A pilot project for dealing with mental health crises in New Westminster has been shown to be very successful. At a City Council meeting, councillors are given a detailed account of a new program piloted in New Westminster and two other cities in British Columbia.

At the  meeting on October 12th, Jonathan Morris, the Chief Executive Officder of the Canadian Mental Health Association of BC, said that during the last 10 months, over a thousand calls were handled by the new Peer Assisted Care Team (PACT) and only 6 calls had to be re-directed to the police.

The provincial Canadian Mental Health Association and locally, the Purpose Society, partnered in this project to determine the efficacy of using a mobile community-led service that includes both citizens with lived mental health experience and mental health professionals responding to crisis calls.

Statistics back up this as a solution, according to Morris. What is needed is broad distribution of the number to call – 778-727-3909. Anyone who needs mental health intervention for themself, or another can call. The intervention may include client intervention on the phone or in person; help creating a safety plan; a safety check; or accompaniment to an emergency room. The phone number for PACT is put up several times during the program.

The story concludes with a broadcasting of the PACT phone number, which is rolled out on screen at three separate times, for viewers to add into their phones and use. That number, 778-727-3909 can be called by anyone who needs mental health intervention.

As Councillor Nakagawa points out, whenever she mentions New Westminster's role in this new program, inevitably the person will ask, "How did you get this and how can we get this in our city?"