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The city of Rochester has partnered with Recovery Houses of Rochester, allocating $30,000 for a pilot crisis stabilization program and additional housing for individuals in recovery from substance use.
RHR provides resources for individuals to not only stay clean, but also transition to life outside the program through a peer-based model of recovery.
Currently, the organization has two recovery and transitional housing sites, which on average have a consistent waitlist of 15 individuals seeking admission. The funding would expand RHR’s housing capacity from 34 to 58 beds.
The crisis stabilization program is aimed at individuals experiencing an acute substance use or mental health crisis. This is a 90-day program, differing from RHR’s intensive residential programs that typically span admission timelines of three to six months.
An individual in the program, who requested anonymity for privacy reasons, finds the program a life-saving measure.
Through the program, individuals will receive daily support from staff as they transition to their own housing. This differs from other available crisis stabilization programs in the city, such as the Person-in-Crisis and Mobile Crisis teams, or walk-in clinics like Rochester Regional Health’s Behavioral Health Access and Crisis Center, which only offer immediate assistance to people in crisis.
The crisis stabilization program offers a temporary safe space for men in crisis suffering from a potential relapse, severe stress, or mental health challenges to stabilize without hospitalization.
“What we’re trying to do is take individuals out of areas that can lead to them going back to using. We have our support staff. All are in recovery,” says Willie Wright, RHR’s intake coordinator. “So, we have experience in staying clean, working a program, and (being) able to work with these guys and give them the opportunity to get into a program that works for them.”
Currently, there are about nine individuals on the waiting list for the crisis stabilization program.
“I’m getting a call every day, every day. And that’s why it’s important for us to get the funding, so we can help those in crisis that don’t have a place to go,” Wright says. “We’re trying to get their lives back.”
The program aims to assist individuals in reintegrating into the community with support. It is part of a larger effort, both locally and statewide, to adopt a holistic approach to crisis intervention services.
While voting on the 2025-26 city budget, Councilmember Bridget Monroe said, “I am heartened by the increase in PIC and other human service-oriented responses to emergency calls.” She added: “I think being able to add a more holistic model will go a long way toward having longer-term changes for people, their circumstances, and their families.”
Within the same budget, the city approved continued funding for the Person-in-Crisis team. According to the PIC database, there have been about 2,064 calls for help so far this year.
The state budget includes $2 million for a Behavioral Health Crisis Technical Assistance Center and $6 million to fund pilot programs for a peer-led crisis response team to help localities develop a community-based, peer-led, non-police response to mental health crises, a recommendation from the Daniel’s Law Task Force Report.
“I recognize the urgent need for effective mental health and substance use services in New York State—and legislators at the local and state levels are meeting the challenge of providing our community with resources that they need,” says state Sen. Samra Brouk, chair of the Senate Mental Health Committee and one of the leading proponents of Daniel’s Law. “The city of Rochester has achieved great success with programs like the Person-In-Crisis team that help individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis stay safe.
Daniel’s Law, legislation written in response to the death of Daniel Prude, is designed to make trained crisis professionals, instead of police officers, the first responders to mental health emergencies. It recently passed the Mental Health Committee and is now awaiting approval in the Senate Finance Committee.
Emmely Eli Texcucano, a University of Rochester student, is a member of the Oasis Project’s second cohort.
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