If the Covid pandemic has one positive impact, it helped people become better aware of mental health concerns – their affect across the socio and economic landscape – and the need to address them, says Carole Boye of the Community Alliance.

Recognized by the Omaha Bar Association with its Public Service Award, Community Alliance focuses on assisting people who have fallen between society’s cracks. The organization offers comprehensive health care – mental and physical health clinics, as well as helping people with social wellbeing.

“I think what makes us unique and good at what we do is that so often with a mental or substance health challenge, you have so many other things going on that complicate it, either before the mental health issue or it’s come about because of the mental health issues,” Boye said. “We really try to look at the whole person. Is their physical health contributing to or suffering from the mental illness? We deal with employment and housing. We help with the daily living tasks, and will also help people with financial assistance.”

Finding the root cause of someone’s situation helps them take a major step forward toward managing it and living a better life, Boye said.

“We do a lot of education about what it means, that perhaps you’re going to live with bipolar illness or depression,” she said. “It doesn’t need to define you. It doesn’t need to be the end of everything that you’re going for. But, how do you learn to manage it? It would be like me being diagnosed as prediabetic or diabetic. Maybe I need to change some things. I have to learn what the triggers are. I have to learn how to manage it.”

About 90 percent of the 3,500 people who use Community Alliance services fall under the poverty level, Boye said. About 33 percent of its clients are People of Color, she said. Several of them receive assistance through homeless programs, and about 1,500 people receive financial assistance, Boye said.

Community Alliance employs a staff of about 230 people – physicians, counselors and community workers. The organization is primarily funded through insurance, Medicaid and Medicare, as well as some government funding through providing services such as homeless care and vocational rehabilitation, Boye said. Community Alliance also receives funding through federal grants.

The organization has outgrown its facilities at 38th and Leavenworth streets after more than 40 years, Boye said. Community Alliance is constructing a new building at 72nd and  Mercy Road. After demolishing the former Xerox, West Corporation and Alorica building, plans call for Community Alliance to move into the new 20,000-square foot facility in 2024, Boye said.

“We’ve just run out of space to do some of the things we’re trying to meet the growing needs,” she said. “We’ve really embraced the integrated healthcare approach. We want to have full-fledged primary health care and an onsite pharmacy. We want the primary care physician to talk to the psychiatrist. And the best way to do that is to have their offices near each other. We’d like to have common rooms, and we’re fortunate to be able to design that kind of thing. The doctor can even call in the employment specialist to discuss concerns about a patient struggling in their job. It’s how we can really help in an integrated approach.”

While some people may be concerned about access from midtown and other areas on the east side of Omaha, the new building is on one of Metro’s main bus routes, Boye said. The new building will actually be more centrally located to provide better services for people, she said.

Acknowledging the Omaha Bar Association’s honor, Boye said she believes it’s another example of the services Community Alliance strives to provide its clients.

“We obviously work with Legal Aid a lot,” she said. “We believe in advocacy for the people we serve, but also help them become their own advocates.”

Working with both defense lawyers and prosecutors, Community Alliance seeks the best outcome for clients, she said.

“One of the most challenging issues in the mental health world is how many people with mental health issues end up being incarcerated,” she said.

Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley concurs.

“If you talk to any individual who’s running a jail, they’ll tell you that a significant number of people in prison have mental health issues, and that a significant number of those are severe,” Riley said. “Prisons aren’t designed to treat people with severe mental illness.”