When the Living Room Oak Park opens at the corner of Oak Park Avenue and Harrison Street in the spring of 2026, West Cook residents will have a new mental health support resource, thanks to a pilot program currently being developed by NAMI Metro Suburban and funded in part by a Community Grant from the OPRF Community Foundation.
“The Living Room is designed to be an alternative to the emergency department for individuals experiencing an increase in their mental health symptoms,” says Shelly Lustrup, executive director of NAMI Metro Suburban. “When someone comes into the Living Room, they are met by a state-certified recovery support specialist who is a peer — somebody who has a mental health diagnosis themselves and is living well in their own recovery.”
The specialist performs a brief risk assessment to ensure the guest doesn’t need a higher level of care, and provides the guest with some direction to manage their condition, whether that’s community resources or just a calm space and a receptive listener.
“You don’t have to be in crisis to use the Living Room,” Lustrup says. “If you’re just feeling stressed out in the moment and need somewhere you can go, or maybe if you have a therapy appointment next week but something just happened that you need help processing, you can come get peer support.”
Before a guest leaves, they do an exit survey to capture any feedback they want to leave about the experience, and a support specialist will follow up 24 hours later to check in and see if they need anything. “We’ll also do a 30-day follow-up as well,” Lustrup adds. “Sometimes that’s a phone call, sometimes that’s a card — really trying to keep a link between the guest and the program to let them know we’re still here for them.”
NAMI Metro Suburban has operated Living Rooms since 2016. Two locations, in LaGrange and Summit, are open 24/7 throughout the year; the Oak Park location will initially be open from noon to 8 pm every day. It’s located next to NAMI’s drop-in center, which keeps similar hours.
“The drop-in center is a space where folks can go to socialize. There are groups and different activities driven by the participants in a sort of clubhouse model,” Lustrup says.
“I think it’s going to be really nice to have the Living Room right next door, so that it’s an easy kind of handoff, being able to help connect the dots for folks in need of additional support.”
Lustrup notes her organization has wanted to establish a Living Room in Oak Park for some time, and there has been more traction for the concept in recent years. In addition to the Foundation grant, the Village of Oak Park and RUSH Oak Park Hospital provided funding for the project. The Community Mental Health Board of Oak Park is backing the program, and NAMI plans to collaborate with Thrive Counseling Center and the village’s Engaging Community for Healthy Outcomes (ECHO) program to develop a strong safety net for those in need. NAMI will collect data during the pilot period to assess the community’s needs and hopefully build a case to make the program permanent.
Lustrup says the Foundation’s support has been very encouraging. “We’re being responsive to the actual needs in the community, and the Foundation is really good at feeling the pulse of the community. I also really appreciate that the Foundation has a lot of trust in the providers they partner with, and as a provider, it feels really good that they say, ‘here’s the support we can give; if you need something, let us know.’ That goes a long way.”
To learn more about the Living Room Oak Park and monitor its progress, visit namimetsub.org and follow NAMI Metro Suburban on Facebook and Instagram.