By Nicole Crescenzi/Contributor
A new team made up of two individuals with lived or living experience with homelessness and addictions is making a huge impact for people in crisis.
The Community-Led Crisis Response (CLCR) team is run out of AVI Health and Community Services and operates a phone and text line which people can reach out to when they are in a time of crisis. The two unarmed individuals from the team will respond and, if possible, attend to the situation in person to help de-escalate it.
“The majority of calls are related to someone apparently experiencing psychosis and high suicidality,” said Lacey Mesley, CLCR team manager. “Those calls come from people experiencing many different walks of life; folks who are homeless to those who are housed.”
While team members are trained to escalate the situation up to 911 if needed, so far that hasn’t been necessary.
After the call, a team member will follow up with both the caller and the person in need within 48 hours.
“People are deeply grateful and very humbled because we hold everyone there as valuable,” Mesley said.
During a follow-up call, CLCR helps to build a personal wellness plan, a safety plan and connect a person to people or places where they feel safe. Sometimes this means driving individuals to different locations, or providing them with survival supplies such as tents and tarps.
Funding for CLCR (known provincially as a Peer Assisted Team or PACT) is provided by the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction and is administered by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).
“This is work we’ve been doing for a long time for our community, so when we saw this proposal for its service, it felt like the right next step for us,” Mesley said.
After months of training through CMHA, CLCR spent January visiting communities, networking and building trust. Since the phone line opened in February, CLCR has received 136 calls or texts and attended 101 situations.
“We’ve had an excellent response so far; it’s been really well received. Most communities we go to say ‘Well, it’s about time.’”
CLCR currently operates from 2 to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, and can be reached at 250-818-2454.
Black Press Media has prepared a resource guide filled with Greater Victoria-based organizations and local information on mental health illnesses and substance use disorders. Find the guide online at vicnews.com under e-editions.
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