Habilitative Systems Inc. Awarded IDHS Contract to Provide Crisis Counseling Services to Victims of Flooding

Habilitative Systems Inc. (HSI), funded by a contract by Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Mental Health (IDHS), is helping vulnerable populations in Berwyn, Cicero, Stickney, and the Austin community recover from the historic floods that devastated communities last summer.

Heavy storms and record rainfall in July 2023 left thousands of Chicago area residents with flooded basements, destroyed possessions and mounting costs for repair.  President Biden declared Cook County a disaster area, thereby releasing federal resources.  IDHS and other Illinois agencies have also been working hard to assist the communities reach pre-flood status, particularly the most vulnerable elderly, youth, unemployed, and disabled populations.

“Flooding impacts the lives of everyone in its path, but it is most devastating to our most vulnerable populations who can’t write a check to make the devastation go away,” said Donald Dew, CEO of Habilitative Services Inc.  “HSI is proud to have the trust of IDHS-DMH and is putting HSI’s considerable reach and capacity to the task of helping people recover.”  

Partnering closely with DMH, HSI is providing individual and group counseling as well as community outreach utilizing social media, fliers, direct mail, and other ways to educate Cook County residents about the Crisis Counseling Program efforts and resources available to them. 

The Crisis Counseling Program services provides referrals to local resources who can assist with food, transportation, housing, mental and behavioral health counseling and more. The HSI Crisis Counseling Program teams uses surveys developed by FEMA to collect data which will provide information regarding the specific needs of people in the coverage area.