Moraine Valley Community College has been nationally recognized for its commitment to student wellness, earning the 2025 Excellence in Mental Health and Well-Being Award from Insight Into Academia magazine.
The honor celebrates colleges and universities that foster positive mental health through accessible services, peer support, proactive policies and programs that build emotional resilience.
At Moraine Valley, the recognition highlights the work of its Counseling and Career Development Center, which offers a range of services designed to meet students’ academic, personal and career needs.
“It is an honor for Moraine Valley’s Counseling and Career Development Center to be recognized,” said Dr. Scott Friedman, dean of Student Engagement.
“Moraine Valley Community College is a recognized leading institution in Illinois when it comes to holistic counseling services, and we are thankful for being selected for the award by Insight Into Academia. This recognition highlights the outstanding work of our counselors and staff in further developing a campus culture focused on positive well-being for our students.”
Among the center’s key initiatives is Project Care, which provides students with access to a full-service food pantry, hygiene and school supplies, housing support and short-term emergency funding to assist those facing financial hardships. The program was strengthened in 2024 through a Northwestern Medicine Community Benefit Grant, which funded enhancements to the pantry and related services.
“In addition to short-term, solution-focused mental health counseling, our counselors and staff go above and beyond every day to meet the academic, personal and career needs of our students,” Friedman said. “Over the past year, we’ve focused heavily on supporting the basic needs of students, whether through the pantry, hygiene kits, housing assistance or emergency funding.”
The Counseling and Career Development Center also engages the campus community through outreach efforts designed to destigmatize mental health and promote the use of campus resources. These efforts include classroom presentations, mental health events, expanded counseling services at the college’s extension centers and the introduction of a Peer Educators Program.
Peer educators, who are trained student employees, manage the pantry, lead classroom visits and host on-campus events to connect students with resources and encourage open conversations about mental health.
“This program has been instrumental in creating peer-to-peer connections that help students feel supported and empowered,” Friedman said.
Friedman also emphasized that Moraine Valley’s success in supporting student well-being relies on partnerships across the community.
The great work of our Counseling and Career Development Center is supported by many contributors, Friedman added.
“The Moraine Valley Foundation accepts generous financial donations that are returned directly to students through the Emergency Financial Assistance Grant program and Project Care food pantry,” he said. “We’re also fortunate to have exceptional campus partners who organize food drives and many community organizations that provide increased resources to support the holistic well-being of our students. As a community college, it’s important to recognize that this award extends beyond our campus because of the incredible support of organizations throughout our community.”
Moraine Valley Community College is located at 9000 College Parkway, Palos Hills. It will be featured in the September issue of Insight Into Academia, the nation’s largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education, alongside 70 other recipients of the 2025 award.