For many young people, the hardest part of getting help is walking through a clinic door. On Friday, 6 November 2026, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the Cook County Department of Public Health announced a $475,000 investment that takes mental health support to the places where young people already spend their time: barbershops, beauty salons, schools and parks.

Four suburban Cook County communities near Chicago (the villages of Bellwood, Maywood and Park Forest, and the City of Calumet City) will each receive $118,750 to run Cook County Shop Talk, a 12-month project for youth and young adults aged 12 to 24.

"Young people don't always walk into a clinic when they're struggling, but they do sit in a barber's chair, hang out at the park and show up at school every day," Preckwinkle said in the county's announcement. "Shop Talk brings mental health support into those trusted spaces so that more young people in suburban Cook County can get help before a hard moment becomes a crisis."

From a barber's chair to a county program

The idea grew out of S.H.O.P. Talk, short for "sharing hope and overcoming pressure," a series of teen mental health conversations in barbershops and salons started by Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps. At one such event at a Chicago barber college in 2025, WGN-TV reported, teenagers joined panel discussions over free food and free haircuts. "When you get into that shop chair or in the shampoo bowl, I don't know if there's magic in it, but people start talking," Stamps told the station.

The new funding comes from a 2026 county budget amendment Stamps sponsored. "Barbers, stylists, coaches, mentors and other trusted community members can play an important role in opening conversations, reducing stigma and helping young people connect to care," she said on Friday. The four communities were chosen through a competitive review based on need, program quality and capacity.

Four communities, four approaches

• Bellwood will train local barbers, stylists, coaches and youth workers as "Trusted Messengers" and hold events where young people can talk about grief, social media pressure, family stress and community violence.
• Maywood's West Cook Youth Wellness & Safe Spaces Initiative will pair mental health support with mentorship and leadership opportunities.
• Calumet City's Shop Talk for Healing Initiative will focus particularly on Black youth and other youth of color, with a Youth Advisory Council helping to shape its events.
• Park Forest will use recreation as a way in, hosting monthly Shop Talk events and building on more than a decade of its Teen Zone programming.

The need behind the program

When the county opened the funding in June, it said the greatest burden of youth mental health problems in suburban Cook County often falls on young people of color. In 2022, 37.4 percent of Hispanic and 35.5 percent of non-Hispanic Black high school students reported depressive symptoms, compared with 29.1 percent of non-Hispanic white students. South and west suburban communities also see higher rates of mental health-related emergency room visits.

The programs are a start, not a cure. They last 12 months and are designed to connect young people to professional care, not replace it. "By bringing conversations about mental health into familiar, trusted spaces and equipping community members to recognize when a young person may need additional support, these programs can help identify concerns earlier and create pathways to care," said Dr. Kiran Joshi, the health department's chief operating officer.

Why it matters

Help works best when it arrives early, and it arrives early when it is close at hand. Training the people young people already trust, from the barber to the basketball coach, is a simple, local way to make asking for help feel normal.

Learn more

• Cook County Department of Public Health: $475,000 to expand youth mental health programs in four suburban communities
• Cook County Department of Public Health: $475,000 funding opportunity for municipalities to address youth mental health
• WGN-TV: S.H.O.P Talk gives Chicago youth a safe space to share their challenges

Sources: Cook County Department of Public Health, "Cook County Department of Public Health Awards $475,000 to Expand Youth Mental Health Programs in Four Suburban Communities," 6 November 2026; Cook County Department of Public Health, "CCCDPH Announces $475,000 Funding Opportunity for Municipalities to Address Youth Mental Health," 30 June 2026; WGN-TV via Yahoo News, "S.H.O.P Talk gives Chicago youth a safe space to share their challenges, receive support," 27 July 2025.

How you can help

These established nonprofits support mental health in Illinois and across the United States:

• NAMI Chicago runs a free, confidential helpline and works to build community-based mental health care across Chicago.
• Mental Health America of Illinois has worked since 1909 to educate, advocate and connect people across the state with mental health resources.
• Active Minds is a national movement working to change the conversation around mental health, including among students and young adults.