LYNN — In a city where many struggles stay hidden, the Lynn CALM Team wears their mission boldly, donning bright orange shirts and turning the color into a quiet promise that they’re here to help.
Lynn CALM is a community response organization and was established through the work of the Lynn Racial Justice Coalition in 2020, according to Faustina Cuevas, Lynn’s diversity, equity, and inclusion officer and a member of Lynn CALM’s advisory committee.
The organization’s goal is to establish an additional branch of public safety, Cuevas said.
Community Manager Javier Valdez said his work with Lynn CALM is centered around mediating community disputes, connecting residents with support services, and establishing relationships with community members for future support.
He added, Lynn CALM’s goal is to “reimagine public safety” through a non-confrontational approach.
Valdez said after experiencing a dispute between two residents, he saw the power of supporting a community in a non-confrontational manner.
“I think badges and lights, they just tend to scare people. And not having the police involved is great because they didn’t have to have to explain this to another person and have to repeat the story again, and that in itself is traumatizing. Having to repeat your story over and over and over is just traumatizing,” he said.
Valdez also works to connect individuals who are unhoused or struggling with substance abuse with services within the city, including Eliot Tri-City Community Behavioral Health Center, which also houses Lynn CALM’s offices and is located at 95 Pleasant St.
According to Cuevas, housing Lynn CALM at the Eliot Health Center allows Valdez to make “connections with the amazing staff who work here and the dozens of clinicians. They have people who are ready and prepared who can prescribe medication and can make the referrals to the programs.”
She said it is also beneficial to have a “safe space” where Lynn CALM can bring people and “tap into colleagues in the building.”
In addition to working inside the Eliot Health Center, Valdez can often be found driving the streets of Lynn in a white SUV with the Lynn CALM logo on it and sporting the group’s signature orange shirt and black hoodie.
Valdez said working with Lynn CALM is “a great opportunity to really do the holistic experience with humanity and really see people where they are. … I just like to see people, hear their whole story, and really understand people, the culture, the background.”
Similar to the work done by Valdez, Candice McClory, who serves as the substance use coordinator and community liaison for the City, said she works with unhoused individuals and those struggling with substance abuse.
She said Lynn CALM plays a “crucial role” in working to meet “individuals where they are, and we try to serve as a bridge to care.”
McClory said she also responds to calls regarding needles spotted within the city. If a needle is reported, she and her team will dispose of it properly.
She said Lynn CALM has also facilitated silver housing through opioid abatement funds.
McClory added her work also supports “at-risk individuals in general as they navigate challenges associated with substance use in recovery.”
She said her work is particularly important to her because “I grew up in Lynn — born and raised here — so not only have I been affected personally by substance use, but many people I know have also been affected by substance use. And the City of Lynn has so many resources. It’s really important that we make sure people know what type of resources there are.”
Lynn CALM is a little over six months old and has served approximately 450 residents, with more than 150 resident-initiated calls, said Program Administrator Abdel Kawaf.
Currently, the Lynn CALM calls are broken into four categories: Conflict Resolution and Mediation, Housing and Legal Support, Mental and Behavioral Health, and Public Health and Safety.
Kawaf said, in the past six months, 35% of calls and interactions with residents were related to public health and safety, 45% were related to conflict resolution, and 19% were related to other needs such as mental and behavioral health and housing concerns.
Kawaf said he enjoys working in the community, and it is important to “understand people’s perspective and background to be able to serve them… We are a response team, but we are also here to connect with the community and build trust and connection. If we don’t build trust and connection, our response is not going to be meaningful.”
Additionally, the Lynn CALM Advisory Board has recently selected a new chair, Max Bevilacqua.
He said he “sees the City of Lynn as a potential leader in unarmed crisis response. Because the presence of armed and uniformed officers can escalate certain crises, I believe it is more efficient, humane, and sustainable to have teams like Lynn’s CALM Team.”
Bevilacqua said, “The measure of our success has to be the well-being of the people who come in contact with the CALM Team because public health is the reflection of so many services and institutions. It is my hope that the CALM Team can be a resource for cultivating skills like de-escalation.”
