Helpful Links
The Upper Room Crisis Hotline (888) 808-8724
Suicide is an ever increasing problem within first responder groups. If you are considering suicide or just need to talk, please seek call or text the Upper Room. The Upper Room Crisis Hotline is staffed 24/7 and is anonymous.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 988
We can all help prevent suicide. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.
Link to Illinois State Law Regarding Peer Support
5 ILCS 840/1 is entitled the First Responders Suicide Prevention Act and was enacted in August 2019. The full text is linked below.
IAFF Center of Excellence
Firefighters can make use of the IAFF Center of Excellence 855-972-5115 for help with substance abuse, PTSD, and other recurring behavioral health issues.
Lifeworks
The City of Joliet employee assistance program is through Lifeworks. If you are uncomfortable calling the above resources, call Lifeworks at 888-267-8126.
Illinois Peer Support Network
If you are hesitant to speak with local firefighters, please make use of the Illinois Peer Support Network. They provide and excellent service. Call 855-90-SUPPORT.
St. Florian Society
This group is for first responders in my life who continue to make a difference in my life and the lives of others ministering acts of love and compassion to those in need. Let us keep each other in prayer and confidence as we serve God and his people! Amen. St. Florian, pray for us!
Firefighter Cancer Support Network
Since 2005, the non-profit Firefighter Cancer Support Network (FCSN) has provided assistance and one-on-one mentoring to thousands of cancer-stricken firefighters and their families.
International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF)
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) is a method of helping first responders and others who have been involved in critical incidents that leave them emotionally and/or physically affected by those incidents. CISM is a process that enables peers to help their peers understand problems that might occur after an event. This process also helps people prepare to continue to perform their services or in some cases return to a normal lifestyle.
Northern Illinois Critical Incident Stress Management Team
The Northern Illinois Critical Incident Stress Management (NICISM) Team is dedicated to providing immediate comprehensive crisis response interventions and pre-incident stress management education for emergency service personnel throughout the Chicagoland area. Our service area includes the following counties: Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.
Everyone Goes Home
The Everyone Goes Home® Program, founded by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, provides free training, resources, and programs to champion and implement the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives. The goal of the Everyone Goes Home® Program is to reduce the number of preventable firefighter line-of-duty deaths and injuries.
Aspire Center for Positive Change
The Aspire Center for Positive Change has partnered with the Joliet Firefighters Peer Support Group to provide clinician support and direction. The professional counselors and social workers at Aspire work with patients of all ages and address a wide variety of mental health issues. Please call or text them if you need clinical support (815) 353-3122.
Mental Health America
The nation's leading community-based non-profit dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness.
National Council for Behavioral Health
Find information on all forms of behavioral disorders and Mental First Aid.
National Institute of Mental Health
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the lead federal agency for research on mental disorders. NIMH is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest biomedical research agency in the world. NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
World Health Organization
WHO, as the directing and coordinating authority on international health within the United Nations system, adheres to the UN values of integrity, professionalism and respect for diversity.
The values of the WHO workforce furthermore reflect the principles of human rights, universality and equity established in WHO’s Constitution as well as the ethical standards of the Organization.
These values are inspired by the WHO vision of a world in which all peoples attain the highest possible level of health, and our mission to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable, with measurable impact for people at country level. We are individually and collectively committed to put these values into practice.
Catholic Charities LOSS Program
Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide (LOSS) is a non-denominational program that supports individuals who are grieving the loss of a loved one by suicide. LOSS offers a safe, non-judgmental environment where survivors of suicide can openly talk about feelings and experiences. We help survivors to find community, direction and resources for healing. They provide a warm, nurturing network of other survivors; educate members about the grieving process; and support your unique struggle to regain hope and strength.
LOSS Program Office
721 N. LaSalle Street
Chicago, IL 60654
Main Line: (312) 655-7283
Fax Line: (312) 948-3340
Divorce Care
Divorce Care is a friendly, caring group of people who will walk alongside you through one of life’s most difficult experiences. Don’t go through separation or divorce alone.
Divorce Care offers support programs for individuals struggling with divorce. They meet in person at many local sites including Minooka, Plainfield, Naperville, and Aurora.
Sex Addiction - Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA)
Our primary purpose is to stop our addictive sexual behavior and to help others recover from sexual addiction. Recovery was possible for most of us only when we accepted the fact that we were powerless over our addictive sexual behavior and that we were incapable of changing without help from outside ourselves. Many of us came to this realization when we started attending SAA meetings. In that setting we heard stories similar to ours and realized that recovery from our malady was possible. We learned through the SAA Fellowship that we were not hopelessly defective.
Gambling Addiction - National Problem Gambling Helpline
The National Council on Problem Gambling operates the National Problem Gambling Helpline Network (1-800-522-4700). The network is a single national access point to local resources for those seeking help with a gambling problem. The network consists of 28 call centers that provide resources and referrals for all 50 states, Canada and the US Virgin Islands. Help is available 24/7 and is 100% confidential.
The National Problem Gambling Helpline Network also includes text and chat services. These features enable those who are gambling online or on their mobile phone to access help the same way they play. One call, text or chat will get you to problem gambling help anywhere in the U.S. 24/7/365.
Help is also available via an online peer support forum at www.gamtalk.org.
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international fellowship of men and women who have had a drinking problem. It is nonprofessional, self-supporting, multiracial, apolitical, and available almost everywhere. There are no age or education requirements. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about his or her drinking problem.
Illinois Association of Retired Firefighters
In 1982, The Illinois Association of Retired Firefighters was formed to assist retired and/or disabled firefighters to continue being an integral part of their community. The IARF allows the retiree to maintain contact with friends and co-workers, continue to be informed about problems of retirees, and keeping up to date with solutions to financial problems faced by Firefighters. IARF currently has 26 local Clubs chartered throughout Illinois, in cities like Rockford, Joliet, Peoria, Bloomington, Decatur, Quad Cities, Springfield, and Belleville. Each local club continues to work with and support area AFFI Locals, and we continue to be members of the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois.
The local clubs plan activities such as visiting elderly members and staying engaged in the community. They encourage the disabled and/or retired firefighters to visit any brother or sister who is hospitalized or is home bound, and to participate in Silent Watch duties for any members who pass.
The Illinois Association of Retired Firefighters began publishing a bi-annual magazine, Disabled and Retired Firefighters, as a way of informing retirees about other clubs activities in their communities including charity work, public education, visiting the sick and infirmed, and political activities.
American Association of Suicidology
The AAS was founded by clinical psychologist Edwin S. Shneidman, PhD, in 1968. After co-directing the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center (LASPC) since 1958, Dr. Shneidman was appointed co-director of The Center for Suicide Prevention at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, MD. There he had the opportunity to closely observe the limited available knowledge-base regarding suicide.
Consequently, under the sponsorship of the NIMH, he organized a meeting of several world-renowned scholars in Chicago, determined the need for and fathered a national organization devoted to research, education, and practice in “suicidology,” and advancing suicide prevention.
With his years of leadership directing a suicide prevention center, Shneidman was quick to recognize a contemporaneous and rapid expansion of the crisis center/hotline movement across the United States.
The newly established AAS embraced these centers as sources of research information on suicidal clients. Soon, the relationship between AAS and these centers was symbolic.
AAS became the central clearing house for support and the hub of a many-spoked wheel, networking these centers to common needs, training materials, and goals.
Sage Bodywork & Wellness
Sage Bodywork & Wellness is a small group of smart therapists and instructors dedicated to improving your well-being. We carefully apply principles of holistic healing to address a wide range of conditions and symptoms. Whether you are seeking bodywork, yoga, or meditation, our many years of combined experience will leave you balanced and better equipped to move through your day.
We look forward to working with you!
Rosecrance Florian Program for Uniformed Personnel and Retirees
The Florian Program addresses the complex biopsychosocial issues unique to the culture of firefighters, paramedics, law enforcement officers, and the military.
Core services include:
- Treatment for co-occurring disorders such as substance abuse, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and ADHD
- On-site detox with medication assistance
- Comprehensive psychiatric evaluations
- Individual, group and family therapy
- One-on-one counseling and group therapy with a peer/professional
- Peer support groups
- Pain assessment and treatment
- Counseling with a certified fire chaplain
- Experiential therapies, including art and recreation
- Nutrition and health education
- Physician care
Additional services are provided as needed and include
- Intervention
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation
- Sleep disturbance assessment
- Cortisol level testing and evaluation
Westside Children's Therapy
Westside is a culture-first company. We have a defined set of values that guide our decision-making, everything from which therapists we hire to who manages each clinic. This ensures we have a team united by a shared belief in doing therapy the best way we know how.
Westside makes therapy convenient for families. We confirm your insurance coverage and estimate your costs. We offer all services in each clinic. We schedule appointments to reduce your commutes. And we locate our centers in locations where you can run errands at the same time.
BCBS IL Link for firefighters
BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois
JFD Firefighters and Retirees can check health benefits here.