Community Members: 

Please join us on Wednesday, October 19 at 6 p.m. in the Civic Center Community Room, 100 Civic Center Dr., for a free forum featuring Be Well OC. Be Well OC began serving Newport Beach in February and is already making a big difference in our community. 

Alyssa Guerrero, supervisor of the Newport Beach team, will present an overview of Be Well OC’s Mobile Crisis Unit and the wellness campus in the City of Orange. The presentation will include mental health and substance use treatment programs, the mobile team’s success stories, and Be Well OC’s role in assisting people in Newport Beach, including housed and unhoused people. Be Well leads a coordinated system of mental health care and support that includes substance abuse services, crisis intervention, acute care, and recovery. 

The forum is one in a series of public workshops this fall featuring agencies that work closely with the City of Newport Beach to provide services for people experiencing homelessness. The first forum was in September with City Net, the City's homeless outreach services provider; if you missed it you can watch the video here. For more information on this and upcoming workshops, please see the series flier.

City Manager, Grace K. Leung

Renew Newport’s inaugural “Love Newport Beach Volunteer Day” is set to launch on Saturday, October 15 with the support of more than 25 businesses, nonprofit and faith-based organizations.

Volunteers will be matched with more than 30 projects throughout the City that offer a variety of ways for individuals and families to participate.

Participants can sign up to volunteer at http://www.renewnewport.com.

The event will begin at 8 a.m. at City Hall, 100 Civic Center Drive, where volunteers will gather for breakfast and a kick-off celebration. Walk-up volunteers will be welcomed on the day of the event, but early registration is encouraged to secure a top project choice.

The volunteer projects will take place from 9 a.m. to noon. For the remainder of the day, several Newport Beach restaurants are offering discounts for volunteers wearing the event T-shirts.

The volunteer day is part of a larger “Renew Newport” initiative being led by Newport Beach Mayor Kevin Muldoon and Trellis International to engage various sectors of the community in citywide beautification and improvement projects. The public-private partnership is aimed at improving collaboration and developing relationships to improve neighborhoods, schools, and beaches throughout the City on an ongoing basis. 

The City's Recreation and Senior Services Department is excited to announce the return of the Fostering Interest In Nature (FiiN) program this fall, for 5th graders attending Title I (predominately low-income) elementary schools in Orange County. 

FiiN kicked off on September 20 and will run through December 2. The 10-week program started in 2019 and operates in partnership with the Newport Dunes Resort and the Newport Bay Conservancy. The program includes a 3 night, 4 day science and nature camp.

This fall, 400 students are participating in nature-based activities such as kayaking, hiking, and viewing wildlife while engaging in marine biology, habitat ecology and conservation lessons at the Back Bay Science Center. Students also get to sleep in tents along the water’s edge, roast marshmallows over the campfire, and create lifelong memories with their classmates.

The Be Well mobile crisis response team operates in Newport Beach 12 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond to mental and behavioral health crises. The mobile unit is staffed with mental health specialists and EMTs, and works closely with the City’s police and fire departments.

This week the Be Well team:

• Responded to a situation involving a middle school student with suicidal ideations. The student was transported to a children’s hospital for evaluation and treatment.
• Assisted in a domestic situation involving suicidal ideations. The person received a referral to a psychologist for ongoing care and treatment.
• Helped a housed older adult who called the police to discuss his plans to commit suicide. The man accepted assistance from the team and scheduled a mental health appointment with the Veteran’s Administration.
• Assisted a housed older adult with acute dental pain and anxiety. The team made a dental appointment for the woman and followed up on her condition after her treatment.
• Transported one person to a crisis stabilization unit for treatment.
• Transported three people to services, shelter intakes, and appointments.