NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Two Wilmington nonprofits are seeking millions in county funding to create a one-stop location for mental health, substance use, transitional living and crisis intervention services.
Leading Into New Communities (LINC) and The Harbor’s operator RHA Services, have partnered on various initiatives for 12 years. RHA Services are included in resources for LINC’s Local Reentry Council, a case management team for people exiting prison.
READ MORE: Detox center The Harbor to reopen after being closed a year
LINC offers housing and case management for people reentering society after serving a prison sentence.
RHA Health Services provides short-term behavioral health support and detox services through The Harbor, a crisis center that shuttered in April 2021.
In June, Trillium and RHA announced they would reopen The Harbor after a year of inactivity, yet did not reveal the whereabouts.
Now, the organizations are looking at a brick-and-mortar collaboration at 1605 Robin Hood Road in Wilmington. Total cost to purchase and update the space is $4.9 million.
Formerly Sherwood Manor Rest Home, the 13,000-square-foot assisted living facility, built in 1984, houses 20 units.
LINC and The Harbor want to provide holistic care for its two demographics — people transitioning out of prison and people with mental health or addiction difficulties—both of which experience many overlapping issues.
A memo, sent to the county by RHA’s Behavioral Health Regional Director Charles Hill, stated: “Behavioral health and substance use issues continue to impact communities and post-release opioid-related overdose mortality is the leading cause of death among people released from jails and prisons.”
Trillium Health Resources is providing $1.5 million to bring the property up to state standards for a facility-based crisis/non-hospital medical detox center, per the memo.
The groups are asking the county to cover the rest, including the $1.6-million building purchase. For LINC to operate its transitional housing in the new facility, it would cost $675,000, with shared office and community space at $572,000 and program furniture and equipment estimated to be $650,000.
According to the memo, the operation is also seeking a partnership with Healing Places, an upcoming county-run drug and alcohol recovery facility to be located on Medical Center Drive, a location choice criticized by local businesses. It will offer 200 beds to men and women seeking addiction treatment.
The suggested plan is for RHA and LINC to receive and provide referrals to Healing Places when both centers become operational.
The Harbor started in 2010 and closed in August 2020. The county transferred the property to the New Hanover Regional Medical Center four years before and The Harbor was granted extensions to continue its operations. The organization failed to find another location once it was announced it would shutter; a petition to “save The Harbor” gained 16,000 signatures in September 2020.
Before it closed, The Harbor was helping around 1,800 people annually, according to Cindy Ehlers, chief strategy and innovation officer for Trillium Health Resources.
If the new facility transaction goes through, it would be located less than a mile away from the old location and within the vicinity of New Hanover Medical Park. Trillium noted a sober-living area with access to medical services and public transportation as a priority for the new center.
Ehlers told Port City Daily in June the facility would offer 16 detox beds to Medicaid subscribers or the uninsured, operating 24 hours every day. It will fill 16 to 20 positions, including certified substance abuse counselors, physicians, nurses, peer support specialists and medical assistants.
Ongoing operational costs of the facility will be funded from two sources. LINC receives its portion from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. State and Medicaid funding will support the needs of The Harbor.
Because the deal has not been finalized, LINC declined to share further details about the collaboration.
According to county spokesperson Alex Riley, the county has no formal plans to review the funding request at this time.
“The plans are very much still in development as all options are being weighed,” Riley said.
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com.
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