Hope Notes: Cause to Celebrate...Find Out Why

Hope Notes - November 2016

View this email in your browser

In This Issue

Program Profile: Mobile Crisis Response

Partner Profile: Action Lab

Feature Story: Two-Year Anniversary of Crisis Response

By The Numbers

From December 1, 2014 to October 31, 2016:

• 1,056 Weld calls to CO Statewide Crisis Hotline

• 3,282 evaluations/visits at Greeley Crisis Walk-In Center

• 874 evaluations/visits by Greeley Mobile Crisis

A Special Thanks

North Range would like to thank the following sponsors of our annual Glimmer of Hope event:

Roche Constructors

University of Colorado Health

4ward Photography

AIMS Community College

All-State

A-Train Marketing

Carey Family

College Green Liquor

Colorado Premium

Dominoes

First National Bank

Flood and Peterson

Jenkins Family

Mike and Nomie Ketterling

Peake Wellness

Thirst Living Waters Fund

Tobacco Coalition

Town Square Media

To learn more about Glimmer of Hope, see our "Kudos" section below.

Director's Corner

Two years ago, North Range Behavioral Health launched our enhanced Crisis services at 928 12^th Street in Greeley. We began offering mobile crisis, respite residential, and 24-hour walk-in services as an integral part of the Colorado State Crisis Services system. These programs enhanced existing crisis offerings at our regional Acute Treatment Unit (ATU) and Detox Unit. This ground-breaking crisis system highlights Colorado’s commitment to improve access to behavioral health services across the state. Not only does it allow people to access care and connect to treatment quickly, it also addresses the high human--and economic--cost of using more intensive levels of care such as hospitals, ERs, and incarceration.

Our crisis teams serve this community with dedication and compassion--whether on the phone dealing with a troubled teen, in a mobile unit assisting law enforcement with a man who is suffering from hallucinations, or helping a Respite client find available community supports, such as housing or employment. We will continue to look for ways to enhance this critical community program and hope that all of you will help us spread the word as we move forward.

Regards, Larry-Pottorff

Program Profile: Mobile Crisis Response

We offer Mobile Crisis Response as a component of the Crisis Response system at North Range. This team, staffed by crisis therapists, paraprofessionals, peers, mentors, and family support staff, is dispatched from our Crisis facility at 928 12^th Street in Greeley. The Mobile team offers 24/7/365 response to calls from people in crisis, their families, or community organizations and providers. Mobile Crisis Response differs in several important ways from walking in to our Crisis Response building:


Crisis Walk-In	Mobile Crisis
More backup and structure available in location	More natural environment for client
Requires travel for some clients to get to our building	No need for transportation – we come to you
Immediate triage and support	Face-to-face response will be up to one hour for areas surrounding Greeley; up to two hours for outlying areas

Mobile Crisis Response is incredibly valuable to our community partners and other organizations, especially when someone in their offices or buildings could benefit from some basic de-escalation. Our staff are trained

to provide compassionate care to those experiencing a crisis, and can help them find the most appropriate care for their needs.

Partner Profile: Action Lab

North Range Behavioral Health is proud to be part of a new project in Weld County called the Action Lab. With North Colorado Health Alliance taking the lead, the Action Lab is composed of many community organizations, including:

The goal of the Action Lab and the partnerships between these organizations is to reduce the frequency of non-emergency 911 calls, assist people in obtaining the services they need, and create system change across the community. Many calls to 911 involve a behavioral health component, and North Range is excited to be a part of this community collaborative. North Range staff and employees of other involved organizations are available to join first responders on behavioral health-related calls, with the intent of connecting these individuals more quickly to the services they need.

“The Action Lab is a true collaboration of community agencies working towards a common goal. I am proud to be part of such an amazing team to accomplish our goal for a true systems change!”
-- Kim Fairley, North Colorado Health Alliance

The main focus of the Action Lab is prevention: by diverting calls to the most appropriate level of care, the needs of individuals can be more adequately addressed. Currently, the most common places where these services are discussed with individuals is in hospitals or jails after being admitted. By providing more access to these services, individuals are more likely to become involved with the services that would benefit them the most.

By better aligning the resources in our community, we can work together to help individuals get connected at the most appropriate level. The Action Lab began with an initial 100 day push for change; organizations will use what they learn in that first 100 days to apply changes to the system and encourage community-wide change.

Feature Story: Two-Year Anniversary of Crisis Response

Colorado Crisis Services is celebrating two years of providing crisis response across the state of Colorado. After the Aurora theater tragedy, the state of Colorado mandated the creation of a comprehensive network of services for individuals experiencing a behavioral health or substance use crisis. In response, Northeast Behavioral Health, which represents North Range Behavioral Health (Weld County), SummitStone Health Partners (Larimer County) and Centennial Mental Health (10 counties in Northeastern Colorado), launched Crisis Support Services across the northeast region on December 1, 2014. Learn more about these services and how they are helping Weld County residents here.

Kudos

Our 4^th annual Glimmer of Hope event at Bittersweet Park on September 10^th was a beautiful evening! This event is the primary fundraiser and awareness event for our Suicide Education and Support Services (SESS) team. Glimmer is a unique opportunity for people from the community to come together to help support SESS financially and also honor their loved ones who were lost to suicide. The culmination of the evening is a launch of lighted balloons with personal messages written to loved ones. If you or someone you know has been touched by suicide, we would encourage you to take part in this event next year. It is a very moving and inspirational experience.

As you can imagine, putting on this event requires a lot of hard work and coordination. Kudos to Kimberly Pratt for leading the effort and to all of the people (pictured below) who volunteered their time to make sure Glimmer was a success again this year! And special thanks to all of our sponsors (see sidebar above), whose funding will ensure our important prevention and education efforts continue.

Forward