ON THE NIGHT SHIFT
9 PM NEWPORT
Newport Mental Health
As the temperature descends below freezing, Jennifer Alexander( top photo) and Natasha Garcia( above left) drive their nightly route up Broadway in Newport. The two behavioral health specialists for the Rhode Island Outreach team at Newport Mental Health keep an eye out for anyone in need of help— behavioral or otherwise.“ We’ d never leave anyone behind at night,” Alexander says. The program launched in 2023 with the goal of reducing unnecessary hospitalizations and incarcerations among Newport County’ s most vulnerable residents. Providers patrol in pairs between 7 a. m. and 11 p. m., seven days a week, and work closely with first responders and meal site providers to deescalate situations and support basic needs.“ We come in, we deescalate, and we try to listen to the individual and figure out what they need,” Garcia says. Originally, the team also stocked street supplies— gloves, hand warmers, sleeping bags— to hand out as needed, but a decline in funding means their shelves have run bare in recent months. Both women have experienced mental health or substance use challenges firsthand, or with family members, and say their backgrounds help them gain clients’ trust.“ They deal with people day in and day out who don’ t understand them, and they feel frustrated, like they’ re a number,” Alexander says.“ They want someone who’ s been through it. They want hope.”
82 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I APRIL 2026