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Dial 988 for the National Suicide Hotline in emergencies.
Mental health is an emerging and ongoing crisis nationwide, especially among college students and young people as a whole. Everybody, even those who do not feel themselves to be at risk of a mental health crisis, deserve love, help, and the chance to know what’s out there for them. This document lists some campus-specific and some nationally-available resources, including emergency numbers and hotlines, to enable UIUC students to feel safer in the event of a crisis.
This material is adapted from a document produced by the Young Democratic Socialists of America and the National Alliance on Mental Illness clubs at UIUC. It’s been updated for relevance.
Email George Taylor with suggestions and additions.
Dial (217) 333 - 3704 to schedule same-day appointments. The Counseling Center focuses on urgent issues of mental health and can only accommodate a fixed number of formal meetings per semester.
They offer the following resources:
• Suicide Intevention Team - (217) 333 - 3704
• Kognito At-Risk
This training aims to help students recognize distress in others.
• Mindwise Mental Health Screenings
This is a cursory, informal diagnostic tool also available online.
• WellTrack
This app empowers and enables individuals to understand their minds and their struggles.
• Let’s Talk
This program is a service that offers consultations from counselors embedded in individual academic colleges and answers questions on directions for future care.
Dial (217) 333 - 2700 to schedule an appointment. McKinley accommodates some urgent issues of mental health.
They offer the following resources:
• Dial-A-Nurse - dial (217) 333 - 2700
This is a hotline available 24/7 for after-hours questions and assistance. This resource provides assessments and recommendations for subsequent treatment of a variety of emotional and behavioral difficulties. Short-term individual psychotherapy, up to a few sessions, is provided.
• Acute assessment
This service is available at McKinley from 8:00AM - 4:00PM on weekdays for students in crisis. A dedicated staff member is present for this role during this time.
It is unclear whether an appointment is needed for this service or not.
• Rosecrance Crisis Line - dial (217) 359 - 4141
This resource is the one officially endorsed by McKinley for after-hours help when McKinley staff are not available.
Note that prescriptions dispensed at McKinley, including those dispensed as part of psychiatric diagnoses, can take time to be processed.
Dial (217) 333 - 0041 for screening or more information. This resource is operated by the Department of Psychology and is open to students and the general community.
They offer the following resources:
• Emergency Dean - dial (217) 333 - 0050 or visit their website
This resource supports students who are experiencing health or safety emergency situations in which an immediate University response is needed and which cannot wait until the next business day. to learn more.
The Emergency Dean is not a substitute for trained emergency personnel, such as those available through 988 or 911. The Emergency Dean’s services do not necessarily deal specifically with crises related to self-harm or harm to others. In the case of these emergencies, refer to 988 or 911.
• Student Assistance Center - dial (217) 333 - 0050
This resource is available during business hours (Monday - Friday, 8:30AM - 5:00PM) for help with reporting, accessibility, and other tasks. After hours, this number routes to the Emergency Dean.
Dial (217) 333 - 3137 or email womenscenter@illinois.edu or visit this website. The Center serves as the designated provider of Confidential Advising Services, offering advocacy and support services to students, faculty, and staff who have experienced sexual misconduct (sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, stalking, and dating and domestic violence). To schedule a free appointment, see the contacts above.
Dial (217) 244 - 8863, email Igbtrc@illinois.edu, or visit this website.
This resource provides help to students navigating issues like name changes, University housing for queer residents, and more, including legal resources available to queer students listed here.
Dial (217) 333 - 1970 or email disability@illinois.edu or visit their website.
This institution offers accommodations for a variety of disabilities and injuries. They offer therapy to registered students.
Visit their website.
The ODOS is not always the best-equipped resource on campus to deal with student well-being, but they offer some services related to discrimination and issues with landlords.
These resources are all available 24/7 and handle crises of specific kinds.
• National Suicide Hotline - dial 988
This hotline provides emergency services regarding concerns of harm to self or others.
• Crisis Text Line - text ‘HOME’ to 741741
Free, 24/7 crisis counseling by text.
• R**e Advocacy, Counseling, and Education Services (RACES) hotline - dial (217) 384 - 4444
This service offers a variety of resources, including crisis counseling services, relating to sexual violence and assault. These services are available across Champaign, Douglas, Ford, and Piatt counties in East-Central Illinois. For general inquiries, refer to (217) 344 - 6298.
• Trevor Project - dial (866) 488 - 7386 or text ‘START’ to 678678 or use their online chat
The Trevor Project provides counseling and mental health crisis services to LGBT+ youth. They may refer you to, or themselves contact other emergency resources if they deem it necessary in your crisis.
Many of these contacts also operate 24/7, and while they are not optimal for emergencies, they can be an important reference to other resources.
• National Domestic Violence Hotline - dial (800) 799 - 7233 or text ‘START’ to 88788 or use their online chat
• State of Illinois’ Domestic Violence Help Line - dial (877) 863 - 6338
The above resources provide support to those suffering from domestic violence round the clock and strategize with victims, but are not intended to address immediate crises. You can learn more about what they do by visiting their websites.
• R**e, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) National Sexual Assault Hotline -
dial (800) 656 - 4673 or access their online chat
RAINN’s hotline provides fully confidential support to victims of sexual assault, abuse, stalking, and incest.
This hotline is not a substitute for 911 in cases of urgent danger of bodily harm or violence.
• Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment (PAVE) - visit this webpage or this one
While PAVE does not offer their own hotline, they can be an important link to other resources, including counseling and support groups.
• Love is Respect - dial (866) 331 - 9474 or text ‘LOVEIS’ to 22522 or access their online chat
In addition to the hotline, Love is Respect offers important resources like guides to identifying abuse, leaving an abusive relationship, and supporting friends in unhealthy romances. They also offer this guide on online safety and information hygiene in the case that your internet use might be monitored by an abuser.
• Cyber Civil Rights Helpline - dial (844) 878 - 2274 or visit their website
This hotline is an emergency contact for victims of revenge porn, sexual extortion, and similar crimes.
• Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) hotline - dial (888) 375 - 7767
This resource provides support, guidance, and referrals to other resources for those suffering from eating disorders.
• National Alliance for Eating Disorders hotline - dial (866) 662 - 1235
This resource provides support, guidance, referrals, and educational campaigns to those suffering from eating disorders. They also maintain this webpage called Find ED Help to locate practitioners and other resources.
• Project Heal - visit their website
While Project heal does not maintain a hotline, they provide incredibly valuable resources like clinical assessment, treatment placement, cash assistance, and insurance guidance to those seeking treatment for eating disorders.
• The Bulimia Project - visit their website
The Bulimia Project can connect you to a number of existing hotlines and further help through their directory of treatment practices.
• Trans Lifeline - dial (877) 565 - 8860 or visit their website or email them at contact@translifeline.org
The Trans Lifeline has operators trained to handle crisis and non-crisis issues in transgender people. However, they’re listed as non-emergency here because of their limited hours of availability.
• LGBT National Help Center - visit their website
The LGBT National Help Center offers peer support services and several hotlines (subject to their hours of operation) that can provide important guidance and assistance and connect you to other resources.
• Uniting Pride of Champaign County (The UP Center) - visit their website
Uniting Pride is a local resource providing support to queer residents of, and students in Champaign County. They offer support groups, a binder program, and a food pantry.
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) - dial (800) 662 - 4357 or text your zip code to 435748 or visit their website
This resource locates counseling and support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous for people struggling with substance abuse.
• Rosecrance - dial (217) 373 - 2430 or visit their website
Rosecrance offers outpatient counseling services for people struggling with substance abuse.
• Better Help - visit their website
This resource locates therapists and therapy practices in your area. Additional research on practitioners listed in the results of your search is encouraged.
This resource is listed rather than individual practitioners to encourage research and avoid giving the impression of an endorsement of individual practices or practitioners.
• United Way - dial 211 or text your zip code to 898211
Among material resources like help paying bills, this hotline can help callers identify long-term mental health resources.
• Rattle the Stars - visit their website
Rattle the Stars’ advocacy attempts to address the root causes of suicide and promote awareness and advocacy among friends, family, and coworkers.
• UIPD Community Outreach and Support Team (COAST) - visit their website
The University of Illinois Police Department offers some training and therapy dog services.
One UIPD service is Response, Evaluation, and Crisis Help (REACH), but this should not be confused for a separate resource. REACH can be better described as an approach applied by the UIPD to calls relating to mental distress combining involvement from traditional first responders and social workers.
• UIPD Non-Emergency contact - (217) 333 - 1216
• Champaign Police Department Non-Emergency contact - (217) 333 (8911)
• Urbana Police Department Non-Emergency contact - (217) 384 - 2320
• Courage First Athlete Helpline - dial (888) 279 - 1026 or use their online chat
This resource helps student-athletes handle crises of mental health.
• U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs - dial (877) 222 - 8387 or visit their website
The VA offers mental health services to former and current service members.
• Backline - visit their website
Backline offers support groups and other mental health services to those in the music industry.
• CU Trauma and Resiliency Initiative - visit their Facebook
More information contained here.
The Well Experience, Inc. - visit their Facebook
More information contained here.
• Office for Victims of Crime - visit their website
More resources and their contacts are contained here.
• National Health Service (UK) - visit their website
The NHS offers smaller services like regular emails meant to regulate thoughts in those experiencing anxiety, and their tips and graphics are popular with some mental health advocates.
Dialing 911, no matter the nature of the emergency, will initiate a police or firefighter response, and the combination of traditional first responder involvement with others like social workers will depend on the municipality you’re calling from because department policies sometimes vary heavily.
Dialing 988 may also initiate a police response in many cases.
Prioritizing your health and safety is crucial in emergencies, and these numbers should absolutely be used if you feel they would be of help to you. However, you should understand the asterisks to calling these numbers in mental health emergencies before it comes to be an issue at hand, especially in the case that you call on behalf of somebody else. Knowing what happens when you contact an emergency number is both a civic duty and a matter of safety.
Some of the text in this document is lifted straight from University web pages detailing mental health services. No claim is made that all the text in this document is the original product of its contributors.