The Consortium, one of Philly's leading mental health agencies determined to stand strong

Remember a year ago, last July 2023, when an individual snapped in Southwest Philadelphia? The person was dressed as a woman in Muslim garb and had an assault weapon hiding under the covering. The person was a man disguised as a woman.

- Thera Martin

You recall this news story: A shooter wearing a bulletproof vest and a ski mask fired randomly at vehicles and pedestrians Monday night in southwest Philadelphia, killing five people and wounding two others, authorities said.

Then Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle M. Outlaw told reporters the “armed and armored” assailant was firing seemingly at random people, including a mother driving her twins home in the Kingsessing neighborhood, on July 5, 2023.

The aftermath of that mass shooting left an entire community shaken to its very core. One of the major resources that came to the aid of that community was The Consortium with Mental Health Services. They weren’t just there for a day or two when the TV cameras were on. Consortium staff were there for weeks and months after.

Remember the name Walter Wallace, killed by police in 2020 in West Philly? He had been receiving mental health services at The Consortium. The day his life was ended, if only The Consortium mental health counselors had been called first, Walter Wallace might still be alive today. I could offer a list of episodes where staff from The Consortium were on hand and through their mental health expertise, were able to calm down any number of tense situations between someone with a mental health crisis and community, and or with police.

Fast forward to the end of the month of July 2024. It was July 30th that I heard a news story about The Consortium, indicating that they may lose major funding from the City of Philadelphia, and it's not clear why.

The Consortium is a nonprofit organization that’s been around for 55 years, and over that time, they’ve had a stellar reputation. Throughout its history, The Consortium has pioneered providing behavioral health services with ‘compassion first’ priorities (coupled with) excellence in mental health treatments and collaborative understanding.