A $75,000 grant from the Healthy Communities Foundation (HCF) will strengthen Erie Neighborhood House’s efforts to create access to free counseling and mental health services for people living on the Southwest Side of Chicago as well as neighboring Berwyn and Cicero. Proyecto Cuídate, a wellness initiative at Erie House that aims to restore relationships as a means of restoring communities, will be able to increase its capacity to serve folks in and around its Little Village/South Lawndale location thanks to the grant. The program is guided by licensed clinicians who are able to deliver individual therapy, a scarce resource in this community that is all too often inaccessible for low-income individuals and families. In addition, Proyecto Cuídate offers women’s empowerment groups, parenting classes, youth mentoring, instruction on restorative practices and case management—all of which are free services underwritten by private and public grant funding. The HCF grant will enable Proyecto Cuídate to hire an additional clinician and significantly expand its caseload (there are currently more than 50 names on a waitlist for therapy.) For more information on the Proyecto Cuídate program at Erie House, please visit www.eriehouse.org.