Laguna Beach marked the beginning of its partnership with Be Well Orange County on Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the cobblestones of Main Beach Park.
The event signaled the start of a two-year agreement for mobile mental health and wellness services in the community. A big, blue Be Well OC van served as the backdrop for the ceremony and members of the local mobile response team were on hand to share information about the operations.
“We first launched in October of 2021, and it was part of a movement to enhance the continuum of care for mental health,” Kathryn Hamel, vice president of mobile operations for Be Well OC, said following the ceremony. “Those that are suffering from mental health crisis and addiction issues in [the] community, we are here to support them, to stabilize them, and to refer them into services that help support them move through their crisis, move through their addiction.”