GALLUP, N.M. – A personal crisis can strike at any time. It’s important to have resources or at least know where you can find them.

Now, a New Mexico organization is working to expand that help to a part of our state in desperate need of it. KOB 4 shares the details of a new crisis center in Gallup and what it will offer to the community soon. 

“A crisis is unique to everyone, and we’re not here to decide what a crisis is or isn’t,” said Jess Spohn, a crisis services director with the Santa Recovery Center in Gallup. 

They’re just here to treat it.

“A crisis center like the one that we’re opening in Gallup is more like a mental health ER or urgent care where you can come in, you can be welcomed into a warm, welcoming environment that looks kind of like a living room that you would see at a relative’s house,” said Spohn. 

Staff will be equipped to help with any personal crisis from depression, to substance use, to everyday stressors. 

“They’ll talk to you about all the issues that you’re facing. You know, whether you are able to pinpoint, you know, what’s going on, or if you’re like, ‘I just don’t feel right,’ right? I don’t feel right,” Spohn said. 

They say this will be the third center of its kind across New Mexico in a community that needs more resources. 

“Statistics show that those that come from indigenous populations and identities, especially men, those that are male identified, have the highest rate of dying by suicide in the state of New Mexico,” said Spohn. 

The center will operate on a “no wrong door” model when it opens to patients next week. 

“What that no wrong door model and policy means is that right now is the right time, and you have the right reasons, and we are the right place for whatever is going on,” Sohn said. 

Spohn hopes for ripple effects in the community, like less people ending up in the emergency room or jail.

“Our ER’s are super great, right at doing the medical component. You know, they’re good for COVID and flu and, you know, car crashes and gunshot wounds and heart attacks. But they’re not set up, you know, to no fault of their own, they’re not set up for mental health,” said Spohn. 

Spohn says patients will be free to stay all day and up to 23 hours when it’s operating 24/7 in coming months. 

“You need services now, and we recognize that, and that’s part of trauma informed and trauma responsive practices, to be able to say, ‘When you’re ready, we’re here for you,’” said Spohn. 

A trip to this new center will be free for all patients. It’s set to open Nov. 17 and plans to mobilize a mobile crisis team by early next year.