As the holidays and winter set in, many Chicagoans experience heightened stress, grief and loneliness—pressures that can be especially intense for LGBTQ+ people navigating family rejection, isolation or seasonal depression.
Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) officials say those feelings are common this time of year, and they want residents to know that no-cost help is available across the city.
“There’s a lot of mixed emotions that happen during the holidays and when winter comes on,” said Kathy Calderon, director of behavioral health program operations at CDPH. “People may start to feel warning signs or symptoms come up that are atypical to their normal functioning.”
Calderon said people may feel less eager to connect with others, experience fatigue, isolate or find themselves thinking more negatively as cold weather, shorter days and holiday expectations converge. Grief can also resurface more intensely.
“There’s just a lot of messaging about being with family,” she said. “So people may feel a little more triggered during this time.”
CDPH oversees a network of mental health services designed to remove barriers for Chicagoans who may otherwise struggle to access care, including LGBTQ+ people who are uninsured, underinsured or hesitant to seek help.
CDPH operates seven city-run mental health centers that offer free services for residents ages 6 and up. While the centers bill insurance when available, Calderon emphasized that insurance is not required.
“We don’t turn people away if they don’t have insurance,” she said.
Services at city-run centers include outpatient therapy, psychiatric services through nurse practitioners, care management and case management support. CDPH also operates a program to help residents access psychiatric medications if they are uninsured.
To expand reach beyond those seven locations, CDPH funds a network of 37 partner providers across the city, including federally qualified health centers, community mental health centers and faith-based organizations.
Those partnerships are intentional, she said, allowing CDPH to meet people where they are and scale services more quickly.
“We found success in CDPH partnering with organizations to help scale up their services,” Calderon said. “They’re actively breaking down barriers so people can get into services quicker.”
To help residents find care, CDPH offers an interactive online map showing city-run clinics and funded partner locations, along with intake information and services offered. Telehealth options are also available.
CDPH also runs Healing Arts Chicago, a program that embeds local artists into city mental health centers to offer free wellness classes focused on movement, sound meditation, music, painting, poetry, writing and storytelling.
“We’ve partnered with local artists who’ve taken community health worker training so they can utilize art-facing workshops and interventions to support mental health,” Calderon said.
Each city-run clinic hosts a Healing Arts artist, and classes are open both to clinic clients and the broader community.
For residents experiencing suicidal thoughts or mental health crises, CDPH points to several immediate-response options. The city also offers free suicide prevention and harm reductiontrainings for community members using the evidence-based Question, Persuade and Refer model.
“We trained public health professionals across disciplines — not just behavioral health — to be able to train on this modality,” Calderon said.
While CDPH takes a population-wide approach to mental health, Calderon said LGBTQ+ residents are a priority focus area. The department recently issued a request for proposals encouraging culturally responsive services for LGBTQ+ communities as part of a new partner network launching in 2026.
“We do see the need to make sure that we’re addressing disparities,” she said. “LGBTQ populations are a priority area of focus.”
Calderon emphasized that feeling overwhelmed this season is not a personal failure. Reaching out can be the first step toward relief.
“We want to normalize that seasonally, it can be difficult,” she said. “And encourage people to know they’re not alone.”