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The City of Eureka and Humboldt County Behavioral Health staff will host a town hall discussion on mental health at Eureka City Hall this Saturday. The meeting, “Mental Health 101,” is a part of the Eureka Mayor’s Initiative which aims to cover a variety of topics relating to mental health, substance use and homelessness through a series of quarterly town halls.

“This is the first installment in a series we’re doing to educate folks about what’s going on in our city,” Eureka Mayor Kim Bergel told the Outpost. “We want to hear from everyone! We want to hear from folks who are frustrated so we can begin to really look for solutions to address mental health issues in our community. Community problems need community solutions.”

Bergel acknowledged that mental health “has taken a hit for quite a long time” – not just here in Humboldt, but across the United States. Mental Health America and the  World Health Organization have reported increased rates of depression, severe anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psychosis in nearly all age groups since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There’s a huge stigma surrounding mental health,” Bergel said. “People think these problems are exclusive to that person on the street corner, or that person that’s living outside, but the truth is – especially after COVID – there are many ‘regular citizens’ suffering from mental health issues that are housed. Mental health doesn’t discriminate. And, of course, it can be exacerbated depending on your circumstances. We’re really hoping to reduce some of the fear and lack of understanding that’s happening around [mental illness].”

Mental health awareness has been on the rise locally and across the country in the last three years. The City of Eureka hired a mental health clinician last year to lead the city’s budding  CARE (Crisis Alternative Response of Eureka) program which will work in tandem with the police department’s Community Safety Engagement Team (CSET) to bolster the City’s response to mental health crises.

Jacob Rosen, program director for CARE, acknowledged that the program is still in its infancy but said eventually the city will bring on more mental health clinicians and case managers to provide crisis coverage and intervention seven days a week.

“Things are cooking, but they’re not quite baked yet,” Rosen told the Outpost. “The idea is, at any point, we can peel off the case manager and clinician to respond to a crisis, either with law enforcement or independent of law enforcement. We will still have another case manager available to follow up with folks who have already been seen for crisis or who we are proactively engaging with to connect them to resources so they never escalate to a crisis in the first place.”

Rosen credited various local agencies and organizations for working to address mental health issues in our community but said it can be difficult to get patients from point A to point B because “everything is kind of siloed.”

“I think the piece that’s lacking locally, from my experience with the [county] Behavioral Health Department where I saw a lot of folks falling through the cracks, is understanding exactly which agency is doing what,” he explained. “Navigating from one [agency] to the next can be difficult for a service provider, much less someone who has severe mental health issues or substance abuse. … Carriers that can provide additional case management … could prevent someone from reentering a crisis, or entering a crisis in the first place.”

Rosen will host Saturday’s town hall discussion alongside Mayor Bergel. He said he was inspired to host a town hall discussion after listening to the issues brought up during the public comment section at Eureka City Council meetings.

 “It’s clear that folks want to share grievances that they have,” he said. “There is a really passionate frustration around so many of the mental health-related issues that we have in our community right now. … But [public comment] doesn’t provide the opportunity for a dialogue because counsel is not even allowed to respond. With so much input coming from the community, it seems like it’d be really beneficial to create a format where we can really engage with folks, you know, answer their questions and provide education to de-stigmatize these issues.”

The meeting will take place in city council chambers on the second floor of Eureka City Hall – 531 K Street – this Saturday, March 4. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. for attendees to get refreshments and find seating and the meeting will begin at 2 p.m. Those interested in attending virtually can tune in here. The meeting will also be shared on Facebook Live.

Click here for more information.

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