- CAHOOTS341 E. 12th Avenue. 541-342-8255. Whitebirdclinic.org/cahoots.
- White Bird 341 E. 12th Avenue. 541-342-8255. Whitebirdclinic.org.
- St. Vincent de Paul 555 High Street. 541-344-2115; 100 E. 11th Avenue. 541-868-0200. Svdp.us.
You might call the police non-emergency number to get ahold of Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets, but as CAHOOTS employee Brenton Gicker tells us, the organization “exists, to a large extent, to be an alternative to the police as much as possible in situations where a therapeutic mental health or medical intervention may be more beneficial than a law enforcement response.” The first place winner might be in Best Program for the Homeless, but Gicker says the intervention is “primarily in situations that involve people who are struggling with addiction and mental illness, including but not limited to the homeless.”
Second place winner is White Bird, which is the home organization for CAHOOTS — and EW will take a moment here to remind you that we happily collect donations of warm clothing for White Bird at our office at 1251 Lincoln Street. In third is St. Vinnies, which won for Best Secondhand Shop and has programs all over Lane County to help those in need. Gicker says that if you want to support what CAHOOTS does, you can not only donate money and supplies; you can also help by “caring about your community and being outspoken in support of our work and that of our allies.”