LYNNWOOD — The City of Lynnwood and Sea Mar Community Health Centers cut the ribbon Monday, June 1, on a new Crisis Care Center, a short-term behavioral health facility designed as an alternative to emergency rooms and jails for people in mental health or substance use crises.
Situated next to the Community Justice Center, the three-story building includes a 24-hour crisis receiving area and a stabilization unit with 16 beds for longer-term care. It can accept voluntary walk-ins, first-responder drop-offs and referrals from the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline, offering immediate care in a setting focused on dignity and recovery rather than incarceration.
The center’s opening traces directly to a tragedy that exposed deep community divisions. On July 13, 2021, 47-year-old Tirhas Berhand Tesfatsion died by suicide in a Lynnwood jail cell, just two weeks before the City Council was set to approve construction of a larger Community Justice Center. Her death triggered protests and demands to scale back the jail component in favor of mental health services.
“I watched as the community I represent became painfully divided,” Rep. Lauren Davis recalled.…