ECHD Awarded $2,000,000

ECHD Awarded $2,000,000 to Support Mental Health and Behavioral Health Needs

ECHD Awarded $2,000,000 to Support Mental Health and Behavioral Health Needs
The Erie County Health Department (ECHD) and Erie County Community Health Center
(ECCHC) are pleased to announced a federal funding award of $2,000,000. Funding will be used
to build a short-term crisis/housing facility to serve individuals with behavioral health and
mental health concerns. The project, which gained the support of U.S. Representative Marcy
Kaptur (D, Toledo), will break ground on August 26, 2022; the construction is expected to be
complete and the building operational by 2024. The grant was part of a Congressional earmark
and was awarded by the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA). The new grant will
empower the ECHD to better serve Erie County and the surrounding area.

The Mental Health and Behavioral Health Short Term Housing Facility will not only increase
access to critical health services for all residents, but will divert individuals with mental health,
substance use, and co-occurring disorders from the added trauma of a jail setting.

Once admitted to the facility, individuals will be placed on a 24-hour hold while a course of
treatment is developed. The 4,000 square foot facility will offer short-term housing for
individuals in crisis, connecting them with a full spectrum of health services including mental
health and behavioral health care, dental and primary care. Courses of treatment may also
include connections to job and educational training, longer term housing assistance, and the full
spectrum of substance use treatment and recovery options.

The new facility will be co-located with ECHD’s main campus which also includes the Erie
County Community Health Center, the Erie County Detox, and Becky’s House, a longer-term
housing facility for women in recovery.

For more information about the Mental Health and Behavioral Health Short Term Housing
Facility, contact:
Pete Schade, MPH, REHS
Erie County Health Commissioner
(419)626-5623