In December, county staff said that they were working with former members of the board to find a path forward for the organization, which could include forming a new board or having another nonprofit permanently take over the program. 

One proposal for reopening has come from People First of Santa Cruz County, formerly known as Santa Cruz Free Guide. The organization runs an emergency shelter and a safe parking site for RVs at the Armory, and operates overnight shelters during severe weather.

People First isn’t proposing a permanent takeover of MHCAN. But Executive Director Evan Morrison has asked Santa Cruz County staff for funding to take over services in the same building until July 2027 to give the troubled nonprofit time to regroup.

Before closing, MHCAN offered programs and resources including support groups, a computer lab, transportation to appointments, and assistance applying for Medi-Cal health insurance. Morrison has proposed reopening the center with the same schedule and many of the same resources.

Part of the building could also host day services, including laundry and showers, for the general homeless population following the anticipated closure of those services at nonprofit Housing Matters, according to the proposal from People First.

A nonprofit has proposed restoring MHCAN services four days a week. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local file)

People First, unlike MHCAN, doesn’t strictly hire people with experience living with mental illness. But Morrison says he would like to include peers on staff, and would consider hiring some of the former employees of MHCAN. Mental health programs have increasingly used people with lived experience, and MHCAN was conceived to specifically provide peer support.

Morrison said he submitted the proposal to county leaders in early February. If approved soon, he could open the program as soon as April 1, he said. 

New board leadership?

Other locals, some who are skeptical of People First, are hoping to form a new governing board for MHCAN and maintain its services as an independent nonprofit. 

Alicia Kuhl, president of the Santa Cruz Homeless Union, has facilitated meetings for people interested in joining a reconstituted board of directors, including former MHCAN club members. Kuhl is helping to organize, but isn’t looking to join the board, she said.

The group of prospective board members met March 1 to narrow the list to 13 prospective board members. Once chosen, they would then petition the Santa Cruz County Superior Court to take over and lead the organization. Under state law, a new board of a nonprofit without leadership may be appointed by a county court if “all the directors resign, die or become incompetent” and the organization does not have any other members authorized to vote in a new board. 

“When they found out that People First had put in a proposal to run MHCAN, it kind of sort of sent red flags to people,” Kuhl said.  

“It’s nothing personal against People First,” she added. “I just don’t think that the operations of People First are ready to deal with something like MHCAN.”

Also interested in joining new leadership for the organization is  Jacobs, the former county mental health worker who helped found Second Story, a peer-run respite center for people with serious mental illness that is considered an alternative for psychiatric hospitalization. 

She’s hoping that MHCAN can be restored to its roots as focusing solely on people with serious mental illness, with less emphasis on services for the general homeless population or people with untreated substance use disorder.

“There’s always going to be people who are unhoused that are going to use that service,” she said, “but they’re going to [need to] use it as part of the mental health system,” she said. The clubhouse should more carefully vet members to ensure they have, or are seeking, mental health support with a psychiatrist or therapist, she said.

MHCAN offered showers and laundry to members. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local file)

Like Kuhl, Jacobs is concerned about an organization without a strong background in mental health services running the daily programs. 

“You’ve got to have a clinical background,” she said. The clubhouse model serves “not just people with lived experience who are unhoused. These are psychiatric patients with diagnoses. It’s a whole different world.”

With the legal status of the board of directors up in the air, Jacobs said she isn’t joining in on the plan to petition the courts to create a new board when, legally speaking, it may still exist. 

Status of MHCAN

A Feb. 13 post to the MHCAN Facebook page stated that “At this time, there is no legally constituted Board of Directors, and no individual or group has the legal authority to act on behalf of MHCAN or to reopen operations.”

But California law — and MHCAN’s bylaws as posted to its website — doesn’t allow an entire board to resign without appointing new board members or contacting the California Attorney General to start a dissolution process. MHCAN board members have not filed for dissolution, a representative from the Office of the Attorney General said in a Feb. 27 email.

Geoff Green, CEO of nonprofit advocacy organization CalNonprofits, called the situation “very messy,” adding that “it sounds like somebody is trying to wash their hands of responsibility.” 

Green said although he cannot speak to the legal complexities of MHCAN’s position, the last remaining member of a nonprofit’s board is still legally liable for the organization and its debts. “You can’t just all run out the door together,” he said.

If no new leadership is formed, the nonprofit could dissolve. All of MHCAN’s assets, including its bank accounts and building on Cayuga Street, would be required to remain in the public trust. That would mean they must be used for the same purpose as intended by the original nonprofit — in MHCAN’s case, support for people with mental illness.

County staff declined to comment on the status of conversations with MHCAN or Morrison’s proposal. 

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