A friend is experiencing a mental health crisis and you're worried they may hurt themselves. What do you do? You think a child on your block needs support meeting basic needs. Who do you call? A couple is arguing next door, and it sounds heated. Do you step in?
Every day, people in our community are faced with crises like these. For many people, the answer is singular: “call 911.” But crisis response in the Twin Cities is far from perfect: it can lead to more harm rather than resolving it, and can have deadly outcomes – especially for Black and Indigenous people, and people of color. This leads to the question, who can we call besides 911? Does anyone “else” exist?
Join WSCO for a two-part series where we'll explore our crisis response system in Saint Paul, as it currently exists and as it could be, with a focus on non-violent crises: mental health, homelessness, substance use and poverty. The series focuses on St. Paul, and emerged from a recent community-wide book club organized by local organization Root and Restore. This is a two-part event: a teach-in (September 23) and de-escalation training (September 30). You can attend one or both events – one is not required for the other. We hope these events will spark future conversations and actions to shift resources from our racist policing system, to addressing the true sources of harm in our communities.
Teach-in: September 23, 7-8:30 PM, on Zoom
We will learn from ACT (Assertive Community Treatment) team leader and social worker Danny Hicks about the current state-of-the-system in Ramsey County. Alongside Danny, we will learn from Chelsea Swift, a medic and crisis responder for CAHOOTS, a grassroots organization that is dispatched via 911 to resolve non-violent crises in Eugene, Oregon. By putting these two in dialogue with each other and with the attendees, we hope to illuminate the places where Saint Paul’s system can be improved, and where the CAHOOTS system has left off. Both are gifted storytellers and can offer frank assessments of the successes and limitations of both systems.
RSVP [here] to save your spot. We are limited to 500 people on September 23, and 100 people on September 30. At each event, half of the seats are reserved for Twin Cities residents who identify as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Color (BIPOC).
De-Escalation Training: September 30, 7-8:30 PM, on Zoom
CAHOOTS crisis responder Chelsea Swift will provide an overview of assessment and intervention skills so that a lay-person can maintain personal safety and recognize when someone might need help. The training focuses on problem-solving in a calm, caring and person-centered way. CAHOOTS has a long history of providing this training for many types of organizations in Oregon, including schools, churches and businesses.
We are suggesting a $10 donation per person, per day that you attend. Contribute more if you can, and pay less (or nothing) if you can’t.
RSVP [here] to save your spot. We are limited to 500 people on September 23, and 100 people on September 30. At each event, half of the seats are reserved for Twin Cities residents who identify as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Color (BIPOC).