Mount Prospect exploring Community Connections Center expansion

Mount Prospect is exploring an expansion of its Community Connections Center, currently located at 1711 W. Algonquin Road.

For 15 years, the center has served the diverse population in the south end of town, meeting its needs and reducing barriers to accessing services. It is run by the village’s Human Services Department, but the Mount Prospect Library also operates its south branch there.

Using $99,550 in American Rescue Plan Act funds, the village has hired Denver-based Initium Health to conduct a needs assessment that will guide a possible expansion of the Community Connections Center.

The needs assessment tries to identify barriers residents face accessing social services and health care, propose potential partnerships with local agencies and make recommendations.

The village considered the needs assessment a high priority for the Human Services Department during its 2023 strategic planning process.

The last formal community needs assessment was completed in 2007. That led to the center’s opening.

Nearly one-third of Mount Prospect’s 56,852 residents are foreign-born and more than 40% speak a language other than English at home.

From October through March, residents, community organizations, and stakeholders are invited to focus groups and interviews. Initium will deliver its recommendations to the village by March.

“We will get to know the people of Mount Prospect deeply before making our recommendations,” said James Corbett, a principal with Initium Health.