Sometimes seeing the impact of community organizing can feel slow. And then one day, like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, you step back and, WOW – you see the result in all of its glory. Case in point is our cumulative efforts to bring a Behavioral Health Crisis Receiving Center to Cleveland. It’s what “Power in Progress” (our 15 year anniversary slogan) is all about.
If you build it…
Remember, Cleveland’s crisis diversion center exists because of the sustained community organizing of Greater Cleveland Congregations. It was GCC who helped bring the need for a behavioral health crisis center to light, pushing for a model that treats people in crisis with dignity instead of cycling them through jails and emergency rooms.
GCC didn’t just advocate for the crisis center – we helped create the conditions for a center like this to exist, changed the terms of the debate, and moved decision-makers toward a solution that reflects the full needs of the community.
Why make it an either or?
For months, progress of the behavioral health crisis receiving center was stuck with a false choice – build a new facility or protect existing services. One must come at the expense of the other. It’s the kind of thinking we hear time and again. Our communities are told to accept tradeoffs that leave us with less, framed as inevitable.
GCC challenged that assertion directly: why do we have to choose at all? GCC, in partnership with The Centers, brought community members directly into the conversation – and it made a critical impact by shifting the narrative.
Our communities speak
At a public open house in early March, nearly 100 residents gathered to learn, share, and speak out. Among them was Anita Arrington-Bey, who lost her son during a mental health crisis in jail.
“I feel had there been something around like that at the time, he would still be here with us.” Her words cut through the policy debate and brought humanity into the equation. This is the heart and soul of community organizing: building relationships, amplifying lived experience, and applying sustained pressure at the right moment.
And it worked.
GCC was instrumental in breaking through the logjam that had stalled progress for months. Within days, leaders reached a breakthrough agreement. A key board vote was delayed, creating space for negotiation. Soon after, a revised plan emerged – one that reduced financial risk while keeping the behavioral health crisis receiving center moving forward without dismantling existing services. What had been framed as an either/or fight became a both/and solution.
As Eric Morse, President & CEO of The Centers, said it best:
“During moments when the path forward felt uncertain, encouragement and strength came from members of Greater Cleveland Congregations. Your leadership helped ensure that our community will have a place of healing that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week—where individuals in crisis are met with dignity, respect, and care.”
This is what POWER IN PROGRESS looks like.
The result: a behavioral health crisis receiving center closer to reality, a stronger system of care, and countless lives that will be impacted because people came together and refused to accept what we were told was a forgone conclusion. GCC is proof that when communities lead, solutions come to light.
We cannot let up.
Our work must power on. The next step is securing the full public investment needed to sustain this vision. Cuyahoga County has committed $12 million over three years, which will go before the County Council for a vote. That funding will determine whether this breakthrough – one that we made happen – becomes a lasting system of care.
So the time is now. Together we must do what we do – keep our focus, step by step, piece by piece, eyes on the prize. Then and only then will families in their most vulnerable moments of crisis truly be brought into the picture.
