Today, the full Metropolitan King County Council will weigh in on the purchase of the former Polyclinic building at 1145 Broadway in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. If the legislation is given final approval, the building will be converted into a much-needed Crisis Care Center, a place where anyone can receive mental health care 24/7, regardless of insurance or a person’s ability to pay.
Our church, Seattle First Baptist, is directly across Harvard Avenue from this site. Our faith calls us to affirm and act for the dignity of all human beings, which means supporting this site.
Every day, we see people come into our church who are in dire need of assistance with mental health, drug or alcohol issues. The hard truth is, with limited financial resources and without licensed mental health and substance-use disorder counselors on site, we cannot help everyone who comes through our doors. Currently, the only referrals we can offer to these neighbors in need are hospital emergency rooms.
Members of our staff have attended community conversations about this Crisis Care Center and are in communication with King County’s Department of Community and Human Services. We’ve learned about the types of care and support that will be available — from urgent care and 24-hour stabilization units to multidisciplinary teams that will support each person’s unique needs. We’ve learned how, when an individual leaves the Crisis Care Center, the facility can provide transportation assistance to return home or access a respite or shelter. Staff will also follow up and provide referrals to other supports clients may need, so they can receive ongoing treatment that will aid them in recovery.
Mental health doesn’t discriminate. If we haven’t personally struggled, we all know someone who has. Urgent crisis care is for everyone — us, our family members, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and people we see experiencing a crisis in public. By investing in places where people can go to receive care, like the Broadway Crisis Care Center, we can help them get the support they need when they need it. Having access to this kind of care will improve the well-being of our entire community.
We want our neighbors who are struggling with mental health or substance-use disorder to have a safe, caring place to get treatment. We want local emergency departments and first responders who are currently overwhelmed and under-equipped to be able to focus on providing actual, sustainable help to people in need. We want people who are suffering to receive timely help. This Crisis Care Center will save lives.
In addition to seeing people in crisis, we also see people in recovery every day at our church. Treatment works, and making it easier to access will help countless individuals, families, and communities.
We see the need all around us in this neighborhood, and right now, the King County Council has the opportunity to meet the need. We have to start somewhere.
Without access to the type of support that the Crisis Care Center can offer, the difficulties in our neighborhood will deepen. We have an opportunity to save lives. Now is the time to invest in mental health care. Now is the time to move forward with the Broadway crisis center. Please join us in being good neighbors to those in need.
