A facility that provides short-term, around-the-clock help to those suffering from a substance-use crisis was recently opened in Sterling Heights by Macomb County Community Mental Health.
The Substance Use Engagement Center opened late last month off of Van Dyke Avenue to provide a safe space to stabilize and connect with peer recovery coaches as an alternative to emergency room care or jail.
Officials said the facility, with a capacity of eight, provides a critical option, instead of perhaps jail or a hospital, for those in Macomb County experiencing a crisis, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week.
“The Engagement Center is intended to serve as the first step on the recovery journey,” said Nicole Gabriel, director of substance use at CMH, in a news release. “Rather than these individuals being arrested or taken to a medical facility, we’re hoping to connect them with impactful, substance use treatment and recovery services in a safe and understanding environment.”
Nicole Gabriel, director of the Macomb County Office of Substance Abuse, in the living room of the new county Community Mental Health Engagement Center.
MACOMB DAILY PHOTO
County Executive Mark Hackel praised the facility’s mission.
“Macomb County is committed to strengthening the systems supporting people in need,”Hackel said. “This new Engagement Center is an important addition to our network of care, offering individuals in crisis a safe, supportive environment that promotes recovery and reduces reliance on emergency rooms or the criminal justice system.”
Individuals in crisis are referred to the center from CMH’s 24/7 Crisis Line. Recipients can stay there for up to 23 hours and can have a meal, take a shower and connect with various services to help them with housing, physical care and behavioral care, officials said. Peer recovery coaches – who are former substance-users – assist individuals in developing a recovery plan and connecting them to the “broader recovery community,” officials said.
Traci Smith, executive director of Macomb County Community Mental Health, speaks at the Nov. 5 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the quasi county-state agency’s new Engagement Center to provide what officials believe is a more viable option for drug users in crisis.
MACOMB CMH PHOTO
“When we say, ‘putting people first,’ that means more than just helping people and sending them on their way,” said Traci Smith, chief executive officer at MCCMH. “We’re connecting them to effective, proven resources that are rooted in long-lasting solutions. The Engagement Center is no different. Our team is eager to hit the ground running.”
The Engagement Center, located at 38300 VanDyke Ave., Suite 101, is funded by a state grant and opioids settlement funding. The cost is expected to be about $900,000 per year, operators said.
County officials hope the Engagement Center remains part of a multi-pronged approach at trying to curb the substance-use disorder crisis in the county that has killed thousands of Macomb residents over the 20-plus years due to overdoses. Part of the effort will include the new Central Intake and Assessment Center, which is the centerpiece of the $229-million jail expansion and renovation and where the focus will be on substance-use treatment and mental-health care for nonviolent inmates.
CMH provides services to meet behavioral, physical, mental and medical health needs that “promote recovery, community participation, self-sufficiency, and independence to individuals in Macomb County regardless of financial status,” officials said.
Individuals must contact the MCCMH Crisis Center at 586-307-9100 for a screening and referral to the Engagement Center.
