Primo Center is proud to announce a transformative investment from the VNA Foundation—a $71,000 grant that will expand access to critical mental health services for families experiencing homelessness across Chicago. This funding comes at a pivotal moment, as Primo’s clients are increasingly arriving with more complex and acute needs, including untreated trauma, anxiety, depression, and other behavioral health challenges. By strengthening its therapeutic model, Primo continues to meet families where they are—with care that recognizes both the urgency of their circumstances and the dignity they deserve.

Through this grant, Primo will deepen its partnership with the Center to Transform Health and Housing at Rush University Medical Center, bringing psychiatric nurse practitioners directly onsite to serve residents. These highly trained clinicians will provide psychiatric evaluations, medication management, and ongoing mental health support—services that have been critically absent in recent years. By embedding this expertise within Primo’s shelter and housing programs, families will have timely, consistent access to care in a trusted environment, eliminating barriers that too often lead to crisis, hospitalization, or prolonged instability.

This investment represents more than expanded services—it signals a renewed commitment to whole-person care. Mental health is foundational to housing stability, family wellbeing, and long-term independence. With the VNA Foundation’s support, Primo Center is not only restoring a vital service—it is building a more integrated, responsive system of care that ensures families can heal, stabilize, and move forward with strength and hope.