After tackling the issues of criminal justice and affordable rental housing in previous years, in 2026 the interfaith coalition JUST Pensacola is looking to improve access to mental health resources in Escambia County.
The coalition of interfaith congregations began working to determine which issue to pursue last fall, with about 350 people breaking out in groups of ten to share their issues and concerns.
“That information is shared with a group of 76 community members, who focused on what we heard and to decide to narrow it to a specific issue, which we heard loud and clear was about mental health,” said Bishop George Young, interim rector of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church and member of JUST Pensacola’s mental health steering committee.
Young says from there a research committee was formed to dig deep into the issue and look for a solution. In this case, they met with experts in the field, including Rep. Michelle Salzman and members of the Northwest Florida Mental Health Task Force, as well as representatives of Lakeview Center and Baptist Medical Health.
“We had also partnered with United Way of West Florida, and they host the 211 and 988 call lines and what we focused on was that those work and that there are resources for mental health in our community,” Young said. “But a huge problem is that people have difficulty accessing those resources and the 211 and 988 call lines are great ways to access those resources. So our project was to fund an awareness campaign, as well as some care coordinators for those 211/988 call lines.”
There’s definitely more room for improvement in Escambia County, which has the lion’s share of calls going into the help lines, according to Rev. Machelle Easley, pastor of Escambia Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church and also a member of the mental health committee.
“Escambia County uses it more than the other nine counties put together,” she stated. “So there is definitely a need, especially when you look at the calls that are coming and the concerns, there is definitely a need for more resources and more help and more awareness in Escambia County.”
In looking more closely at the mental health crisis in Escambia County, JUST Pensacola felt justified in their request, after hearing the testimonies of more than 70 people in the community who revealed some alarming stories about the impact of not being to access and work the system.
“People were actually going to jail and emergency rooms and different places like that, when they could have done the 211,” said Rev. Easley. “So as you listen to those stories there’s a sense of hopelessness.”
JUST Pensacola also points to overdose mortality as a well-established indicator of unmet behavioral health needs, especially gaps in prevention, crisis intervention, and continuity of care.
Despite the successful efforts of the Coordinated Opioid Recovery Effort program in the county, recently reaching the milestone of assisting its 600th patient, Escambia still has the highest overdose mortality rate in all of Florida. The CDC National Statistics System reports 47 deaths per 100,000 people, compared to the state average of 31 per 100,000.
JUST Pensacola put the mental health issue on the table for community discussion at JUST Pensacola’s annual Nehemiah Action Assembly held Tuesday at First Baptist Church of Warrington. The event drew over 700 people.
Their official ask to county and city officials was a combined contribution of $540,000 combined to fund a two-year program aimed increasing public awareness of the 211 and 988 call lines and the hiring of three new care coordinators.
“It was a pilot project that we were asking to fund, not something that would go on necessarily forever, but a pilot program that we and, particularly, the United Way could keep real specific data to see, in fact, if this was working,” said Bishop Young.
Young says the information was sent to all Escambia County commissioners and all Pensacola City Council members, and Mayor D.C. Reeves, along with an invitation to the assembly.
“When it came time to ask our city and county officials to support the project, none of them had shown up,” he acknowledged.
Undeterred, the JUST Pensacola group plans to press on.
“We’re going to continue the fight; it is not over,” said Easley, noting their plan to keep making their case to local officials. “We’re gonna continue to try to reach out and engage them and just try to get the word out about how much this is needed.”
