents as Teachers (PAT) home visiting program
• Child-parent psychotherapy

Integrated Physical, Dental and Mental Health Care:

• Coordinated health care that addresses families' needs comprehensively
• Linkage to primary, dental and mental health care “homes” in partnership with Heartland Alliance Health, Howard Brown Health and Lawndale Christian Health Center
• Kids Connected initiative to coordinate care among multiple systems citywide

Primo Center rigorously monitors its progress with each and every family served and continuously innovates in order to achieve its annual outcome goals. Two major new initiatives include:

Kids Connected is a groundbreaking initiative to create a holistic system of care for homeless children and their families. Kids Connected finally removes the barriers to primary, preventative and mental health services for this severely underserved population, creating a streamlined system that puts the family at the center of their care and wrapping all needed services and supports around the family. The Primo Center hopes that this approach will result in improved health outcomes for mothers and children, better school outcomes, and more stable housing. Kids Connected combines three key strategies that have been tested and refined across the country and validated through research, but which have never been used with homeless families — systems of care, wraparound services, and integrated health homes. Kids Connected melds all three strategies for the first time to deliver seamless support to homeless children with mental health needs and their families. Kids Connected is a joint initiative of the Primo Center along with Heartland Alliance Health and Catholic Charities. The initiative has received a six-year commitment of implementation funding from the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation and additional support from Crown Family Philanthropies. Hopefully, Kids Connected will be replicated across the country to accelerate progress in ending family homelessness.

Englewood Community Kitchens is the Primo Center’s new full-service commercial kitchen and 50-seat classroom designed for hands-on cooking classes and nutrition and wellness events for adults, children and families. “Englewood Community Kitchens was six years in the making, and we are thrilled it’s finally built and ready for use to benefit our families and all residents of Greater Englewood,” notes Christine Achre, Primo Center CEO. “Through nutrition education, we can enable healthier food decisions.” Once considered a food desert with very limited access to healthy food, the Greater Englewood community now has opportunities to improve nutrition education at Englewood Community Kitchens, which was unveiled at a November 7, 2019 grand opening event with community stakeholders sponsored by the project’s lead donors, Whole Foods Market and Whole Cities Foundation.
Englewood Community Kitchens expands the Primo Center’s capacity to offer health and wellness opportunities for homeless families and amplifies the efforts of organizations working in Greater Englewood to improve health outcomes like the Englewood Quality of Life Plan Health and Wellness Task Force. The Primo Center will work with community partners to offer hands-on cooking classes, demonstrations, nutrition education and eventually, on-site job training. Learn more about Englewood Community Kitchens at www.primocenter.org/eck.