$500,000 grant announced for Link Community Triage Center
Trevor J. Mitchell
The Link Community Triage Center will open in Sioux Falls early next year, officials announced Wednesday.
The Link, formerly called the Sioux Empire Triage Center, is expected to open in Feb. 2021, Mayor Paul TenHaken said at a news conference.
In addition, the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charity Trust announced it was donating $500,000 to the facility, with member Walter Panzirer appearing by video.
Link will be the first point of contact for those in the community who need and are seeking mental health care or addiction counseling. It serves as a central location for substance abuse and mental health patients who've traditionally been taken to emergency rooms or a sobriety center in the jail.
"People want to see us not just use incarceration for every problem in our community," TenHaken said.
Minnehaha County Commissioner Dean Karsky, who's worked on the project for years, said of the grant that "today is a step toward something bigger."
The facility will be at 132 North Dakota Avenue, formerly the City Annex building.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the opening date of the Link Community Triage Center.