GSO Behavioral Health Response Team aims to make personal connections with residents this month

Greensboro's Behavioral Health Response Team is scheduling meetings with the community as part of an effort to alleviate the stigma around mental health issues.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one in five adults live with a mental illness in America. The Behavioral Health Response Team started in 2021 to better help those in crisis. The team responds to emergency calls related to behavioral health and provides counseling services.

To celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, people within Greensboro's city limits can schedule one-on-one sessions to meet members of the Behavioral Health Response Team and learn more about its goals.

Behavioral Health Response Team Supervisor Erin Williams says these meetings can build relationships and help people feel more comfortable calling 911, knowing the team could respond.

"I think it's the personal connection that really makes people comfortable to be vulnerable and share what they're going through or reach out before things reach that crisis point," Williams says.

She says some individuals have built a relationship where they can contact members proactively eliminating the need to call police. The team's counselors responded to over 1,800 calls for service in 2023.

Greensboro residents can contact the group by 5 p.m. on Thursday to schedule a session on May 29.