The CHOICES drop-in center in Washington is benefiting the community, as described by Mental Health and Disability Services Coordinator for the county Bobbi Wulf.

At the recent Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting, Wulf provided a report on recent happenings and highlighted some of the things CHOICES has been doing, “A lot of services are provided within that center, they are peer-driven services. We have two, actually three peer support specialists there and actually one individual who is going through advanced peer support training to become a trainer. The director there was also trained to be one of our C3 de-escalation trainers for our region, so she is partnering up with five other people in the region and they are able to do some trainings to our providers and community members as we want to do some C3 de-escalation training.” Some of those trainers will be part of a crisis intervention training for the region in October.

Wulf also highlighted some recent success stories, including helping some homeless people in the area, “We’ve had several success stories there, including helping a homeless individual gain full time employment, secure a job and an apartment. Assisting another participant in obtaining a living arrangement in a 24-hour setting and being successful there.”

CHOICES stands for a Center for Hope Opportunity Inspiration and Change in an Environment of Support and focuses on helping people with mental health wellness. The free center is located at 112 West 2nd Street in downtown Washington.