It's located on S. Jefferson St. in Frederick.
A new headquarters for the Mental Health Association of Frederick County was formally opened on Thursday afternoon with a ribbon cutting. "I am thrilled beyond the telling," said Pat Hanberry, CEO of the Mental Health Association.
The facility at 225 South Jefferson Street in Frederick has more space compared to the old location at 263 and 265 West Patrick Street. Hanberry says the building, the former location of the El Shaddai Temple, has many advantages. Hanberry says all services are located on one floor; it’s handicapped accessible and it’s visible. "We’re located on a corner, Catoctin Avenue and Jefferson Street. We have a lot of parking. And now people know where we are," she says. "And that’s important because it gives Mental Health a face in Frederick County."
Hanberry says the Association’s staff and volunteers have been in the new headquarters for six weeks, but there’s still more work to do. She says part of the building is being renovated into a Community Services Wing. "Once we renovate the Community Services Wing, then we are going to have room for group therapy, and for child therapy, and for all of our training. And so it’s going to give all of services in-house," she says. It will also contain a Hotline suite.
The renovation is expected to take eight to nine months, Hanberry says.
It took five years to get to this point. "The big question at the beginning was ‘how can we get money if we don’t have a building’ because people want to see what they’re donating to. And the next question is ‘how do we get a building if we don’t have money?’ And I wasn’t sure what the answer was," Hanberry says.
But the Ausherman Family Foundation saw the need, and provided a $200,000 matching grant, and, she says, that encouraged more donations. In addition, two state bond bills were passed by the General Assembly to help fund the project, and the City of Frederick provided a Community Development Block Grant toward the new building. The total amount for the structure is $3.4-million, according to Hanberry.
She says the Mental Health Association serves about 41,000 clients a year, including those who call the Hotline seeking help.
The organization works to build a strong foundation for mental wellness in the community, Hanberry says.
