C4 was established in 1972 to provide quality mental health services to people released from psychiatric hospitals into the Uptown and Edgewater communities. Organized as the Edgewater-Uptown Community Mental Health Council, concerned local residents applied for a federal grant to open an outpatient clinic. Their funding application eloquently described the plight of their 8,000 neighbors discharged from state hospitals:

“If qualifying for service is commensurate with length of time denied services, then these former patients have been standing in line for as many as 40 years. …We cannot repay 40 years of institutional confinement, but we can provide a more meaningful experience, and perhaps, rekindle hope and the spark of motivation.”

Since that time, the agency’s service area has expanded to meet the behavioral health needs of individuals and families on Chicago’s North Side and beyond. A leading provider of clinical services, C4 is recognized as a compassionate and innovative community mental health agency keenly sensitive to the diverse racial and ethnic populations it serves.

From its beginning as a one-room storefront, C4 has grown to include eight facilities that provide a range of behavioral health and advocacy services. The agency has continually developed services to address emerging behavioral health and social problems in the community, including assistance for those struggling with substance use, victims of sexual assault, young adults, children under three years old, and specialized services for individuals with HIV.

C4 maintains accreditation through The Joint Commission, the nation’s largest accrediting body in health care. This achievement recognizes C4’s compliance with rigorous national performance standards for health care delivery.