HOUSTON – A warning for visitors to Mandell Park in the Montrose area on social media is shedding light on a much larger on going issue the city of Houston is facing: How to identify and help those who are facing a mental health crisis.
The post on the popular social media app “Next Door” alerted them about a man who’s been verbally threatening people who come to the park.
“My wife has seen some things I wouldn’t want to repeat. A couple of people doing but no one that has ever harassed anyone or yelled,” Robert Wolf said.
Comments on the social media threat and residents who spoke with KPRC 2 both acknowledged this is all part of a much larger ongoing issue, not just at Mandell Park, but at many parks across the city.
“Sometimes there are people over here who probably do have mental illness and sometimes they do disturb people who are walking their dog next to the park,” said Ananh Siva, who lives near Mandell Park.
There are 381 parks in the city of Houston and any time the city’s urban park rangers get a call, they go out, investigate and assess whether a person is in a mental health crisis.
“We will stay there until the park is safe, until HPD arrives, if we can’t de-escalate the problem,” said James Bourgeois, division manger of the Urban Park Rangers.
Park Rangers urge everyone to be aware of their surroundings when the visit a city park and to call them immediately if they come across a person they believe may be dealing with mental health issues.
According to UT Health Houston, there are close to 400,000 people who suffer from mental illness living in Harris County.
In Montgomery County, mental health cases and calls reportedly increased by 300% over a five year period from 2016-21 from 341 to 1,359.
“There needs to be some kind of active effort from the community to invest in some kind of society welfare program where we can target and help people with mental illness,” Siva said.