ROGERS PARK – A Rogers Park nonprofit behavioral healthcare organization has launched a mobile crisis intervention and response unit to give residents an alternative to calling 911 during mental health emergencies.
Trilogy's First-Response Crisis Team (FACT) was created in 2022 to address the growing need for mental health crisis support in the Rogers Park neighborhood. The FACT team is staffed 24 hours daily to respond to calls placed on their crisis hotline, 1-800-FACT-400.
The organization's goal is simple: respond to mental health emergencies without engaging the police.
"Before Trilogy, we just typically called the police," said Jeff Gonzalez, Manager of Community Outreach at the 49th Ward office.
Gonzalez says the mobile crisis response option gives the individuals of Rogers Park someone to call in times of crisis when police are not necessarily always the best option.
"Once Trilogy came around, we had a better resource," said Gonzalez. "Something more humane."
FACT provides immediate crisis assistance and essential care to help individuals in mental health crises that are not life-threatening but require a mental health counselor.
"I can't tell you how many times we've had to call Trilogy," said Gonzalez. "Before, we would just call the police, but now we have this alternative."
According to a news release, the mobile mental health crisis response has proven successful in the Rogers Park neighborhood. Since its initiation in 2022, 94 percent of calls have occurred without 911 or police involvement.
"There was a desperate need for mental health support provided by clinicians when it's needed most," said Jenique Dean, LCSW, Clinical Director of FACT, in the news release. "And these numbers show that's exactly what we're providing for the community. FACT is a vital resource."
According to Sam Hammett, a Violence and Advocacy Specialist at Loyola University Chicago, the creation of this hotline was much needed, especially for the students at Loyola.
"The state of mental health in the students at Loyola is the same as it is at a lot of universities, said Hammett. "Not great."
Hammett explains that the students at Loyola have been struggling significantly with anxiety and depression following the COVID-19 pandemic, and prior to the creation of these hotlines, individuals would be forced to call 911 to receive assistance for their mental health crisis.
"Folks don't need to have the police there when they're having a mental health crisis," said Hammett.
With mental health continuing to rise among both Loyola students and Rogers Park as a whole, individuals needed a resource they knew they could trust in times of distress.
"It is absolutely a necessity and a great resource," said Hammett.
For those needing help in the Rogers Park area, call 1-800-FACT-400.
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