ANCHOR expands mental health crisis response to east Ottawa
The 24/7 support program, which has handled nearly 6,000 calls since launching last year, now covers the ByWard Market, Vanier, and nearby neighborhoods.
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A mental health crisis support program that has become a alternative to police dispatch is expanding to serve east Ottawa residents.
ANCHOR, a 24/7 service launched in August 2024, provides de-escalation, crisis counselling, suicide intervention, wellness checks, and overdose response. From its launch through December 2025, the program received close to 6,000 calls, with 93 per cent dispatched to ANCHOR crisis workers instead of police. About 2,300 of those required in-person response.
As of June 15, residents in the ByWard Market, Lowertown, Sandy Hill, Lees Towers, Vanier, and Overbrook can call 2-1-1 and request ANCHOR support. The expansion followed a $700,000 funding injection in December 2025 after the program's success in Centretown.
Crisis support worker Grace Kamanda described a recent call involving an elderly woman neighbours reported as acting suspiciously with a knife. When Kamanda's team arrived, they found the woman confused and in need of support, not a danger. "If it was a 9-1-1 call, a police call, this is how the situation could have been escalated because the caller could have the perspective of someone being dangerous," Kamanda said. The team eventually helped the woman reconnect with her daughter and created a support plan.
Rideau-Vanier Councillor Stéphanie Plante said the expansion addresses a longstanding gap. "For too long communities like Rideau-Vanier have carried a disproportionate share of the city's most complex social challenges," Plante said in a statement, noting residents have been asking for more appropriate crisis response tools beyond emergency services.