Community Leaders Series

As We See It

Quarterly 75-minute events convening business, education, government, and community leaders.

REGISTER FOR MAY 5TH EVENT→

May 5th - Mental Health & the Workplace

What do you see happening in your workplace — or in the workplaces around you?

Business owners see employees struggling quietly — but where do you turn for support? School administrators watch students whose home lives are shaped by a parent who can't keep a job — but what resources exist for families in crisis? Law enforcement responds to situations rooted in workforce instability — but what happens after you leave? Nonprofit and social services leaders know their clients are employees, caregivers, and job seekers — but what do employers need to know about your services?

Experience a compact, purposeful event where candid dialogue opens doors to cross-sector problem-solving. We're convening community leaders from business, nonprofits, schools, law enforcement, and government at NAMI DuPage — one of the region's most trusted mental health organizations at their main site located at the Linda A. Kurzawa Community Center on the DuPage County campus in Wheaton.

Joining us as Featured Guide on May 5 is Geri Kerger, CEO & President of NAMI DuPage. Geri brings deep roots in the business community and years of experience educating employers, organizations, and community leaders on mental health in the workplace. She'll share what she's seeing across our community — patterns that employers often sense but struggle to name — and what every sector needs to know to better support the people they serve.

Then it's your turn: What are you seeing? Where do you see overlap? When we share what's happening across our workplaces and community, we discover we're already part of solutions. We just didn't know who else was working on them.

Organized by Good Works Results LLC with grant funding from the Bloomingdale Township Mental Health Board, serving residents in Bloomingdale, Glendale Heights, and portions of Addison, Carol Stream, Hanover Park, Itasca, Lombard, Medinah, Roselle, and Schaumburg. May is Mental Health Awareness Month..

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If you're a business owner, you're out in the community every day—and you notice patterns. Customers struggling to find childcare. Employees dealing with aging parents who need support. Challenges that others might miss.

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If you're a school administrator, certain issues keep surfacing in staff meetings. Families facing housing instability. Students needing mental health support you can't provide in-house. Gaps you wish you could fill.

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If you work in law enforcement, you respond to the same addresses repeatedly. You see the intersection of mental health, substance abuse, and community safety every shift. You know there must be better solutions.

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If you're a nonprofit leader, you understand your services inside and out—but what are schools facing? What patterns are police seeing? What do businesses need to understand about your work?

You're already part of the solution. You just need to connect with the right people.

Past Events

March 9, 2026 | Alive Center, Hanover Park

At our March "As We See It" event at the the Alive Center in Hanover Park, we overwhelmed the space in the best way possible. The core insight from our featured guide, Melinda Perez-Carter (Lake Park High School): "Behavior is communication." To understand what a student is trying to tell us, we start by building the relationship first.

What emerged from the small group discussions:
- Schools can't do this alone - they need community wraparound support.
- Effective collaboration requires knowing each other personally.
- Shifting from punitive to restorative approaches.
- Students move between many environments each day. The challenge isn't a lack of care - it's coordination.

Thanks to Bloomingdale Township Mental Health Board, Alex Anderson (Alive Center), Melinda Perez-Carter (Lake Park High School)), and Michael Murray (www.Advocatefor708.org) for partnering with Good Works Results LLC to convene this event.

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February 2025 | NEDFYS, Bloomingdale

The Bloomingdale Breakfast Club was buzzing this morning with business owners, mental health professionals, and community leaders learning about the DuPage County Health Department's new Crisis Recovery Center (CRC) and touring the Northeast DuPage Family & Youth Services counseling center facility.

The general response from attendees? "Wow, I didn't know all of this existed!" This facility will be instrumental in providing timely and appropriate care for individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis.

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