About

Our Mission

Nissa provides guidance and support

Nissa provides guidance and support to each child struggling with behavioral and emotional challenges. We bring their family, school, and the greater Chicago Jewish community together, both to create a personalized solution and to ensure that no one faces these challenges alone.

Our Vision

No one should struggle alone

At Nissa, we envision a world where every Jewish child with behavioral and emotional challenges can thrive through a personalized solution tailored to their unique needs. We believe these behaviors are not problems to be managed but a distinct language to be understood.

By providing proper support for each child, their family, and school through the use of current community resources available, we can make minor changes that have significant impact.

Our vision is to foster a collaborative, integrated approach which benefits everyone. Ensuring that families and schools dealing with emotional or behavioral struggles feel appreciated and supported, which empowers them to take the necessary next steps to an action plan.

Our goal is to help children remain in their home school and when necessary, reintegrate into mainstream yeshivas and schools of their choosing as soon as possible.

Through this coordinated effort, we aspire to make a significant difference for parents and schools caring for children struggling with emotional and behavioral health challenges. We ensure that no individual faces these struggles alone.

The birth of Nissa is going to lead to the light at the end of the tunnel for many children and their families. Meeting Aviva through Nissa for the first time gave me hope, strength and courage to be confident in the unique choices I made for my son and his future.

T.D.

Our Values

Support.
Guidance.
Growth.
Together.

Acceptance

We understand that behavioral and emotional challenges are a language that needs to be understood. We believe that each person comes to every situation with their own story, and that each person and organization is doing their best with the skills and resources they have. We believe in meeting everyone where they are.

Empathy

We believe everyone deserves to be acknowledged and listened to with empathy and without judgment.True support means understanding their experiences, offering a comforting presence, and making them feel they are not alone. We pay attention to both spoken and unspoken feelings and explore all aspects of their struggles, so everyone feels seen, heard, and understood.

Family

We believe that every family strives to be as independent and successful as possible. We believe that each person in a family is interconnected and when one struggles, everyone struggles. We value strong connections between family, school, and community to provide the support needed for everyone to thrive. Together, as one big extended family, we are working towards the best outcome for each child and family.

Respect

We believe that respect is fundamental, and therefore crucial, to achieving meaningful change. Through our collaborative partnerships, we are committed to respecting and honoring the emotions, insights, and expertise of all individuals involved with each child, including the child, their parents, principals, teachers, rabbis, and other support figures. We prioritize respectful relationships and cooperation to ensure the success of each child.

Independence

We believe that individuals and families seek to achieve independence and thrive autonomously. By providing comprehensive wraparound support, we aim to empower children, families, and schools to operate independently. While we remain a reliable resource for guidance, our goal is to equip each party with the necessary tools, knowledge, and resources to collaboratively interpret and address behavioral issues independently.

I am so impressed with Mrs. Vilenski's vision uniting the unique perspectives and skills of families, schools, and others in seeing the big picture in so many ways.

Dr. Mark Meer

PSY.D LPC, PSYCHOLOGIST AND
POST-DOCTORATE FELLOW