Our Blackbird House Peer Respite program is a voluntary, short-term, peer-run service that provides non-clinical crisis support to help people find new understanding and ways to move forward with their recovery. This innovative model has been effective in other parts of the country as a way to avoid unnecessary hospitalizations and empower people to manage their mental health conditions.

Blackbird House is the first peer-run respite program for adults in Santa Clara County, and it was recently mentioned in a San Jose Spotlight article, Jail is no place for the mentally ill, Santa Clara County sheriff says. The article, referring to Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, states: “She also referenced the county’s Blackbird House, a voluntary peer-run program that gives temporary housing and non-clinical crisis support to people who might otherwise end up in a psychiatric hold—or in jail.”

We invite you to read the entire San Jose Spotlight story here.