Hiawatha Valley highlights mobile crisis, naloxone access as Board approves 2025 contract

Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center described expanded local services and asked the Houston County Board to continue its contract for 2025; the Board approved the contract.

Eric Sievers, executive director of Hiawatha Valley, told commissioners the agency has served Houston County residents since 1965 and provides a range of services including adult, child and family therapy, substance use counseling, telehealth psychiatry, supported adult housing, school‑based therapists and mobile mental health crisis response. "We've been actually a part of Houston County since 1965. So, this year is 60 years for us," Sievers said.

Sievers said the Caledonia clinic now operates as a Naloxone Access Point where clients and community members can obtain naloxone (Narcan) and test strips for fentanyl and xylazine; the agency plans naloxone training events funded in part by opioid settlement funds. He described the mobile crisis service as a 24/7 program that has expanded: Hiawatha performed about 59–60 mobile crisis assessments per quarter in 2023, increased to about 87 per quarter last year after adding staff, and the agency reported 11 crisis assessments in Houston County since January. The agency also dedicates roughly 20 hours per week (a half position) specifically for Houston County mobile crisis response.

Sievers described housing supports — four board-and-lodge homes and a 20-unit single-bedroom apartment building — and the School Inc. program that places therapists in several local schools (Spring Grove, Houston and La Crescent). He said Hiawatha operates harm-reduction programs and peer-support networks and plans a 60th‑anniversary open house in October.

County staff placed the Hiawatha contract on the agenda. John (county staff) summarized that the contract provides clinical supervision for some county social work staff and supports mobile crisis and peer support work funded by grants. Commissioners moved to approve the 2025 contract and rates. The motion passed with aye votes; there was no roll-call tally in the transcript.

Sievers and county staff said partnerships between the agency, the county, schools and other regional partners are central to delivering the services. The contract will cover the 2025 period and the Board's vote released the funding and formalized the county's service agreement for the year.

What happens next: county and Hiawatha Valley will proceed under the 2025 contract; staff will continue to coordinate clinical supervision, mobile crisis staffing and peer support expansion in Houston County.