IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa City’s Guidelink Center is marking three years since it opened as a 24/7 spot for people facing a mental health or substance abuse crisis.

“Before access centers, there weren’t a lot of places that you could go besides the emergency room. Or, sometimes, wait several weeks or months to be seen in an outpatient clinic.” said Executive Director Abbey Ferenzi.

The center has helped more than 4,000 Iowans since it opened in February of 2021. That’s 4,000 people who would have otherwise crowded a hospital emergency room or a jail cell.

“Part of our intake process is a question. We ask people ‘If not for Guidelink Center, where would you have gone?’ And about half of those individuals say they would have went to the emergency room. Another portion of them say they don’t know what care they would have gotten at all, they weren’t sure what they would do. And about 10 percent of them might have went to jail.” said Ferenzi.

Iowa City police say they have noticed the impact… both short term and long term.

“One of the things that’s very hard to quantify is repeat calls for service that may have been avoided because of the services a person received at Guidelink,” said Iowa City Police Department Chief of Police Dustin Liston. “Since Guidelink has opened, our calls for service with the Iowa City Police Department have not decreased, but I have no doubt that people who have been referred to the Guidelink Center have probably gotten services that they need that prevented them from having to come in contact with law enforcement in the future.”

Despite the success, Ferenzi says Guidelink is only a short term mental health fix. She says the focus now should be on helping people who need it long term.

“Beyond Guidelink Center and the crisis responses we have, we need additional options in regards to housing or long-term care.” said Ferenzi.

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