Alliance Note: Last week, CASA-Trinity broke ground on a new mental health and substance use services project site in Elmira. The site will eventually house three voluntary programs to serve the community: a crisis stabilization center, a substance use treatment residential center, and an outpatient clinic. We are pleased to see progress on the establishment of a stabilization center for Elmira to provide residents with an alternative to hospitalization.
While the expansion of crisis stabilization centers is a great first step in improving crisis services for the area, other services such as sending the appropriate responders to crisis calls in the community are critical to supporting more people experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis. This is why we continue to push for the inclusion of funding for Daniel’s Law Pilots which would create teams of trained peers and EMTs to respond to crisis calls which do not involve a weapon or violence. We are urging the Legislature and Governor to keep the $2 million funding proposed by both the NYS Assembly and Senate in the final budget for this year. Please use the link below to send messages to your lawmakers requesting their support for this critical service. Read below to learn more about the coming mental health and substance use center in Elmira.
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CASA-Trinity Breaks Ground on New Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facility in Elmira
By Jeff Murray | Elmira Star-Gazette | March 22, 2024
A new mental health and substance abuse treatment facility in Elmira will offer 24-hour services for crisis management and residential care.
CASA-Trinity, a nonprofit organization established in 1974 as the Livingston County Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse, broke ground for the new campus Friday afternoon at 210 Judson St.
CASA-Trinity CEO Ann Domingos joined local officials for a ceremonial groundbreaking on the $6.5 million project, which will offer three types of care — a crisis stabilization center, a 24-bed residential center for substance use disorder treatment, and an outpatient clinic for mental health needs.
Domingos said the crisis center is the first of its kind in Chemung County.
“It’s open 24-7. People can come in and out whenever a crisis occurs,” she said. “We’re very excited about this project. It will help with the epidemic of substance abuse disorders.”
CASA-Trinity, headquartered in Geneseo, employs more than 250 people and serves individuals and families struggling with substance use disorders and mental health needs in communities throughout Livingston, Cattaraugus, Chemung, Steuben, and Tioga (New York) counties.
Funding for the project is coming from the New York State Department of Health, the state Office of Mental Health, and Chemung County, Domingos said.
The new facility should be ready to open within 18 to 24 months and will have about 50 employees, she said.
Among the officials who took part in Friday’s groundbreaking was state Sen. Tom O’Mara, R-Big Flats.
“This is critically needed in this community and this region. It’s been lacking across the state,” O’Mara said. “For mental health and addiction services, I can’t overstate the need we have in this community. It hasn’t been dealt with appropriately.”
Elmira Mayor Dan Mandell also welcomed the new facility and said discussions about this project have been ongoing since 2019.
“I said this is something we desperately need in the City of Elmira,” Mandell said. “(Substance abuse) is a big problem. This is a step in the right direction.”
CASA-Trinity breaks ground on new mental health and substance abuse facility in Elmira (msn.com)
Casa-Trinity’s groundbreaking ceremony for new Crisis Stabilization Center, Mental Health Clinic, and Residential Wellness Center
By Alexandra Deryn | WENY News | March 22, 2024
ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY) — A groundbreaking ceremony took place on Friday in Elmira for a crisis center that will be the first-of-its-kind in Chemung County. Casa-Trinity’s motto, “Hope begins here,” rang true on the grounds of this project that has been five years in the making.
“I knew it was what this area needed and what the people that we serve…and have been serving…needed,” Casa-Trinity’s CEO Ann Domingos said.
The future facility will house three new Casa-Trinity programs in one location. Domingos said one building will have a Mental Health Clinic that will support people with mental health and substance use symptoms, as well as a Crisis Stabilization Center.
“This program is brand new to the State of New York,” she said. “It is first-time funding for this project…we will be able to see any community member in the Southern Tier Region.”
The center will provide voluntary services, emphasizing peer and recovery support and will be open 24/7 for those in need of care.
“There will be doctors on duty, we’ll have counselors on duty, and we will get people where they need to go or be able to help them…right then,” she said.
There will also be a facility, known as the 820 Residential Center, with 24 beds, and a program for anyone who is struggling with a substance abuse disorder.
“It’s a program that will give them care for up to three months,” she said. “There are three levels of care…we stabilize people, we give them some rehabilitation, and then we help them reintegrate into the community.”
New York State Senator Tom O’Mara said he wanted to come to the groundbreaking ceremony to show his support for mental health awareness in Chemung County.
“The need for inpatient services of this type can’t be overstated,” he said. “It’s really been lacking in this whole region. This is great and it’s going to come into fruition pretty quickly.”
Casa-Trinity’s goal is to have facility open in approximately 18 months.
Casa-Trinity’s groundbreaking ceremony for new Crisis Stabilizat – WENY News