Introduction
The Better Together Study is partnering with two community organizations on Chicago’s West Side to provide a safe and supportive space where individuals can take part in telehealth visits, Recovery Guiding, and research assessments. Learn more about our SPOKE locations below.
Breakthrough
- Breakthrough is a daytime support center for women, with its Women’s Center located at 3330 West Carroll Avenue, Chicago, IL 60624, in East Garfield Park. Serving the West Side of Chicago, Breakthrough will participate as a SPOKE collaborator in support of the CTN-0144 study.
- As part of this partnership, Breakthrough will complete study-related training and provide a private and confidential space where participants can take part in telemedicine visits with their Hub provider. While Breakthrough is not a medical site, it offers a wide range of supportive services, including youth and education programs, trauma-informed behavioral care, health and wellness clinics, transitional and permanent supportive housing, violence prevention services, and spiritual development resources.
- Breakthrough also hosts a client-choice food pantry three times a week and provides job-readiness workshops. In 2023, the organization served 21,000 residents, including over 1,100 students and nearly 1,300 adults who received mental health services.
- For questions related to the Breakthrough SPOKE or CTN-0144, please get in touch with Cheron Massonburg, BSN, RN, Chief Program Officer for Housing, Health, Wellness, and Community Economic Development.
Cheron Massonburg, RN - Chief Program Officer of Housing and Health and Wellness
Since joining Breakthrough in 2001, Cheron has supported adults facing homelessness or crisis with compassion, worked with colleagues to create caring environments, and led services that serve more than 5,000 adults and families in Garfield Park each year.
Email: cmassonburg@breakthrough.org
Institute for Nonviolence Chicago
- The Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, located at 1856 N. LeClaire Ave in the Austin neighborhood, is a community-based organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of gun violence in Chicago. The Institute will participate in study-related training and provide a private, secure space where participants can connect with the Hub provider through telemedicine.
- As a non-medical community center, the Institute offers a range of supportive services for individuals and families, including trauma-informed behavioral health care, educational programs on understanding and changing systems of violence, street outreach, victim support, job readiness, reentry assistance, wellness programs, and case management.
- All services, including the nonviolence training, are guided by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s six principles and steps of nonviolence. The Institute’s approach combines cognitive behavioral skill-building, mentorship, social-emotional learning, and conflict mediation.
- In 2023, the Institute worked with more than 900 people through outreach, reentry, victim support, and job readiness programs. Staff supported over 300 victims and their families and conducted 314 mediations that likely prevented further violence.
- For questions about the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago SPOKE or related services, please contact Kelly Carroll.
Kelly Carroll, LCSW - Associate Director of Behavioral Health & Wellness
Kelly Carroll, LCSW, earned a BA in Legal Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an MSW from the University of Southern California. She has over 13 years of experience supporting individuals affected by trauma in a variety of clinical settings. Her work has focused on areas such as homelessness, medical crises, military-to-civilian readjustment, community violence prevention, and trauma recovery related to combat, sexual assault, and other forms of violence.
