Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook (YSGN) broke ground on July 17 to renovate its facility at 3080 W. Lake Avenue in Glenview.
On a blue sky morning, elected officials and community members gathered for an outside program. Heavy equipment lifted a large scoop of dirt in a ceremonial gesture to officially launch construction.
The groundbreaking was made possible by the Act Now Campaign, launched in 2020 when YSGN received the largest gift in its history, $2 million, from the Cabay family of Northfield, formerly of Glenview.
The Act Now Campaign has a goal of $8.5 million. More than $7 million has been raised. Contributions can be made at www.ysgn.org.
On land donated by the Village of Glenview on former Glenview Naval Air Station property, the current Lake Avenue building in The Glen opened in August 2009.
Renovations on the first and second floors include adding an intake room plus clinical, therapy, telehealth and flexible spaces.
The expected building reopening is next January. YSGN is running all programs at various locations until completion.
Mike Cabay, Act Now Campaign chair, and his wife Barb Cabay, who raised their family in Glenview, attended the groundbreaking at the McLennan Center for Youth/Nutrien Campus.
“We hadn’t done really anything like this campaign since we did the building,” Mike Cabay said, “…and so we thought, ‘Now’s the time to capitalize on it.’
“With COVID, I think everybody was reeling and wondering, ‘How are we going to get there, what do we need to do?’
“And in our view, we had the perfect storm,” Cabay added of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had the demand soaring for local kids needing support services around mental health, and then we had a stock market that was through the roof, which was kind of odd, and that basically said, ‘We’ve got to do something and let’s do it now.’
Of mental health service needs, “It doesn’t know economies, it doesn’t know zip codes, it doesn’t know anything, it strikes everybody,” Mike Cabay said.
“In the back of your mind, your strategic plan should say, ‘We want to put ourselves out of business,’ because that means no more need, but we know that’s not the case,” Cabay added.
“I think to the extent we can support communities and the kids, we’ve got to find ways to do that and this campaign is just another way to make that happen.”
Barb Cabay said with a smile about the $2 million donation, “It was the right thing, it just felt right, absolutely felt right.”
Last April 2, Glenview village trustees unanimously directed $500,000 to the Act Now Campaign.
Glenview Village President Mike Jenny was among the podium speakers at the groundbreaking.
To Pioneer Press, Jenny said, “It’s continuing a long tradition of support from the Village of Glenview for Youth Services and we’re proud to invest in the emotional well-being of the youth of our community in an inclusionary and supportive manner.
“Investment into the youth of the community is an investment in the overall health of our community,” Jenny said.
Illinois State Rep. Laura Fine of Glenview and Illinois State Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl of Northbrook attended.
“Youth Services has just been so essential to our community,” Fine said.
Valerie Compher of Northbrook, a YSGN board member who also serves on the building committee, said, “I’m so excited, the opportunity to open more doors for people to come in for children that need assistance, for families that need help, this is thrilling.”
Bob Anthony of Glenview, Youth Services founding member, said he was, “very excited,” of YSGN’s progress since 1971.
According to https://www.ysgn.org/mission-history/, “Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook was created from two similar agencies, one serving Glenview (founded in 1972) and the other serving Northbrook (founded in 1974). These entities were merged in 1992.”
Amy O’Leary, YSGN executive director, told the audience, “It has been a journey, to say the least, to get to this point.”
O’Leary acknowledged the Glenview Park District and Northfield Township for donating temporary space during construction, “and it has resulted in minimal disruption of all agency functions, so thank you so much.”
The agency belongs to a local crisis response network, is embedded in local schools, and provides education with programming for intervention and suicide prevention. YSGN does not turn anyone away based on ability to pay.
Brian Budzicz of Glenview, YSGN board president, said, “Youth Services of Glenview Northbrook is here to meet the mental health needs of children and young adults from Glenview, Northbrook and the surrounding area regardless of their ability to pay.”
YSGN offers scholarships including a sliding scale fee basis for, “as little as a few dollars all the way up to clients with insurance who are able to pay for the services, which then also supports those who are receiving scholarships,” Budzicz said
“It’s the core value of Youth Services that we serve children and young adults regardless of their ability to afford high-quality mental health services that Youth Services is able to provide,” Budzicz said.“We’re here to serve.”
YSGN is temporarily located at the Northfield Township Office (2550 Waukegan Road) in Suite 200 in Glenview. The mailing address remains at 3080 W. Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois, 60026 and the phone number (847-724-2620) stays the same.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
