Peabody Awarded $300K Beth Israel Lahey Behavioral Health Grant

BEVERLY, MA — Peabody is one of four Bay State cities to be awarded a $300,000 Behavioral Health Navigator grant from Beth Israel Lahey Health to support mental health and substance abuse services in the community.

Organizations in Haverhill, Lynn and Quincy will also share in the $1.2 million in grants to implement programs that will fund the hiring and training of community-based behavioral health navigators who will work to identify and connect residents with available services

"As part of our mission-driven focus, we help improve the health of historically underserved communities by providing opportunities to expand vital services and resources,"
said Nancy Kasen, Vice President, Community Benefits and Community Relations, BILH. "Through our Behavioral Health Navigator Program, we address the needs identified and prioritized by the community by assisting residents to connect with the mental health and substance use services they need in their community."

The grant-funded trainings will teach participants how to recognize, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges in adults, giving them the confidence and skills to offer initial support in both non-crisis and crisis situations to those in need and connect them with resources.

"This grant funding will go far in our efforts to design and implement intervention and support programs to assist Peabody residents and their families in need of behavioral health services, with a focus on residents whose primary language is Spanish, Portuguese or Haitian Creole," said Sara Grinnell, Director of the Division of Social Services for the Peabody Department of Health and Human Services. “As the Director of the Division of Social Services, I have both a professional and personal goal of serving and respecting the dignity and welfare of all people by providing strategic support to our community in the areas of substance use and mental health and am honored to be in partnership with BILH, who shares this same vision."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)