Our Model
At Arcus we pride ourselves on prioritizing vulnerable and underserved populations, by ensuring a sustainable model of a social enterprise.
For clients who have insurance, we will bill their insurance and provide services similarly to a private practice. This supports our every day business costs and ensures sustainability year to year.
Clients who do not have insurance are supported through grants and donations, channeled through a variety of community programs. This allows every dollar we receive from grants and donations to be directed to those who need it the most.
Mental Health Equity Fund
Started in 2021, the Mental Health Equity Fund (MHEF) is Arcus’ flagship community program which has provided subsidies for mental health services to remove financial barriers for vulnerable populations.
The MHEF provides full or partial subsidies for any and all services provided by Arcus, for people who cannot afford services and are uninsured or underinsured.
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The MHEF prioritizes services for individuals who are uninsured or low-income, are cultural or ethnic minorities, are LGBTQ+ identified, have a history of housing or economic instability, or are undocumented immigrants and refugees.
From 2021-2023 the fund has provided direct subsidies or some form of financial support to over 780 individuals, subsidized over $80,000 and provided almost 24,000 hours of therapy.
In 2024 alone Arcus provided over $90,000 in subsidies from funds received from grants and donations, to over 83 individuals and families.
Building Capacity at CBOs to Expand Mental Health Services & Community Referrals
Arcus provides Capacity Building partnerships with various organizations seeking to expand their current offerings and expand services to include behavioral health services.
At Brave Space Alliance, a Black and Trans Woman Led LGBTQ+ community-based organization in Hyde Park, Arcus is supporting the development of their own internal Behavioral Health programs while currently providing mental health services to BSA clients on a referral basis.
At TaskForce Prevention and Community Services and Life Is Work, two Black and Trans and LGBTQ+ led organizations in Austin on the west side of Chicago, Arcus is supporting the development of services supporting LGBTQ+ youth, and Black and Brown Trans populations in the city.
KLEO Center Shelter Services
Started in 2025, Arcus partnered with KLEO Community Family Life Center, an anti-violence, and community-based service organization in Chicago. Through this partnership Arcus has provided on-site behavioral services through psychoeducational groups at a family homeless shelter run by KLEO. Arcus provided a 10 week pilot program with two psychoeducational groups, one in English and one in Spanish, to adult residents living at the shelter, providing them with tools and support through transitional challenging times. Arcus and KLEO will resume a new set of psychoeducational sessions in the fall of 2025 and are currently seeking additional funds to sustain a long-term relationship which will provide services to both families and children in group and individual settings.
Corazón Community Services - Fuerza Youth Center
Between 2022 and 2025, Arcus partnered with Corazón Community Services, a local non-profit focused on anti-violence and youth development work in Cicero, in a grant program funded by Healthy Communities Foundation, to provide behavioral health services on-site at the Fuerza Youth Center in Cicero. Arcus and CCS partnered to provide psychoeducational support groups to youth ages 12-18 at the Fuerza Youth Center during their after school drop-in program, which provides services for at-risk youth, primarily Latine youth, in the Cicero and Berwyn area. This program provided continuous weekly on-site group support for teens seeking mental health support and education without perpetuating stigma in linguistically and culturally appropriate services with Spanish speaking clinicians. Arcus subsidized individual and family therapy services for drop-in center youth and their families. During the program tenure, 60 youth and their families received mental health services at Arcus.
Employee Assistance Programs
We believe in Caring for the Carer. For too long community mental health services and social services have relied on creating barriers for personal and professional advancement and wellbeing, relying on underpaid or unpaid work from passionate mental health and social service providers. We seek to provide relief and support to the employees of all our partner organizations, and have piloted Employee Assistance Programs through grant funds for Corazón Community Services. We seek to implement this model with all our partners where we have long-standing relationships and service agreements. Our partners deserve to feel supported and held as well.