Where our Journey Begins
Calling for help in a mental health crisis can be one of the most terrifying interactions for someone in distress to navigate. Often, these calls are met with sirens, handcuffs, and people not equipped to de-escalate the situation appropriately. Now imagine if instead of having those fear-inducing interactions as a default, trained community responders met us with compassion and care? In Durham, North Carolina, that’s our reality, thanks to the HEART program. Instead of defaulting to the police for every emergency, HEART offers an alternative rooted in humanity and dignity.
Launched as part of a growing national movement to reinvest in social programs in the community that keep us safe beyond policing, the Durham HEART program shows what’s possible when communities reimagine safety. By centering care in moments of crisis, HEART is rewriting what public safety can look like—and why it matters now more than ever. In this piece, we’ll explore the program’s mission, how it began, and how you can support HEART or bring its lessons to your own city.
What is HEART?
The HEART program, short for Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Team, is a community crisis response initiative designed to meet people with care, not criminalization. Instead of sending armed officers to non-violent crises, HEART dispatches trained, unarmed responders to situations like:
- Mental health episodes
- Substance use concerns
- Wellness checks
- Housing or resource needs
The goal of the HEART program is to connect people with support during a crisis, rather than punishment, and reduce unnecessary reliance on police in cases where enforcement is not the primary need. Taking this role from the police allows them to have a more specialized role, rather than a general response role in every community interaction, while ensuring that we can treat those navigating crises with dignity and compassion.
How It Came to Be
The HEART program didn’t appear overnight. Through years of grassroots community organizing, coalition building, and advocacy for community needs by Durham residents who called for alternatives to policing, the HEART program made its way to the city council to be turned into a funded social program. It was a testament to building community and working across differing beliefs around police reform and abolition that allowed residents to press the City Council to invest in social models that prioritized care over punishment.
Durham looked to successful programs like CAHOOTS in Eugene, Oregon (operating since 1989, but no longer effective as of April 2025), and STAR in Denver, which demonstrated that community-based crisis response could be effective and work well. With grassroots pressure and city leadership, Durham officially launched HEART, adapting those models to meet the unique needs of its residents.
This history matters because HEART is more than a program; it’s the result of people’s power and a collective vision for a safer, healthier city.
Why HEART Matters Now
We live in a moment where communities across the country are reckoning with public safety. Mental health crises, substance use, and poverty often intersect with policing, with devastating consequences. Programs like HEART step in with a different answer: care over force.
In Durham, HEART has already begun to reduce unnecessary arrests, de-escalate tense situations, and connect people to long-term support. For those in crisis, that can mean the difference between healing and harm.
Beyond numbers, HEART represents something larger: an investment in healing, not punishment. It’s a living example of care as resistance—challenging the idea that safety comes from fear, and proving that safety grows from empathy and connection.
How to Support HEART and Bring It to Your City
If you live in Durham, supporting HEART can be as simple as:
- Donating to partner organizations that strengthen their work
- Amplifying its impact on social media
- Attending City Council meetings to advocate for funding and expansion
- Volunteering with community groups that connect residents to resources
For those outside Durham, HEART offers a model to learn from. Research whether your city has a similar program. If not, connect with local organizations already doing this work, and push your elected officials to invest in alternatives to policing. Programs like HEART thrive only when communities demand, sustain, and defend them.
Practical Takeaways / Reflection
- Practice: Research whether your city has a community crisis response program. If not, gather local allies and explore what models like HEART could look like in your community.
- Reflection Question: What would safety rooted in care, not punishment, look like in your neighborhood?
- Resource: Durham HEART program official page
Where I Leave You
HEART is more than a new city program; it’s a vision for what’s possible when we put empathy at the center of public safety. In Durham, it’s already reshaping lives, and it offers a glimpse of a future where crisis response means connection instead of cuffs.
Every city deserves that future. If you’re in Durham, support HEART directly. If you’re elsewhere, take its lessons home. Because building safer communities begins with a straightforward truth: care creates safety.