Mental Healthcare
Expanding access to mental health and addiction care through neighborhood-based services, crisis response teams, and stronger ties to state support.
Mental Health Care That Meets the Moment
Support before crisis. Care without stigma. Help that actually helps.
Mental health and substance use challenges affect nearly every family in Somerville — and yet too often, our neighbors are left to navigate them alone. People struggle in silence, fall through bureaucratic cracks, or only receive care after a crisis has already unfolded.
We can do better. Ward 5 deserves a comprehensive system of mental health care that reaches people early, supports them where they are, and treats every resident with dignity and urgency. This is not just a public health issue. It is essential infrastructure for a thriving, resilient community.
A Real Plan for Community-Based Mental Health Care
1. Neighborhood Wellness Hubs
We will establish permanent, staffed wellness stations inside trusted public spaces like libraries, community centers, and schools. These hubs will be staffed by licensed counselors and social workers who can offer immediate assessments, connect people to follow-up care, and provide a welcoming, stigma-free environment for early intervention. Mental health support should be as routine and accessible as checking out a book or signing up for a class.
2. Compassionate Crisis Response Teams
When someone is in crisis, the first response should center on care, not escalation. I will work to create mobile crisis response teams modeled on Cambridge’s HEART program. These teams will include mental health clinicians, peer support specialists, and EMTs — with coordination from police only when absolutely necessary. This ensures our neighbors receive help with compassion, not fear.
3. Preventative Community Outreach
We will deploy regular pop-up clinics in high-need areas like Magoun and Porter Squares. These clinics will offer free mental health screenings, substance use counseling, peer-led support groups, and harm reduction resources. By meeting people early and often, we reduce emergencies and reach people before they reach a breaking point.
4. Seamless Integration with State Systems
Navigating care should not require a full-time advocate. I will push for formal pathways between city resources and Massachusetts’s Community Behavioral Health Centers to ensure residents can access walk-in care, get help during crises, and transition between services without delays or confusion. Integration eliminates gaps — and gaps cost lives.
5. Make Mental Health a Core City Priority
This plan is not a pilot. It is a commitment. I will advocate for permanent funding, dedicated staff, and long-term oversight to ensure this work is not sidelined or scaled back. Mental health care must be embedded in how our city thinks about safety, health, and equity — not treated as an afterthought.
No one in Ward 5 should have to face their darkest day alone. With trained professionals, rapid response teams, and real prevention strategies, we can build a system that works — one that turns isolation into support, and crisis into care.
