The We Care Regional Crisis Center is going to be able to help more people with a new addition that is under construction. The Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Allen, Auglaize and Hardin Counties and Coleman Health Services officially broke ground on the expansion, which will add nine beds to their facility. This means this area will have transitional housing for people dealing with mental health and addiction issues that can continue their recovery before heading back into the community.

(WLIO) - The pandemic changed a lot of things and the treatment for mental health was not exempt and some say it may be for the better.

On Saturday, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline changed over to the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. People who are experiencing a mental health or addiction crisis can either call, text, or chat by dialing 9-8-8. One of the resources that local people are connected with is Colman Health Services. Over the first weekend, the agency got 46 calls from 9-8-8 in their 14 county service region.

The formation of the “Emergency Response Mental Health Collaborative” was announced today at Mayor David Berger’s weekly news briefing. It will enable first responders to call out a crisis counselor to respond on scene to assist in situations where a person is showing mental health needs. This is a growing issue with calls for service that the Lima Police Department and EMS responders are facing. By having a mental health professional there on-site many situations could be handled without further issues.

Coleman Professional Services is now “Coleman Health Services”. The agency’s mission remains to provide services to people regardless of their ability to pay by delivering mental health assistance, substance use counseling, residential and rehabilitation services along with physical health services. They encourage people to get help when they first start noticing changes.