The mental health crisis has made a huge impact on the communities around us. However, many people are working to combat the crisis by implementing sustainable programs and providing healthy resources for those in need. The Blackstone Valley Connector (BVC), a program run by Advocates, helps by connecting people with local resources and providing ongoing support as they work toward greater stability. Working alongside police and crisis response clinicians, the program helps residents navigate challenges that often extend beyond an emergency call.

Advocates is a nonprofit health and human services organization with approximately 2,700 employees supporting more than 50,000 people and families across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and it launched the state’s first pre-arrest co-response program in Framingham in 2003.

In the Blackstone Valley, the Blackstone Valley Connector (BVC) began in 2017, followed by the Grafton co-response program in 2022 and the Northbridge program in 2023. Grafton’s program serves Grafton, Millbury and Sutton, while Northbridge’s program covers Northbridge, Douglas, Uxbridge, Blackstone and Millville.

During the 2026 fiscal year, Advocates clinicians responded alongside police to 686 crisis situations across the eight towns. Their interventions helped avoid 34 arrests and 119 emergency room visits. Using the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health’s formula for estimating the costs of arrests and emergency room visits, Advocates calculated approximately $504,000 in public savings.

While co-response clinicians help residents through an immediate crisis, BVC works to address the challenges that may have contributed to it. Led by Lori Hout, the post-response program connects residents with resources and provides continued support as they work toward greater stability.

Hout was named a 2026 Commonwealth Heroine after being nominated by State Representative Joseph McKenna. Hout is deeply embedded not only in the program but in the community. She and her team work closely with residents to connect them with housing assistance, substance use treatment, mental health care, family support, and other local resources.

The work usually requires more than providing someone with a phone number or a list of agencies. BVC employees walk alongside the people they serve, helping them navigate complicated systems, work through obstacles, and break overwhelming situations into manageable steps. They also coordinate with counselors, police, treatment providers, and community partners to ensure residents have support beyond the initial crisis.

In 2025, BVC received 217 referrals from police and co-response clinicians and reached 176 people. Of those reached, 156 accepted assistance. Mental health concerns, family stress, housing instability, and substance use were some of the most common needs, and they would overlap, requiring help from multiple services.

The importance of that continued support is reflected in the experience of one local man who connected with Advocates while facing homelessness, financial hardship, and a difficult family court case that left him separated from his child. As the pressures mounted, he began experiencing suicidal thoughts.

A co-response clinician helped him access inpatient mental health treatment. After his discharge, a BVC clinician worked with his outpatient counselor, who focused on trauma and coping skills, and BVC helped him address practical challenges.

Over the following year, the program assisted him with unemployment, finances, benefits, insurance, job training, housing, and court proceedings. He received a scholarship for vocational training, support during court dates, and help coordinating appointments to reduce transportation costs.

Now, this man has completed probation, reports a reduction in suicidal thoughts of more than 95 percent, and has reestablished positive contact with his child. After an extended period of homelessness, he is also near the top of the waiting list for affordable local housing.

“The police are often the first ones called when someone’s in crisis, and they see people on their hardest days,” said Opal Stone, Vice President of Community Justice Services at Advocates. “Having our clinicians there with them means that when someone in Blackstone Valley doesn’t need a jail cell or an ER visit, they can get the right care and remain in their community. Then BVC stays with them through whatever comes next. Our police partners have been all in, and that’s why it works.”

The Blackstone Valley programs are part of Advocates’ statewide co-response network, which served 23 communities in the fiscal year of 2025. Across those communities, clinicians responded to 3,937 crisis situations, helping avoid 262 arrests and 771 emergency room visits. The estimated public savings totaled $3.5 million.

The impact of the BVC program has begun to make a difference in the community as these dedicated individuals work tirelessly to help people in need. With clinicians providing support for long-term stability, the program is built on relationships, and ensuring people know they are not alone in their fight. The goal is to identify what drives these repeated crises and which supports and resources can help reduce them. There is a lot of work to be done, but the team at the BVC is ready to keep taking on the challenge of building a better community.