Work continues at Meadow Center

Morrow County resident and Delaware Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board (DMMHRSB) President Marnie Whaley-Buckel is delighted to see the renovation and expansion going forward on the Meadow Center in Mount Gilead this year.

The Meadow Center was built in 1990 and needed repair with a failing roof, windows, and doors as well as insufficient security. There was also a need for more space for an additional provider for children and families as well as a space for crisis assessment.

The plan for expansion and renovation stalled for several months as the cost of building skyrocketed after the pandemic with inflation and problems in shortage of building supplies.

DMMHRSB Communications Director Steven Brown said a big factor in allowing the building project to go forward with contractor Barton Marlow was the $1.6 million federal and state funding grant which was received. There are also additional applications for grants to the state to offset the cost of the building project. It is the desire of the board to keep the general fund and levy money for mental health and recovery services rather than the building project.

While the building is under construction, all services are now temporarily at other locations. HelpLine is now in the Wilhelm Building, Southeast Healthcare is at the Morrow County Hospital, and both Syntero and Maryhaven counseling services are at 245 Neal Ave. in Mount Gilead.

DMMHRSB Executive Director Deanna Brant reported the construction, which began in October 2023, is “on schedule to be completed in September this year.”

“The building won’t be the Taj Mahal,” said Brant. “But the present providers will have more space.”

The original facility was 10,980 square feet. The addition of 7,210 square feet will allow the Meadow Center to add a fourth provider who primarily serves children and families. Brant said there will also be a meeting room and space for crisis assessment services.

Whaley-Buckel said she is happy to see Morrow County having its needs met in the area of mental health and wellness. She noted that Morrow County has received a larger per capita percentage of funding than Delaware County from the board.

“There has always been a respect by the board of Morrow County’s needs,” said Whaley-Buckel, who has served on the DMMHRSB board for 13 years. “Our counties sometimes have different needs, and they listen to us, and we listen to Delaware County as well.”

Whaley-Buckel pointed with appreciation to the board’s funding of a new program at the Morrow County Jail and the Sherriff’s Office as well as its support of Morrow County’s DAAP and the school navigator position in the Mount Gilead Exempted Village School District as a pilot program to be expanded in the area.

Morrow County also received a grant for $280,000 for an emergency EMS vehicle to be used to transport persons in a mental health crisis.

Whaley-Buckel is also glad the board has a place in the budget to help those who do not have insurance to pay for mental health and recovery services.

Brant added the needs of Morrow and Delaware counties are sometimes the same, and it is the solutions for those needs which are different in the two counties.

“We work to listen to residents,” said Brant.

Alberta Stojkovic is a correspondent for The Morrow County Sentinel.