To help individuals aged 16-25 living in rural Middlesex County access mental health and addiction support, the Road to Mental Health (RMH) program was established and offers free taxi services to and from the Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Centre in London for youth in crisis who reside in rural Middlesex.
As an essential health care service, RMH is always open and operational for those in need.
RMH is made possible through a partnership between MINDS of London-Middlesex, CMHA Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services, Star Taxi, and the Lucan and Parkhill Public Libraries.
HOW TO ACCESS:
- Individuals in need connect with Reach Out via phone, text or webchat at 519-433-2023 or www.reachout247.ca.*
- The Reach Out worker will assess the individual’s situation and if needed, they will connect them with a ride to the Crisis Centre via Star Taxi. The taxi will come to the individual’s location, pick them and drive them to the Crisis Centre, located at 648 Huron Street in London. (The Star Taxi drivers involved in this program have received training developed by CMHA Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services on mental health and crisis de-escalation as well as suicide prevention through Living Works.)
- Upon their arrival, the individual will receive adequate care and support, which could include assessment, supportive counselling and/or referrals to other services such as treatment, case management services, social and recreational activities, life skills development, vocational and housing supports, or withdrawal assessment.
- After the appointment is complete, Star Taxi will give the individual a free ride home.
*If you are under the age of 16, please contact Tandem for 24/7 support at 519-433-0334 or visit their website, where a trained professional can connect you with a ride to mental health and/or addiction support through RMH.
About the Partner Agencies:
CMHA Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services
CMHA Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services is an integrated mental health and addiction agency providing community-based supports and services to individuals aged 12 and up across Elgin, Middlesex, and Oxford Counties. The continuum of services includes crisis intervention and virtual supports, mobile crisis teams, police partnerships, case management, counseling, community wellness programs for both individuals and their families, housing supports and addiction medicine services. Treatment and service plans are developed based on standardized screening and assessment protocols and procedures.
- Crisis Centre: The Crisis Centre provides walk in support for individuals experiencing a mental health and/or addiction crisis who do not require hospital or emergency services (911). It is a warm, welcoming environment open for walk-ins aged 16+, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information, please visit: Crisis & Access Services
- Reach Out: Reach Out is a bilingual 24/7 information, support and crisis service for individuals with mental health or addiction concerns living in the counties of Elgin, Oxford, Middlesex or in London. Individuals connecting with Reach Out can expect a supportive, caring trained expert who is knowledgeable about mental health and addiction concerns and relevant, accessible services in the community. With a single phone call, individuals can receive crisis support, a supportive listener, information and education, and/or access to a mental health or addiction professional. To learn more, please visit: https://reachout247.ca/
Visit www.cmhatv.ca for more information.
MINDS of London-Middlesex
MINDS of London-Middlesex seeks to promote the mental and emotional well-being of transitional-aged youth (TAY; aged 16-25) in our community. Specifically, MINDS employs key concepts of Social Innovation, Collective Impact, and Youth Participatory-Action Research to strategically develop and evaluate high-potential interventions that tackle the pervasive, invasive, and growing problem of mental ill-health and addiction facing TAY. MINDS is a transdisciplinary group of youth and adult research associates who collaborate with youth and their adult allies in the community to deliver these interventions. MINDS works to ensure that Road to Mental Health is youth-centred by giving youth the opportunity to lead the design, development, implementation, and evaluation phase of the initiative. For more information on MINDS and its role in the development and implementation of this program and others in the London area, please visit: https://mindslondon.ca.
Star Taxi
For information on Star Taxi, please visit: https://www.startaxi.ca/index.html
Lucan and Parkhill Public Libraries
For information on the public libraries in the County of Middlesex, including locations in Lucan and Parkhill, please visit: https://library.middlesex.ca/
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Service funded by St Joseph’s Health Care Foundation and numerous community partners.