Dr. Toyn Green, founder, president and CEO of Lincoln Options Center, urged the Cook County Board of Commissioners during public testimony to award $1,000,000 to launch a pilot mobile mental-health clinic serving South Suburban Cook County.

Green said the 30-year-old nonprofit — the only accredited, state-certified community behavioral health clinic founded and led by an African American woman in the South Suburban region — has seen sharply rising demand. "In the first six months of 2025, we have already serviced 1,174 clients," Green said, adding that the total for all of 2024 was 1,236. "These numbers reflect not just high use and need, but a pressing demand for mental health services to be more accessible for individuals in need and lost to care."

Green described the proposed mobile unit as a rotating clinic staffed by licensed medical and clinical professionals to screen and triage mental-health and substance-use needs, provide crisis intervention and connect clients to social-need supports. She framed the proposal as a way to reach people who are reluctant to enter fixed-site clinics and said the clinic would focus on communities that Green characterized as underserved.

Green referenced recent, local high-profile incidents while urging county support: "Too often, we see news reports, heartbreaking headlines, and turn of events that are creating trauma in our communities where individuals suffering with untreated mental health problems can easily find themselves in a crisis that turn fatal." Green concluded by asking the board to consider the funding request and to support outreach that travels to communities in need.

The request was delivered during the meeting's public-comment period; the board did not announce any immediate action on Green's specific funding request during the session.