They called them the Suicide Club—young men in open cockpits who flew the mail through blizzards and fog with nothing but a magnetic compass, a pocket watc...

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Jeden základ pro Hermes (a jiné agenty). Nechte si každé ráno poslat články na určité téma. Je to překvapivě snadné a naučíte se tím první základní věci. Na…

HUMBOLDT PARK — Nestled in an unassuming building along bustling North Avenue, a healing community center is thriving in alternative mental health therapy. Despite the cacophony of the busy neighborhood stretch, Sana Healing Collective, 3324 W. North Ave., offers a quiet respite from the outside world. Its community healing altar, psychedelic artwork and Pothos plants calmly welcome people into the space — all intentional touches for one of Chicago’s only nonprofit providers of psychedelic-assisted therapy, said co-founder and director, Vilmarie Fraguada Narloch. Sana marked its fifth year in business last month, and it has also recently completed an expansion in its basement funded by a city grant and increased its clientele growth. Fraguada Narloch sees it as proof that there is demand and appetite for more holistic and psychedelic-assisted therapy, especially as it becomes more mainstream and gets legal backing from the statehouse. “I’m proud of us. It’s not easy to start a nonprofit that is also a mental health clinic,” Fraguada Narloch said. “We are making sure we’re doing things the right way and honoring what is needed by the community.” Vilmarie Fraguada Narloch, director and co-founder of Sana Healing Collective at 3324 W. North Ave. in Humboldt Park smiles in the office hallway Aug. 18, 2026. Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago Fraguada Narloch, an activist and psychologist, has pushed for science and reality-based drug education and harm reduction techniques throughout her career. Sana Healing Collective opened its space in 2021 and offers a range of holistic mental health services with a focus on ketamine-assisted therapy that is meant to be accessible for people regardless of insurance and background. Like other psychedelics, some research has found ketamine, which is a anesthetic drug that is also used recreationally, to help with depression, anxiety and PTSD. Ketamine therapy is the only legal psychedelic in Illinois as a prescribed, FDA Schedule III treatment. Sana’s therapists serve neighbors from across the Chicago area but largely focus on Northwest Siders. They also work to support people who use psychedelics with holistic services including art therapy, yoga, healing circles, harm reduction and educational workshops and community awareness events. Sana Healing Collective, 3324 W. North Ave., has a multipurpose space in the basement that was financially supported by a city grant, as seen Aug. 18, 2026 in Humboldt Park. Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago Sana Healing Collective at 3324 W. North Ave. opened in 2020 in Humboldt Park. Credit: Provided As more people find Sana, the clinic is raising money to help fund its ketamine-assisted therapy for people from lower-income backgrounds to keep its mission of therapy access open to all, Fraguada Narloch said. “We were seeing this pretty big gap from who’s going to actually be able to access psychedelic-assisted therapy and the actual clients that we’ve been working with, and that just didn’t feel right to any of us. So that’s what we set out to do, was to bridge that gap,” she said. Last month, Sana started a financial campaign called Rooted in Community to expand its Community Care Fund, which covers costs for psychedelic-assisted therapy and holistic mental health care for those who can’t afford it. Although the fund started at the nonprofit’s inception and has been supported through various fundraising efforts, this year is the first time Sana leaders are seeking sponsorship for the fund directly. Ketamine administration, which doesn’t include the psychotherapy component, is not covered by insurance and individual ketamine treatments can cost between $300-$400 per session. Since launching the targeted fundraising model, Sana has raised $2,000 so far, Fraguada Narloch said. Leaders hope to raise $50,000 through next summer. The altar at Sana Healing Collective, 3324 W. North Ave., greets clients near the door, and has items people have left that fit the healing and cleaning theme of the Humboldt Park space, seen Aug. 18, 2026. Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago Fraguada Narloch, who has helped author legislation in Illinois to make psilocybin-assisted therapy legal and accessible, is hopeful that more drug policy reforms — and more money in the care fund — can boost Sana’s presence in the holistic therapy space. “Ahead of these potential big shifts, we want to make sure we’re prepared for the community to be able to provide these services,” She said. “It has potential to be pretty expensive, so we want to make it accessible.” ______________________________________________________________________ ## **Support Local News!** **Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, **an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? **Click here to gift a subscription** , or you can **support Block Club with atax-deductible donation.** **Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:**