The ICHANGE Story
Humans helping humans, since 2011.
ICHANGE began in 2011 as a youth program in Lansing, Michigan — rooted in the belief that the people closest to the struggle are also closest to the solution. Today we’re a 501(c)(3) behavioral health practice delivering virtual care across Michigan, with the same conviction: your challenge does not have to determine your future.
Founded with intention
Founded on the belief that care should feel like a conversation with a trusted neighbor — not a prescription handed down from a high chair.
Mission-bound nonprofit
Our 501(c)(3) status keeps us accountable to the community first. Every dollar of fee revenue and every donation goes back into care, training, and access programs.
Virtual care, real presence
We meet entirely online — but our goal is for the screen to disappear. We focus on the now, deliver real tools, and stay rooted in the lives of the people we serve.
Our Journey
More than a decade in the community.
From a youth program in a community center to a fully virtual behavioral health practice — here’s how ICHANGE got here.
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2011
Founded as the ICHANGE Youth Program
Established in Lansing, Michigan with a mission to empower youth with protective-factor tools and to provide family-support services. Built early partnerships with LCC, Capital Area Library, Head Start, Ingham County School District, United Way, Walmart, Children’s Trust Fund, Meijer, CEI‑CMH, the Association of Black Social Workers, Lansing Parks & Recreation, and the City of Lansing.
Educational field-placement relationships established with the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, Siena Heights University, and Spring Arbor University.
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2012–2017
Programs and services in the community
Implemented Positive Youth Development, For Youth By Youth (FYBY), and Families United programs in Lansing Parks & Recreation community centers. Delivered mentoring, conflict-resolution workshops, evidence-based “Asset Building,” the STEP Teen program for foster youth, the Circle of Parents Program, weekly stress-management classes, and family-centered events.
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2015&2016
Hustle Back to School
Reached hundreds of families and youth through Hustle Back To School and Hustle Back 2 School at Lett’s Community Center — non-traditional community engagement focused on educational and social determinants of well-being.
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2017
A turning point — the move into clinical practice
Signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Lansing School District for ICHANGE Youth Program implementation in Reo and Pleasant View Elementary schools (March–November). Capital Region Community Youth Program Grant awarded ($13,000) supporting four interns with stipends.
By September, ICHANGE underwent a full reorganization: new name, location, mission, email, and website. Opened the first office (Suite 235) with four clinicians and a seven‑member Board of Directors.
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2018
Growth, stability, and stronger partnerships
Strengthened relationships with Juvenile Justice, Court Systems, MDHHS, McLaren, Cedar Creek, and multiple physicians. Paid off furniture and office-supply debt in June. Relocated to the current suite in August. Added four new clinicians by November — bringing the total to seven.
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2019–2020
COVID-19 and the pivot to virtual care
The pandemic transformed the practice. Several clinicians transitioned out and the team consolidated — then rebuilt around 100% virtual care, so we could keep showing up for the community without geographical limits.
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Today
Rooted, renewed, and still here
ICHANGE operates as a 501(c)(3) behavioral health practice delivering telehealth services across Michigan. Individual therapy, EMDR and trauma therapy, family and couples counseling, adolescent care, group therapy, court-involved support, and psychological assessments — all delivered with the same conviction we started with: your challenge does not have to determine your future.
What ICHANGE Stands For
More than a name — a blueprint.
ICHANGE: Initiating Communities Helping Area Neighborhoods Gain Empowerment. A blueprint for collective resilience — designed to resonate with the people seeking growth, the partners building bridges, the donors fueling change, and the interns learning to lead.
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Initiating
Sparking the movement toward collective healing.
Change requires a catalyst. It begins by actively breaking down the silos that keep people isolated, opening doors for open dialogue, and creating the initial spark that brings people out of the shadows and into a shared space of recovery.
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Communities
Building a fabric of unity without judgment.
True strength lies in connection. The focus is on weaving a supportive, cohesive network where neighbors lift up neighbors — recognizing that a healthy community is the ultimate safety net for the individual.
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Helping
Providing practical action and evidence-based tools.
Help is not passive; it is active and multi-dimensional. It means pairing proven, evidence-based behavioral tools with tangible, real-world solutions — whether that means emotional counseling or connecting someone to vital local resources and daily necessities.
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Area
Rooted in local reality.
Impact is made where real life happens. This principle focuses heavily on the specific streets, families, and spaces within our local geography — ensuring that support is never abstract, but always deeply relevant to the immediate environment.
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Neighborhoods
Cultivating local environments of peace.
A neighborhood should be a sanctuary. By focusing on grassroots environments, the goal is to transform local surroundings into safe, nurturing spaces where individuals feel secure enough to focus on their personal growth.
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Gain
Achieving self-acceptance and measurable progress.
Growth is defined by the individual, not by their peers. It is about gaining the internal strength to be happy with who you are, creating your own terms for success, and moving forward with tangible life improvements.
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Empowerment
Handing the power back to the people.
The ultimate destination is autonomy. Empowerment means equipping every individual and neighborhood with the sustainable tools, resources, and confidence to maintain their own peace, drive their own future, and thrive independently.
We are ICHANGE — not ICHANGE Process.
Our Mission
What we’re here to do.
At Initiating Communities Helping Area Neighborhoods Gain Empowerment (ICHANGE), our mission is to empower our community with the protective-factor tools, resources, guidance, and supportive services where thriving together is the norm — and being healthy is a way of life, not a rare outcome.
We meet people where they are. We walk beside them, not in front of them. Whether it’s through therapy, assessments, family support, or just being a steady presence, we’re here to help people move from just surviving … to truly living.
What that looks like in practice
- Evidence-based interventions for individuals who meet medical-necessity criteria.
- Protective-factor tools that help people become self-sufficient.
- Family support services that strengthen family functioning.
- Psychological assessments, individual and group therapy, and court-involved support.
- Care delivered alongside interns, volunteers, and community partners to expand access.
Our Vision
A future where no one is reduced to their diagnosis.
ICHANGE aims to optimize the behavioral health and well-being outcomes for Michigan’s residents.
Our services aim to influence attitudes, values, and beliefs — toward understanding that a challenge does not have to determine a future. We want every person who works with us to leave with more tools, more language for their experience, and more belief that the next chapter is theirs to write.
Our Principles
How we show up.
Three commitments shape every session, every call, every decision we make.
We see the whole person, not a diagnosis.
A label tells us almost nothing about the life behind it. We listen for the context — family, work, history, hope, fear — and we build a plan around the human, not the chart.
It really does take a village.
Care does not happen in a single hour a week. We coordinate with families, schools, courts, primary-care doctors, and community partners — because healing happens in relationship, not in isolation.
We start from strengths.
Every person who comes to us is already doing something right — even if they cannot see it. We help them name those strengths, build on them, and use them as the foundation for change.
Our Board
The people steering the ship.
Our Board of Directors is the volunteer governance body that holds ICHANGE accountable to its mission, its clients, and its community. Each member brings clinical, legal, financial, or community-organizing expertise — and a personal commitment to mental-health equity.
Board Chair
Name to be added
Short bio to come — background, why they serve, community ties.
Vice Chair
Name to be added
Short bio to come — background, why they serve, community ties.
Treasurer
Name to be added
Short bio to come — background, why they serve, community ties.
Secretary
Name to be added
Short bio to come — background, why they serve, community ties.
Open call
Interested in joining the Board?
The Board reviews applications quarterly. Two‑year terms; about a third of seats turn over each year.
Apply for board service →Or contact the Board directly at board@ichangeprocess.org · Executive Director at execdirector@ichangeprocess.org
E-E-A-T, in plain language.
Experience. More than a decade of community practice. Expertise. Licensed clinicians, EMDR-trained, family-systems certified. Authoritativeness. 501(c)(3) governance and clinical-supervision standards. Trustworthiness. HIPAA-aware workflows, transparent pricing, sliding-scale equity.