Wednesday, July 9, 2025
www.thepapersonline.com
Serving Kosciusko County and parts of Elkhart, Marshall & Noble Counties Know Your Neighbor . . . . . 2➤ Good Neighbors . . . . . . . 4
Vol. 55, No. 2
Milford (574) 658-4111 • Warsaw (574) 269-2932 • Syracuse (574) 457-3666
114 W. Market, Warsaw, Indiana 46580
C.A.R.E.S. program grows during four years in Warsaw Text and Photos By NATHAN PACE Staff Writer If you want to understand what the Community Assistance Resources Emergency Services program does, just take a look at Mikaela Bixler’s car . She is prepared for a wide range of community situations . “If you look at the back of my car you probably think, ‘What is happening?’” Bixler said . “I have car seats, water snacks and stuff like that, and I have stuffed animals and toys and diapers . Just trying to be prepared for anything that happened and anyway we can support people in the community .” The C .A .R .E .S . program began in 2021 to assist mental health needs and connect frequent 911 system users with community resources . C .A .R .E .S . operates through the city of Warsaw and the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory . At first, the program was done through part-time personnel . Today, Bixler and her colleague, Tanya Jackson, are a fulltime staff with a part-time administrative assistant, Karen Smith . The C .A .R .E .S . team often times gets referred by the fire territory when they get called to a certain individual on a regular basis . “They might respond several times to someone for a fall and they refer it to us because maybe that person needs a walker,” Bixler . The C .A .R .E .S . team had 763 interactions in 2024 with mental health and elder care situations tending to be the biggest percentage of them . “Basically, we work to fulfill unmet needs in the community,” Bixler said . “We can respond if there is a mental health crisis or situation going on . We might get requested by fire or EMS . We can just help the person and connect them to resources that they might need . We also follow up on calls . Typically, they are pretty extensive interactions as well .” Bixler and Jackson said they do not perform counseling on the spot as they actually aim to get people in need connected with the
HELPING FIREFIGHTERS — Community Assistance Resources Emergency Services’ team members Tanya Jackson, left, and Mikaela Bixler assist the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory with their work. right service . “When someone has an issue with addicted substances, we are able to connect them to supportive services . A lot of elderly individuals, who are living in poor situations, we are able to connect to care,” Bixler said . For people the C .A .R .E .S . team has regular consultations with, they encourage the patients to have a medical information pamphlet in a spot where first responders can find should they arrive for a call . This helps emergency services know what the person’s health situation is should the patient be unresponsive when first responders arrive . C .A .R .E .S . helped launched the Crisis Intervention Team program in 2024 to help train first responders when it comes to dealing with mental health situations . Both Bixler and Jackson both grew up in Warsaw and find the job rewarding . “Anytime somebody accepts help, it’s good . It makes our day,” Jackson said . “I meet a lot of thankful people who
YOUNG PROGRAM — The C.A.R.E.S. team began the Crisis Intervention Team in 2024 in conjunction with the Kosciusko County Crisis Intervention Team Committee.
READY FOR THE DAY — Tanya Jackson, left, and Mikaela Bixler have items, such as car seats, available when responding to community situations. didn’t know who was going to help them . They are very thankful that we exist .” The C .A .R .E .S . team operates during normal business hours, but also respond off hours when referred by first responders . Bixler said she expected to
help senior citizens in Warsaw through C .A .R .E .S . but was surprised just how big the local need is for the elderly population . “I think we knew of the needs and the needs related to the elderly population but I don’t
think I knew how much we would be responding to that,” Bixler said . “We do work with the senior center a lot . I don’t think people think of how many of our neighbors don’t have food or don’t have running water or are struggling mentally .”