Mental health help in the Tri-Cities and Kane County: who to call

If you or someone you love is struggling, the hardest part is often knowing who to call. This guide lists verified numbers and local places in and around St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia, from crisis lines to ongoing counseling. Save it before you need it.

In a crisis, right now

Call or text 988. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You can also chat online at 988lifeline.org. Text and chat are available in Spanish. You can call for yourself or because you are worried about someone else.

Call 911 for a life-threatening emergency. NAMI's local affiliate suggests asking for a CIT-trained officer, meaning one trained in crisis intervention.

Other lines TriCity Family Services points people to after hours:

• Crisis Text Line: text 741741
• The Trevor Project (LGBTQ youth): 866-488-7386, or text 678678
• Illinois Helpline for opioids and other substances: 833-234-6343, or helpline.org
• Illinois Warm Line: 866-359-7953, Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It is phone support for people and families dealing with mental health or substance use challenges, staffed by people with lived experience.

Northwestern Medicine also lists a Behavioral Health 24/7 Hotline at 800.373.3327 on its Delnor Hospital page.

Counseling close to home

TriCity Family Services has offered counseling in Kane County since 1967. The main office is at 1120 Randall Court in Geneva, with a satellite office at 2570 Foxfield Road, Suite 101, in St. Charles (by appointment). Main office hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.

Services include counseling for individuals, couples and families, psychiatric services, a family-based treatment program for eating disorders, and emotional wellness workshops and support groups. The agency accepts most PPO plans, Medicaid and Medicare, offers a sliding fee scale for self-pay clients and says it does not deny services based on inability to pay. In its 2025 fiscal year it served 5,547 people.

To start, call 630.232.1070 during office hours or use the request form on its contact page. The agency cannot take service requests by email for confidentiality reasons.

Support groups for families

Caring for someone with a mental health condition wears on the whole household. NAMI Kane-South, DeKalb and Kendall Counties (NAMI KDK) runs free family support groups led by trained family members. One meets in Geneva on the first Saturday of the month at 10 a.m. RSVP through namikdk.org for details.

NAMI KDK also runs virtual family and peer groups, a young adult group, a BIPOC group and Spanish-language groups. Reach the office at 630-896-6264. North Kane residents can contact NAMI Kane County North in Dundee at 847-410-9719. The NAMI national HelpLine is 800-950-6264.

County tools you can use from home

The Kane County Health Department keeps a mental health resources page with links for youth, parents and caregivers, employers and health workers. It includes Behavioral Health 360, the county's mental health self-help site, plus free online self-screening tests.

The department has offices at 1240 N. Highland Ave. in Aurora and 2170 Point Blvd. in Elgin. It lists a 24-hour phone line, 630-208-3801, but non-emergency calls after hours are returned the next business day. In a crisis, use 988 or 911.

One more step

If talking about this feels awkward, you are not alone. Sending a text to 988 or making one call to a counselor counts as a real step. Share this list with a friend, a coworker or your teenager. It might be the thing they needed to see this week.