This Tinley Park Veteran Is Bringing Breakthrough Depression Treatment to People Who Can’t Afford It
The Southland Development Authority (SDA) hosted its 2nd Annual Beyond the Call Veteran Business Support Symposium on May 21. True to its name, it went ‘beyond’ your typical networking event. It was a three-hour spotlight featuring veteran business owners serving the Southland. Veterans like Talia Nelson.
Nelson is a U.S. Army veteran. The licensed nurse practitioner is the founder of Mind and Body Wellness, a mental health clinic based in Tinley Park combining physical and psychiatric care for clients across Illinois and Indiana. Since 2019, she has grown the business impressively. What started as a solo, house-call model has turned into a hybrid clinic offering in-person visits, lab services, therapy, and full telemedicine capabilities.
And she has done it all while serving Medicaid patients, expanding access for people who might otherwise go without care.
“I just want people to wake up and say, ‘I’m ready,’” Nelson said. “Ready to go to work, ready to take care of their kids, ready to get back into their life. When someone feels like themselves again, that’s how I know I’m doing what I’m meant to do.”
Nelson is one of several veteran-owned businesses the SDA has supported in recent years. She is just the kind of founder the Beyond the Call event is designed for.
“From the very beginning, the SDA was sending me resources, ideas for SEO, website improvements, blogs, trainings, events,” Nelson said. “They’ve helped me plug into the community and access everything I didn’t know I needed.”
Resources, she says, are the key for veterans trying to make entrepreneurship work. “I always tell other veterans, use your resources,” she said. “The VA offers classes, support, ways to network. And organizations like the SDA, they care about you. They’ll help you get where you’re trying to go.”
Built to Reach People Who Stay Home
Nelson’s clinic is on track to become one of the few clinics in the Southland certified to administer a breakthrough medication for treatment-resistant depression. The treatment requires intensive monitoring and oversight. Nelson is building out the infrastructure to provide it safely and affordably all the while continuing to accept Medicaid.
Nelson, who served in the Army Reserves from 1997 to 2000, originally trained as both a combat medic and a licensed practical nurse. By the time she left the military, she was already a nurse. She worked as an LPN for ten years, became an RN, and eventually earned certification as a nurse practitioner.
Still, she felt there was more she could do considering the shortage of providers amidst a rising need.
“There’s a huge shortage of mental health providers for veterans. And there’s such a high rate of depression and suicide. That’s what pushed me to focus on mental health. I just felt like I had to be part of the solution.”
Nelson says the toughest part of this work is not always the care itself. It’s getting people to ask for it.
“Mental health still isn’t accepted in every community,” she said. “Some people think they can just work through it. And a lot of times, they can, but not always on their own.”
She sees it with veterans. And she sees it in communities where stigma still runs deep. That’s why her clinic makes access easy. Home visits. Virtual care. At-home labs. Remote pharmacy delivery. The whole nine yards.
About the Southland Development Authority (SDA)
The Southland Development Authority is a nonprofit business organization launched in 2019 by business, civic, and political leaders from around the Southland who recognize the potential of the region’s people, businesses, and real estate. Our mission is to bring the resources and capacity needed to achieve transformative, inclusive economic growth for the south suburbs with a focus on investments in the Southland’s communities, industry, housing, and workforce.
