Special to the Journal
The City, in partnership with Eliot Community Human Services, has officially launched its unarmed response team, officially named the Lynn Calm Team.
The pilot phase of the Lynn Calm Team implementation will consist of proactive outreach and responding to referrals provided by the community. In the coming months, the number for the general public to call will be published and dispatch will reside within Eliot.
“The Calm Team will help us tackle mental health issues and further racial justice in the City,” said Mayor Jared C. Nicholson. “It will complement our existing public safety resources as an independent alternative for certain mental health and community concerns.”
The idea for an unarmed response team was originally called for by community members led by the Lynn Racial Justice Coalition.
“We are excited to see this initiative become a reality,” Nicholson said. “We have gone about this process thoughtfully and deliberatively. I am confident we are assembling a team that is well prepared to perform this important work.”
The staff for the Lynn Calm Team, which will be based at 95 Pleasant St., includes Javier Valdez, the Community Manager, and Jorge Taya Tobalino, the Community Support Specialist. Both are Lynn residents.
Valdez has almost 20 years’ of experience in community engagement and leadership development. He has already been out in the community connecting with unhoused people and getting to know downtown businesses. “The mission of this team is about changing how we respond to some of the most vulnerable moments people experience,” he said. “It’s about making sure that when someone is in distress, whether they are dealing with a mental-health challenge, a substance-use issue, a non-violent or non-emergency crisis, that they are met with care and understanding.”
Tobalino, a native of Peru, is a graduate of YearUP, a technology program at Cambridge College. He previously worked at JUMISEPA in East Boston connecting youth to resources.
Candice McClory, Substance Use Disorder Coordinator for the Lynn Health Department, will periodically go out with the Calm Team on calls.
The position of Program Administrator has been posted. That person, who will work for the Health Department, will be part of the response team and will go on calls. The role will be focused on wrap-around services and connecting community members to resources while managing the contract with Eliot.
In addition to the Calm Team, a Community Advisory Committee was formed and has held its first meeting. The Collins Center at UMass Boston and Metropolitan Area Planning Council continue to provide technical support on the launch and data analysis.
Councilor Nicole McClain who has been a strong advocate of the program shared her excitement for the launch, “This initiative was brought to the city’s attention in 2021. Community leaders, such as Adriana Paz, and many others have worked with the city and advocated to ensure that this program would center the needs of our community. Seeing this realized is a win for Lynn and a step toward restorative justice.”
The Lynn Calm Team has a funding allocation of $250,000 from the City budget in addition to $50,000 from the Opioid Working Group, which is responsible for making recommendations to the City regarding the expenditures of the Municipal Abatement Funds recovered from statewide opioid settlements.
The City has also designated $200,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding for it, while receiving $50,000 grants from the Mass. Community Compact and Rize Foundation.
“This team was envisioned by the very people it’s meant to serve—people who organized in the streets, gathered in church halls, and stood together in the city council chamber demanding to be heard”, said Adriana Paz, co-chair of the Lynn Racial Justice Coalition. “Their labor is the blueprint, their voices the foundation.”
Faustina Cuevas, Lynn’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, is the City’s point person on the Calm Team initiative. Any questions about the Lynn Calm Team can be sent to her [email protected].