1. CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) 341 E. 12th Ave., 541-342-8255. WhiteBirdClinic.org/Cahoots. 

2. White Bird Clinic 341 E. 12th Ave., 541- 342-8255. WhiteBirdClinic.org. 

3. Eugene Mission 1542 W. 1st Ave., 541-344-3251. EugeneMission.org.

CAHOOTS, the serious program with the tongue-in-cheek name, has been around since 1989 but it sprung to the nation’s attention in 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police, as calls were made to change policing and defund the police. 

It was a 2018 story about Crisis Assistance Helping Out On the Streets that catapulted CAHOOTS into the eyes of the nation, but folks in and around Eugene long have relied on CAHOOTS’ services. As the program itself describes, “The program mobilizes two-person teams consisting of a medic (a nurse, paramedic or EMT) and a crisis worker who has substantial training and experience in the mental health field.” 

Here at Eugene Weekly, we’ve called the mobile crisis intervention team to help out with people having mental health issues, and have witnessed how the model works firsthand. CAHOOTS-like programs are springing across the country and the American Rescue Plan had $15 million in planning grants for state Medicaid agencies to help set up these types of services around the country. We are all for more CAHOOTS services and more CAHOOTS funding and it looks like our readers are too as they vote CAHOOTS into the top spot and its parent organization, White Bird Clinic into the top spots for best nonprofit and best program for the homeless.

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