Angles, which, according to its website, has a mission “to inform and empower young people by providing health care, education, and support relating to their sexuality,” has changed its name from Links to better fit the multitude of services it offers to teens and young adults in the area.
Angles constantly reminds the New Trier Township that it is there to help. Its volunteers are all highly trained physicians who are state certified and provide a particularly safe environment to any teen who needs its services.
One major problem is that its services aren’t as well known as they could be. Despite the fact that representatives from the facility come to schools multiple times each year, students seem to zone out and not pay attention when they speak.
Back in 1973, Links was created as a reproductive healthcare clinic exclusively for youth on the North Shore. Before it was founded, the only way for students to learn about reproductive health was through a phone helpline in the area.
“The original name was ‘Links North Shore Youth Help Service.’ [It] made a lot of sense when we were just serving the New Trier area, but since then we’ve expanded to clients beyond the North Shore, patients between 13 and 25-years old, and expanded our services to include education and counseling beyond just being a sexual health clinic”, explained facility director Amy Skalinder.
Angles provides many important services for teens in the area. It provides education about sex, more than a few methods of contraception, and confidential counseling about any concerns or inquiries regarding patients’ sexual lives. Perhaps its most important and influential service is its lesser-known counseling service.
“I carry a small load of clients at any given time. Some come in about depression and anxiety and others come in about things like pregnancy and their sexuality. I’m only the counselor for the girls clinic, but I find that all of the patients who go into counseling come out of it with a much better outlook,” explained Janice Litten, director of counseling at Angles.
There are very few facilities like this in the area. Angles’s mission statement and slogan is, fittingly, “Find What’s Right for You.” Brick and mortar services that can provide an exploratory setting to truly and honestly help the patient decide what’s right for them are few and far between.
The Angles facility takes New Trier from a generally well educated community to a community that has all of the resources it needs to remain healthy. It helps students feel comfortable with anything that is particularly daunting to them. This facility provides a safety net for teens.
Angles provides inexpensive contraception to teens who need it and also provides education on how to use it effectively.
“I believe that there are really no other facilities in the area that can provide the same services as Angles can,” said Litten.
“We provide all of these important services all under one roof. I think generally speaking that since Links opened the area has shifted to a much more sex positive mentality. Parents are already taking their children to doctors in the field and their first visit about this topic isn’t necessarily at Angles.”