This year, our communities will have new resources for people experiencing mental health and substance use crises – filling a gap in services and providing an unparalleled level of care.

“There are three pillars to a full crisis continuum of care,” explained Kelli Liechty, Oaklawn’s Vice President of Access and Crisis Services. “That’s someone to call, someone to respond and somewhere to go.”

Over the past year, Oaklawn has made significant headway in each of these areas. 

1. Someone to call – That’s 988, the new national crisis line, or, Oaklawn’s 24/7 number, 574-533-1234.
2. Someone to respond – Oaklawn now operates mobile crisis response teams in both St. Joseph and Elkhart counties. At the end of September, the St. Joseph County team expanded its hours and now operates 8 a.m.-8 p.m. seven days a week. In October, we launched a new team serving Elkhart County, which operates 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Both teams have plans to expand to 24/7 as staffing increases.
3. Somewhere to go – Walk-in crisis centers planned for both counties are set to open in the coming months. The center serving St. Joseph County will be housed on the first floor of the Memorial Epworth building at 420 N. Niles Ave. in South Bend and is expected to open this winter. The center for Elkhart County will be housed at Oaklawn’s Goshen campus at 330 Lakeview Drive and is expected to open in mid-2024.

With phone lines and crisis teams operational in both counties, the crisis centers will complete the full continuum of care for people in need in our communities.

It’s 9 a.m., and Maria Gallegos is starting her shift with Oaklawn’s mobile crisis response team. She’s worked here over a year as a case manager, along with therapists and peer support professionals, who are themselves in recovery from mental health and substance use disorders. Together, they bring unique perspectives and expertise – matching the needs of each caller.

At 9:30, Maria is dispatched to a call from the South Bend Police Department. It’s for a client the team is familiar with – and unfortunately, there’s no easy option for treatment. The call ends with him being transported by police to the ER, but the team will regroup later that afternoon to discuss his case. They want to make sure he doesn’t fall through the cracks.

Maria takes another call at 10:30. It’s a client who’s been more symptomatic after a decrease in medication. She spends a half hour on the phone, offering support and de-escalating her. That’s often all a caller needs.

At 12:30, she’s called to the lobby for a client who walked in – she was assaulted and needs a ride to the hospital. On the drive, Maria learns she was recently evicted, so she’ll connect with the client’s regular Oaklawn case manager to follow up on housing.

When Maria returns to the office, she’s greeted at the door by the client who called that morning and will spend the last half hour of her shift with her.

“This job really made me realize how important human connection is,” Maria said. “A lot of these people don’t have much support in their life. If we just support each other a little bit, that really goes go a long way. You never know what people are going through every day.”

Robin was already in treatment at Oaklawn, and she gave Mike the number for Oaklawn’s 24/7 mobile opioid response team. At first, he made excuses.

“Then one cold morning, when I was freezing in the car, I just figured, ‘What do I got to lose?’ If I give it a shot and it doesn’t work, I could honestly tell my kids that I tried,” he said.

He made the call.

He connected with one of Oaklawn’s peer support professionals who helped him get emergency insurance and admitted to an inpatient treatment center. From there, Mike moved into a sober living community for men – the same day Robin moved to a sober living house for women just up the street. They stayed committed to their recovery. They got an apartment. They got married. And, last year, just before Christmas, they got the best present they could ask for – they got their daughters back and their case was officially closed by DCS.

“It was a really good Christmas last year to have everyone back together,” Mike said.

Recently, Mike finished classes to receive an honors diploma and started a new job – an electrical apprenticeship where he’ll also take classes at Ivy Tech. Robin’s working, too, and just bought a new car. He’s proud of how far they’ve come in two years – but he knows a lot of people helped them along the way, and he’s grateful for their support.

“I’m doing the best I’ve ever done in my life,” Mike said, “Things are just really good.”