Thresholds

"Thresholds and many other agencies are deliberately flooding neighborhoods with both homeless and section 8 voucher holders, doing very little to monitor or rehabilitate them and pocketing the money."

"Their website states that they are “Chicago’s only citywide mental health homeless outreach program, and our primary goal is simple: to get people living with mental illness off the street and help them recover and regain their lives.” Thus, I called looking for assistance for an unhoused individual with need of psychiatric support and the intake receptionists were incredible rude to say the least. The first woman, Shayna, spoke to me with no respect and in anger misunderstood the information that I was trying to relay and hung up on me. I was told that the unhoused individual would need to have a cell phone available through govt assistance programs and when I said I needed her to go back a step and consider that before obtaining a phone she is having psychiatric issues preventing her from getting assistance through the programs that Shayna was mentioning (why I was calling)! She didn’t even let me finished before yelling that “no, you need to take a step back,” clearly not hearing what I was trying to say. Before she hung up on me, I asked if I could speak to someone else and she responded “No! I’m intake.” She ignored my requests to have her name and to speak to anyone else who would listen and help me find assistance for this unhoused individual sitting out in the 14 degree weather and pouring snow. Though she refused to provide me with her name, I found out later that her name was Shayna. When I called back, her colleague, Andrew, yelled at me that his colleague had already explained to me the services that they provide and when I repeated that I didn’t understand and was just trying to help someone he insisted that his colleague had already helped me and refused to further help as well. He stated that the call was recorded and I assume that the corporation has access to this, but it breaks my heart to know that nothing is being done. If this is how local “supportive services” are run in the Chicago area, there’s no wonder we are in such dire need of change. They made it clear that they did not believe who I was or why I was calling; which was extremely unexpected and peculiar! I hope this message reaches someone who can assist with equity training in their office and can help to make this a place that actually provides services rather than gatekeeping those that reach out at intake. Otherwise, investigations to the legitimacy of their service claims should be investigated by the federal labor bureau, whom I will be reaching out to with my concerns in addition to making their donors aware of how the public seeking assistance is treated upon intake. Their funds are evidently not being spent towards assistance or staff training. This is such a shame."

"Landlords beware. We collaborated with Threshholds ( Yolanda and Shaquita Watson Hampton and Shamiqua Walker)to help provide housing for low income tenants, and we're so disappointed with the outcome. The organization was supposed to pay the rent for multiple apartments that they convinced us to rent to these low income individuals, and then they refuse to cover the tab and shirked from responsibility! How could a social sercvice organization sabbotage both the people they are "claiming" to help, as well as the small businesses that made themselves vulnerable for a worthy cause? On top of these dissappointing and irresponsible actions, the organization never provided a heads up regarding their decision to no longer pay the rent. I had to call them three times to even find out that they have decided not to pay the rent. This shouldn't be too surprising as their payments were almost always late, and they reflected unprofessionalism throughout our relationship. Yolanda, the head of placement, actually had the audacity to tell me that the organization will refuse to cover THEIR bills because they let one of the women from the organization go, and wish to shirk responsibility from all the contacts she heped make while being an employee there. We wish to prevent good people and small business from having similar experiences. It's unfortunate that I wanted to help and now screwed my company over due to an irresponsible organization like this one. I'll make sure to contact all watchdog organizations outthere so no one gets scammed like this again. This organization is ruining the reputation of a worthy cause through their unprofessional and deception."

"Thresholds is one of the most reputable mental health agencies in the country. They provide comprehensive, multifaceted, and holistic services designed for intermediate and long-term rehabilitation and recovery. They have the most competent and empathetic clinical staff who are proficient in conducting assessments and evaluation. I especially have gratitude for the outreach teams, including ACT and CST. I have been a loyal member of Thresholds since I was a young adult and have first-hand knowledge of the transformative work they do in the community. Thanks for reading. Jesse A. Bella"