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Mental Health Awareness Month: 4 Ways to make a Big Difference

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In mental health, small changes (and a little support) can make a huge difference

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness of mental health issues and to encourage people to seek help if they need it. This year, Aunt Martha’s is proud to be a part of this important movement.

This month, we’ll be sharing a series of posts that we hope will help to raise awareness of mental health issues and to encourage people to seek help if they need it. We’ll cover everything from the signs and symptoms of mental health problems to the importance of self-care. We’ll also be sharing tips on how to be a supportive friend or family member to someone who is struggling, and on how to find a mental health provider who can help.

When we talk about mental health openly and honestly, we help to break down the barriers that prevent people from seeking help.

We hope that these posts will help to raise awareness of mental health issues and to encourage people to seek help if they need it.

This week, we want to focus on one simple but powerful message: small actions equal big impact. When it comes to mental health, you don’t have to do something huge or complicated to make a difference. Sometimes, the smallest gestures can have the most positive effects on yourself and others.

Four ways to improve your mental health and help others:

Talk about it.

One of the best ways to promote acceptance and reduce stigma around mental health is to talk openly and honestly about it. Whether you share your own experiences, listen to someone else’s story, or simply express your support, you are creating a safe and respectful space for yourself and others to be heard and understood.

Talking openly about mental health is one of the best ways to promote acceptance and reduce stigma.

Be there for someone who is struggling.

Sometimes, the most helpful thing you can do for someone who is struggling is to simply be there for them. You don’t have to fix their problems or give them advice. Just show them that you care, that you are listening, and that you are not judging them. You can also offer practical support, such as helping them with chores, running errands, or going with them to appointments. By being there for someone, you instill hope and encourage them to reach out when they need it most.

When you know someone is struggling with their mental health, you can help by simply being there for them.

Find help and encourage others to get help.

If you are worried about your mental health or someone else’s, don’t hesitate to reach out for help. There are many resources and people who are ready and willing to help you, no matter what your situation is. You can use our free tool – am4you – without leaving this site. Or, you can visit FindTreatment.gov to find a provider treating substance use disorders, addiction, and mental illness near you.

am4you is a free resource to help you find mental health providers and other services close to you

Share resources.

There are many resources available to help people with mental health challenges. If you know of any resources that could be helpful to someone, share them. (HINT: Get started by learning more about our services at Aunt Martha’s, or by sharing this article with friends. You never know who you might be helping!)

Resources and websites (that aren’t Aunt Martha’s)

These are just some of the small actions you can take to make a big impact on your mental health and the mental health of others. Remember, you are not alone, and you have the power to make a difference.

Stay tuned for more tips and resources on our blog throughout the month of May!

Take your mental health to the next level with Aunt Martha’s

Successful therapy. Young female client having consultation with psychologist, grateful for professional help at clinic. Happy black lady speaking with her psychotherapist, solving emotional problem
Behavioral Health
Crisis response and intervention services strengthen bonds and keep families together
Crisis Services
Welcome to AM4YOU, where Aunt Martha’s is making it easier than ever to find great care and support wherever and whenever you need it.
Find help with am4you
Our Impact
Building a stronger heart is easier than you think this American Heart Month

February is American Heart Month

Matters of the Heart

Did you know that people who have close relationships at home, work, or in their community tend to be healthier and live longer? One reason, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), is that we’re more successful at meeting our health goals when we work on them with others. NHLBI launched the #OurHearts movement to inspire us to protect and strengthen our hearts with the support of others.

This month, we’ll be sharing facts, how-to tips, and resources to inspire you to join with others to improve your heart health.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. Most middle-aged and young adults have one or more risk factors for heart disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or being a smoker or overweight. Having multiple risk factors increases your risk for heart disease.

Multi-ethnic Group Of Woman In Athletic Gear

Build a stronger heart by connecting with your friends

Feeling connected with others and having positive, close relationships benefit our overall health, including our blood pressure and weight. Having people in our lives who motivate and care for us helps, as do feelings of closeness and companionship. 

Follow these heart-healthy lifestyle tips to protect your heart. It will be easier and more successful if you work on them with others, including by texting or phone calls if needed.

  • Be more physically active.
  • Maintain a healthy weight.
  • Eat a nutritious diet.
  • Quit smoking.
  • Reduce stress.
  • Get 7-8 hours of quality sleep.
  • Track your heart health stats.

Small steps will get you where you want to go.

Six Ways to Get Started Building a Stronger Heart Today

Build a stronger heart by exercising like the young woman in this picture

Move more

Invite family, friends, colleagues, or members of your community to join you in your efforts to be more physically active:

  • Ask a colleague to walk “with you” on a regular basis, put the date on both your calendars, and text or call to make sure you both get out for a walk.
  • Get a friend or family member to sign up for the same online exercise class, such as a dance class.  Make it a regular date!
  • Grab your kids, put on music, and do jumping jacks, skip rope, or dance in your living room or yard.

How much is enough? Aim for at least 2½ hours of physical activity eachweek—that’s just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. In addition, do muscle strengthening exercises 2 days a week. Can’t carve out a lot of time in your day? Don’t chuck your goal, chunk it! Try 10 or 15 minutes a few times a day. NHLBI’s Move More fact sheet has ideas to get and keep you moving.

Build a stronger heart by eating healthy foods and aiming for a healthy weight

Eat heart-healthy and aim for a healthy weight

We tend to eat like our friends and family, so ask others close to you to join in your effort to eat healthier. Together, try NHLBI’s free Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan. Research shows that, compared to a typical American diet, it lowers high blood pressure and improves cholesterol levels. Find delicious recipes at NHLBI’s Heart-Healthy Eating web page.

Find someone in your friend group, at work, or in your family who also wants to reach or maintain a healthy weight. (If you’re overweight, even a small weight loss of 5–10 percent helps your health.) Check in with them regularly to stay motivated. Agree to do healthy activities, like walking or cooking a healthy meal, at the same time, even if you can’t be together. Share low-calorie, low-sodium recipes. Check out NHLBI’s Aim for a Healthy Weight web page.

If you’re overweight, even a small weight loss of 5–10 percent helps your health.

Still smoking? Stop!

To help you quit, ask others for support or join an online support group. Research shows that people are much more likely to quit if their spouse, friend, or sibling does. Social support online can help you quit.

All states have quit lines with trained counselors—call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669). You’ll find many free resources to help you quit, such as apps, a motivational text service, and a chat line at BeTobaccoFree.hhs.gov and Smokefree.gov.

If you need extra motivation to quit, consider those around you: Breathing other people’s smoke, called secondhand smoke, is dangerous. Many adult nonsmokers die of stroke, heart disease, and lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke.

Manage stress

Reducing stress helps your heart health. Set goals with a friend or family member to do a relaxing activity every day, like walking, yoga, or meditation, or participate in an online stress-management program together. Physical activity also helps reduce stress.Talk to a qualified mental health provider or someone else you trust.

Get better sleep

Sleeping 7–8 hours a night helps to improve heart health. De-stressing will help you sleep, as does getting a 30-minute daily dose of sunlight. Take a walk instead of a late afternoon nap, turn off your screens and stick to a regular bedtime.Instead of looking at your phone or the TV before bed, relax by listening to music, reading, or taking a bath.

It was 15 months ago that I first met Tory Cosich, Managing Partner at ProvenIT, and invited him to attend a scaled back version of our annual gala event in September 2021. Not only did Tory graciously attend our event, but after learning more about the work that Aunt Martha’s does, he decided he wanted to support us in a bigger way.

If you are lucky enough to know Tory and his family, you know that they are immensely philanthropic. They passionately support causes they believe in and Aunt Martha’s has been honored to be one of those causes over the past year. 

Tory has become a true ambassador of Aunt Martha’s over the past year. Not only did he join my President’s Leadership Council, host a successful stakeholder event for us over the summer, and bring in donations for our annual gala event in September, but…

Last weekend he did something absolutely incredible – he ran 50 miles to raise $50,000 for Aunt Martha’s!

Tory successfully completed the Des Plaines River Trail Race – 50 Miler and the Aunt Martha’s team was there to cheer him on. The amount of dedication and strength Tory showed was nothing short of amazing.

We are so very proud of Tory for this superhuman accomplishment.

We are also immensely proud to call him our friend.

On October 15, 2022, Tory Cosich ran 50 miles to raise $50,000 for Aunt Martha’s!

And now for something completely different

Gary Leofanti came to the Village of Park Forest in 1972 because something was different there. It always had been. Of course, always is a relative term.

A youth(ful) movement

Park Forest had youth on its side. Literally.

It’s Youth Commission was a motivated and politically savvy group of young people and civic-minded adults. And, in Leofanti, it now had a Youth Worker with exactly the experience their community needed.

But it also had the figurative advantage of being a youthful community, still less than 25 years old in 1972. People literally could not say, “Because that’s how we’ve always done it.” Something was indeed different.

And with its new Youth Worker on board, nothing would ever be the same. Today, Aunt Martha’s board members, volunteers and employees share their memories of Gary.

Thank you for the memories, Gary!

John Annis is a longtime member of Aunt Martha's board of directors with many fond memories of Gary Leofanti

He’s just an unbelievable person.

– John Annis, Aunt Martha’s Board of Directors

More stories about Gary, his legacy, and the early years at Aunt Martha’s

September 16, 2022

A Vision for Social Change

25-year old Gary Leofanti had just wrapped up his first official meeting as Park Forest’s new youth worker when he was asked about the relevance of his background in business and economics. That background, he said was an asset.

“Economic planning is a big consideration in implementing social change,” Leofanti said, according to the Park Forest Star on Sunday, March 5, 1972.

“If one can create a big enough demand for something, eventually it will get implemented.”

Read More
Gary's Vision tells the story of Aunt Martha's founder
youth worker on job

September 2, 2022

Raul Garza talks to Gary Leofanti

So after you graduated from Wayne State, how did you end up coming to Park Forest?

Well, after graduation, my field placement turned into a job, and I stayed there for about five, six months. Then I responded to an ad for a youth worker in Park Forest. And I interviewed for the job. And I liked the community and that, that’s the story there.

But you were you were originally committed to going back out east. So you had to pay back your salary [at a job in Massachusetts] in order to take the job in Park Forest and move to Park Forest?

Right. I paid back the salary.

How much was the salary you had to pay back?

Read More

July 15, 2022

‘The Kind of Stuff that Makes it Work’

Follow former board members (and another special friend!) from the board room to the back nine, with a stop or two along the way.

You’ll hear about an unexpected visit from the The Salvation Army. And we’ll imagine what might have been by lifting the lid on a story that’s no waste of your time.

Read More

“Aunt Martha” considered as name for couseling center

According to the July 9, 1972 edition of the Park Forest Star, more than 100 runaway cases had been reported to Park Forest Police in 1971. In most communities, the police department was the only agency actively involved with the runaway problem.

Mrs. Janice Greenberg chaired the Park Forest Youth Commission’s analysis of national data on teenage runaways, a frightening issue that was hitting closer and closer to home in south suburban Cook County in the summer of 1972.

Seeking incorporation of facility for youths

By the evening of Wednesday, July 5, Mrs. Greenberg’s ad hoc committee had finished its study. The idea to develop a youth service facility to deal directly with the challenges of keeping young people from leaving home, which the politically-savvy committee knew had significant public support, became its official recommendation to the Village.

In fact, that evening the ad hoc committee announced it had already taken steps and was in the process of incorporating a youth services facility to be located in the Village. The center would be located initially in the basement of a co-op rental office.

Robert Mondlock, Youth Commission chair, said the facility will be located in Park Forest but “there will be no geographical boundaries” to its services.

“There aren’t too many Aunt Marthas anymore”

After the Commission meeting, Mrs. Greenberg shared a discussion she had with Park Forest Police Chief William Hamby. He remarked that fewer and fewer kids had family nearby who they could talk to when they were upset with their parents.

“I made the comment that there aren’t too many Aunt Marthas anymore,” Mrs. Greenberg said.

The name stuck. See it on YouTube!

Jan Greenberg.
Not Aunt Martha.

Who’s Aunt Martha?

The name Aunt Martha’s came from one of the founders who really wanted this organizatio to create an environment where a young person can go, if they don’t feel comfortable going to their parents, and talk about whatever life challenges they were facing.

I picture Aunt Martha to be this caring individual that, you know, if you wanted cookies and warm milk at night, Aunt Martha would do that for you.

But I also see Aunt Martha being tough as hell. She’s not going to let anybody mess with her.

Aunt Martha has the ability to cover the range of what needs to be covered, to do the right thing for people. If you had to dissect Aunt Martha, you’d find thousands of people in that makeup.

Raul Garza, President and CEO

Raul Garza, President and CEO

Gary’s Vision was first shown at last week’s 50th Anniversary Gala. At the event, it was actually shown before the video we shared last week. In this context, it serves as a nice bookend to Part One of Raul’s interview with Gary, which we posted a few weeks back.

This video tells the story of Gary Leofanti’s vision for Aunt Martha’s. It’s a vision he helped to plant – thankfully – in so many of our brains.

A Vision for Social Change

25-year old Gary Leofanti had just wrapped up his first official meeting as Park Forest’s new youth worker when he was asked about the relevance of his background in business and economics. That background, he said was an asset.

“Economic planning is a big consideration in implementing social change,” Leofanti said, according to the Park Forest Star on Sunday, March 5, 1972.

“If one can create a big enough demand for something, eventually it will get implemented.”

Gary’s Vision

An Experienced Change-Maker

Mr. Leofanti didn’t come to Park Forest with vision and education alone. He knew the kind of opportunity he was looking for. He found it and was willing to pay handsomely to move on it. In Park Forest he found a, “a community that was ready to do some things.”

It was his expeience, in fact, that made Gary attractive to Park Forest. He was the director of a youth-oriented hotline and drop-in center in suburban Detroit. He earned that experience at Crossroads crisis information center in River Rouge, MI.

Ultimately, the young social worker’s business background would be as important as his on-the-ground experience. And in a way, he laid the earliest foundation for the concept of value-based social work. He told the Park Forest Star another similarity between business and social work is that the main goal of business is a monetary profit while social work projects aim for profit in a sense too.

“Better service to the people or as in the case of Crossroads, better service to youth,” is the type of profit that social workers seek, he said.

Gary's vision and impact are described by Dr. Pat Robey, a former volunteer worker at Aunt Martha's

Aunt Martha’s is what it is today because of the vision of Gary but all the people who worked with him and who have followed him.

– Dr. Pat Robey, Former Volunteer

Fresh from its debut at our 50th Anniversary Gala, we’re excited to share the latest video from our 50 Years, 50 Stories series. It blends archival footage with stories told by the people who shaped Aunt Martha’s. We hear from Gary Leofanti and Raul Garza. But we also hear from a dozen of our partners, board members, employees and volunteers. We look from their perspectives at the people who are the soul of Aunt Martha’s. What’s clear – from every perspective – is that Aunt Martha’s really does have a soul. And an infinite future.

The Soul of Leader

I’ve been watching Aunt Martha’s for decades, and I’ve watched them grow. I’ve watched them change lives. I’ve watched them develop leaders. I’ve watched them become a very powerful force.

– Shawn Jeffers, Executive Director at Little City and Aunt Martha’s Partner

Leading for the Future

The future of Aunt Martha’s is hopefully bright and one that’s going to continue to grow and continue to take on more and more responsibility to the community.

– John Dvorak, President at Wintrust Commercial Banking and Aunt Martha’s Partner

A collage of photos from our 50th Anniversary Gala. September 7, 2022.

Favorite photos from our 50th Anniversary Gala

These are a few of our favorite photos from our 50th anniversary gala. You can enjoy the all the pictures our photographer captured that night in Aunt Martha’s Facebook photo album.

Please Like, Comment, Share and, of course, enjoy!

Scroll along memory lane

There’s always more on social media.

Don’t take our Kodachrome!

More pictures from Aunt Martha’s first 50 years

August 12, 2022
Celebrations: Aunt Martha’s at 10
Read more
August 5, 2022
Celebrating our Employees: Vintage Photography
Read more
News & Updates
Gary Leofanti and Raul Garza. Aunt Martha's founding President and CEO with our current President and CEO. July 2022. Leofanti was hired by the Village of Park Forest as a youth worker in 1972.
Gary Leofanti and Raul Garza. Aunt Martha’s founding President and CEO with our current President and CEO. July 2022.

How a Listening Ear and $6,000 helped make Aunt Martha’s

On Wednesday, March 1, 1972, a 25-year old Gary Leofanti, “started working to fulfill the expectations of persons who formulated [his] youth worker job description,” by attending his first Youth Commission meeting in an official capacity for the Village of Park Forest. So it was chronicled in the Park Forest Star the following Sunday.

The young man had earned his masters degree in social work from Wayne State University just a year earlier. While at Wayne State, he’d worked part-time for a lobbying organization in Michigan’s state capital, and – through the types of field learning opportunities he’d purposefully sought out – worked with several organizations that would help shape his work in Park Forest.

Gary Leofanti, Aunt Martha's founding executive director. Salem State University. 1968
Gary Leofanti, Aunt Martha’s founding executive director. Salem State University. 1968

Early Influences

So, Gary, what was the inspiration to move from the East Coast and come to the Midwest?

Well, I was working as a welfare case manager for the state of Massachusetts after college, and they had an incentive to go to graduate school. I could pick any graduate school I wanted, just as long as I made a commitment to come back and they paid my salary and I got to go to grad school. I picked Wayne State University in Detroit.

Listening Ear and Reality Therapy

Why did you pick Wayne State? What was special about Wayne State?

Wayne State has advanced field placements with political leaders and advocacy groups, which is what I was interested in. And I had two field placements. One was with a lobbyist in the state capital of Lansing. And I came in contact with the organization called Listening Ear.

And that was where I got exposed to effective listening. That’s what they taught. And later with Aunt Martha’s we would do that with volunteers.

So you brought the science of effective listening to Aunt Martha’s?

Yes. All volunteers were trained that way. And then later we added Reality Therapy. And for a long time Reality Therapy was the method that we used.

Coming to Park Forest

So after you graduated from Wayne State, how did you end up coming to Park Forest?

Well, after graduation, my field placement turned into a job, and I stayed there for about five, six months.

Then I responded to an ad for a youth worker in Park Forest. And I interviewed for the job. And I liked the community and that, that’s the story there.

But you were you were originally committed to going back out east.

Right. I paid back the salary.

So you had to pay back the salary in order to take the job in Park Forest and move to Park Forest?

Right.

How much was the salary you had to pay back?

It wasn’t much. Something like $6,000.

Gary Leofanti was Park Forest's first Youth Worker and then Aunt Martha's first executive director

The community was prepared to do some things

$6,000 back in ’72 was a lot of money! Why did you want to make that commitment?

Because the community was prepared to do some things.

You felt that? You could see that?

Yeah. They were there. They just needed some help. So it worked very quickly.

I came in March and by September we had filed articles of incorporation for Aunt Martha’s.

And how many volunteers were you working with when you came to Park Forest?

Well, the Park Forest’s Youth Commission was instrumental in convincing Park Forest to hire a youth worker. So they were organized.

They also had a task group that was looking at the problem of runaway youth in the community. And that’s a group that founded Aunt Martha’s.

So you leave Boston, a city you love, and you had to pay back the salary you were paid because you were committed by the salary to go back to Massachusetts. And you put all that behind you.

And you come to Park Forest and you take this job and then within six months, it becomes Aunt Martha’s Youth Service Center. And then it opened in December of 1972.

Right, with about 30 volunteers and out of donated space. And we had oh, maybe three or four foster families or volunteer foster families so that when it was needed, we had a place for kids to stay for the night.

youth worker on job
Park Forest Star. Sunday, March 5, 1972.

And so when were you asked to be the executive director of Aunt Martha’s Youth Service Center?

Right at the beginning.

So right at the beginning. How old were you at that time?

I was 26, I think.

And you were asked to be the executive director of this start-up, nonprofit, community-based organization looking to serve youth, children and youth who were runaways.

That’s right.

What made you think or what made you believe you could do that at 26 years old?

That I was doing it!

But to be the executive director, though. Did that even mean anything to you to be the executive director or was it just you seeing it as doing the work?

I was just a staff person to the community. And it just it grew and I was there. And eventually I left the village of Park Forest and they gave Aunt Martha’s a grant for my salary.

And the rest, as they say, is history. No matter how much Mr. Leofanti tries to downplay his role.

We’ll explore that history, through Gary’s eyes and the memories of other friends, in future posts.

We Put the Buck in Bucking the Trend

Earlier this month, our President and CEO, Raul Garza, shared exciting news coming out of the latest report on health center cost and quality. Looking at the data for calendar year 2021, Aunt Martha’s now has the lowest cost of care among Illinois’ 45 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).

But what does that mean, exactly? How far have we come? How low can we go?

Only time will tell, but for now…

What’s happening with health care costs at Illinois health centers?

Over the past seven years, health centers nationally (there are almost 1,400) have seen their Cost Per Patient rise, on average, by 47% – from $827 per patient in 2015 to $1,219 per patient in 2021.

In Illinois, health center costs have skyrocketed at an even greater rate, from $629 in 2015 to $977 per patient last year. That’s an average increase of 53%.

What’s happening with health care costs at Aunt Martha’s?

Since 2015, the cost of care has increased – on average – by $392 nationally and $338 per patient in Illinois. That’s happening at community health centers with a target population that includes those with little and often no income.

Something’s not right.

Then there’s Aunt Martha’s.

At Aunt Martha’s, we made it a strategic priority to drive down the cost of care.

How’d we do? We think the infographic below speaks for itself, but here’s a quick summary:

Since 2019, we’ve lowered our costs by $112 per patient. Aunt Martha’s Cost Per Patient is 41% lower than health centers in Illinois.

Since 2015 – while the cost of care at safety net clinics has gone up by nearly 50% – Aunt Martha’s has achieved its goal of driving down the cost of care by almost 20%.

Schedule Your Appointment Today

Find a location or call 877-692-8686.