A local nonprofit has been awarded federal grant to help bring behavioral health
services to underserved communities.
Portage Path Behavioral Health will be using $2.3 million in grant funding for communities that don’t always get the help they need.
Director of Development Eddie Dengg says part of this approach is incorporating a new approach called the "living room model."
“We are going to take a space in the ADM Crisis Center, where we operate our emergency services, and we're going to convert it into a living room so it's home...," Dengg said. He continued that the space will feel "safe, comfortable."
Dengg says this will create a place for people to go to if they are having a minor-level crisis to talk to others who have been through the same thing.
Portage Path hopes that this grant funding will go toward services that will help keep people out of jail cells and the emergency room and put them in places where they can get the behavioral health help they need.