Morris County Sheriff's Office Hope One Team Responds to Community Need For Addiction and Mental Health Services

Published on June 08, 2020

The Morris County Sheriff's Office Hope One mobile addiction and mental health resource team met demand for its services over the past 48 hours through stops outside Nourish community soup kitchen in Morristown and at the Boonton Farmer's Market.

The Hope One mobile substance abuse and mental health recovery vehicle in Morristown on June 8, 2020. The Hope One mobile substance abuse and mental health recovery vehicle in Morristown on June 8, 2020.

Wearing masks and maintaining a safe social distance, the Hope One team of Morris County Sheriff's Office Corporal Erica Valvano, Certified Peer Recovery Specialist Emily Monks of CARES and Al Shurdom, a mental health advocate for the Mental Health Association of Essex and Morris, spent five hours on June 8 outside Nourish and were visited by Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon and Bureau of Law Enforcement Undersheriff Mark Spitzer.

On June 8, the team provided toiletry items to 20 people and trained five people on how to administer Narcan to reverse an opioid-induced overdose, including a man participating in Morris County's Drug Court program, a woman in recovery and a man familiar with people struggling to overcome addiction.

The team was gratified to also learn that a 44th Narcan kit distributed by Hope One was used on June 1, 2020, by a mother to save her daughter's life.

The Morris County Sheriff's Office Hope One mobile program with Morris County Navigating Hope in Morristown on June 8. The Morris County Sheriff's Office Hope One mobile program with Morris County Navigating Hope in Morristown on June 8.

During Hope One's visit to the Boonton Farmer's Market on June 6, the team trained 12 people in the use of Narcan, including a woman with a struggling family member, several athletic coaches, a church volunteer, a healthcare worker, a business owner and a woman with a struggling family friend. Advocate Shurdom also assisted a man coping with mental illness and homelessness.

Before resuming community stops, Hope One's trips were curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic but team members remained responsive through telephone outreach, safe deliveries of Narcan upon request, and Narcan trainings via Zoom. The teams also worked alongside the Table of Hope Mobile Food Pantry on several occasions, passing out brochures to people retrieving groceries from Table of Hope.

Launched on April 3, 2017, Hope One as of June 8 has made 422 community stops, made 11,598 contacts, trained 2,442 people in the use of Narcan, assisted 139 people with navigating mental health programs, and helped another 170 people access substance abuse recovery resources.

Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon with a Hope One team in Morristown on June 8, 2020. Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon with a Hope One team in Morristown on June 8, 2020.

Hope One on June 8 worked in tandem with Morris County Navigating Hope and team member Christopher Linne. The mobile Navigating Hope provides information and application assistance to individuals in need of social services, including housing, Medicaid and Medicare and Food Stamps.

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