December 20, 2021 – Sometimes the government does work to better serve its people, and when this happens, it is cause for celebration.Therefore, a celebration was held on the afternoon of December 16th when government officials and community members joined together to commemorate the grand opening of the new Crisis Residential Treatment Facility of Mendocino County. Members from the Measure B committee, Behavioral Health, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Mendocino’s Board of Supervisors, and Redwood Community Services stood together under grey skies to witness the red-ribbon cutting officially opening the new facility on Orchard Street in Ukiah. Neither the rain nor the chill could dampen the palpable joy and sense of accomplishment felt by everyone in attendance who had played a part in bringing this much needed mental health care facility to fruition.
Measure B was instrumental in funding the facility. Back in November 2017, over 83% of Mendocino County residents approved to raise the sales tax to finance the construction of behavioral health facilities, and to fund operation costs and services to treat mental illness and addiction. The new Crisis Residential Treatment Facility is one of the first tangible results of Measure B. Funded by Measure B and the Investment in Mental Health Wellness grant, the new facility offers social rehabilitation services in a safe, welcoming, non-institutional, residential setting. The lovely, homey establishment offers an open floor plan featuring a reception room, nurse’s station, bedrooms, bathrooms which are all centered around a large dining room and kitchen area flooded with natural lighting from large windows that look out to the spacious backyard patio.
Former Measure B Committee member Jan McGourty, current chair Donna MoschettiBehavioral Health Director Dr. Jenine Miller, and retired sheriff Tom Allman all worked many years on the Measure B committee to bring the CRT to fruition.
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