Morris County Hope Hub Celebrates First Anniversary

Published on March 04, 2022

Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon’s Hope Hub program hit its First Anniversary today, marking over 150 situations in the program’s first year that critical services were brought to individuals or families identified as being at an acutely elevated risk of needing assistance.

The anniversary was marked with a breakfast celebration this morning and review of Hope Hub accomplishments over the past year at the Morris County Office of Emergency Management offices in Parsippany Township.

Hope Hub, the second program of its type in the nation, is a multidisciplinary panel made up of law enforcement, social services, mental health services, healthcare providers, treatment providers and recovery specialists. When representatives of various agencies identify struggling individuals and families, Hope Hub’s panel of professionals tries to connect with them and link them to life-changing services.

Hope Hub is an expansion of the Sheriff’s Hope One project. Hope One is a mobile recovery access vehicle that has been entering communities for nearly five years to offer critical support to persons struggling with addiction. The goal is preventing drug overdoses and deaths, as well as offering mental health services.

Spearheaded by Hope Hub Coordinator Officer Chelsea Whiting, the Hope Hub panel meets each week to determine if an individual or family, identified as at-risk by law enforcement, the courts or services agencies and nonprofits, would benefit from various service sectors. Those applicable agencies then work together as a team to do a door knock or intervention.

It was on March 5, 2021, Sheriff Gannon and Officer Chelsea Whiting successfully launched Hope Hub. Because Hope Hub assisted in over 150 situations in just its first year, a Hope Hub Social Case Worker, Kim Cacciabeve, was added to the team.  We are working together to help individuals and families struggling in Morris County.

The Morris County Sheriff’s Office is proud to work with partners such as the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, the Mental Health Association, the Center for Addiction, Recovery, Education & Success (CARES), the Morris County Chiefs of Police Association, Interfaith Food Pantry, Nourish NJ, Acenda Integrated Health, Family Promise of Morris, Child and Family Resources, the Morris County Department of Human Services, and more.

Sheriff Gannon believes these public and private partnerships in Morris County, New Jersey truly make a difference.

Are you working with someone at an acutely elevated risk, in need of various services? Refer them to the Hope Hub!

https://www.morriscountynj.gov/Departments/Sheriff/Community-Programs/Hope-Hub

Photos:

Top Right: Sheriff Gannon and  Hope Hub Coordinator Officer Chelsea Whiting (standing far left) provided an update on Hope Hub’s first year of success to those who attended the breakfast celebration.

Top Left: Morris County’s Hope Hub team (l-r) Al Shurdom, a Clinician with the Mental Health Association of Essex and Morris; Morris County Sheriff's Office Corporal Erica Valvano, Sheriff James Gannon, Hope Hub Coordinator Officer Chelsea Whiting and CARES Peer Recovery Specialist Carrie Bailey.

Bottom Right: The anniversary was marked with a breakfast celebration this morning and review of Hope Hub accomplishments over the past year at the Morris County Office of Emergency Management offices in Parsippany Township.