LET’S MAKE HEART 24/7 - CITY, COUNTY & SCHOOL-WIDE . FULLY FUNDED.

In June 2022, City of Durham’s Community Safety Department launched the HEART program to offer the care that Durham residents need when we’re experiencing nonviolent mental health crises or quality of life concerns. They offer crisis call diversion, care navigation, and community response. During the pilot phase HEART workers have delivered aid, supplies, community resources, and much more to community members who look just like you and me, in over 6200 responses, taking an average of 5.47 minutes to arrive at the scene.

Since launching, HEART has responded to over 25,000 emergency calls in Durham with overwhelmingly positive feedback. This underscores the effectiveness and value of ensuring skilled mental health professionals, peer support specialists, and EMTs are available at all times of the day throughout our city, county and public schools. Let’s invest in a safer, healthier, and more compassionate Durham for every resident and student, at any hour. We can’t afford to wait!

All of Durham deserves access to skilled, compassionate, unarmed care in crisis. That’s why Have a HEART campaign is uniting small businesses, houses of faith, agencies, organizations, and individuals, to call for fully funded 24/7 citywide access to HEART in the city as well as an expansion into Durham County and Durham Public Schools. Check out the Community Safety Department website to learn more about HEART. 

Have a HEART campaign is not affiliated with the City of Durham. This is a grassroots effort to show support.