Community leaders from across the valley raised shovels Tuesday to officially break ground on the long-awaited Substance Abuse and Mental Health Crisis Center in Boise. The new facility is scheduled to open its doors March 1, 2010.
“After years of constructive conversation, I’m proud to announce that we now have construction – and as important as conversation can be, in this case construction is what is needed,” Mayor David Bieter said. “The ground we break today represents a new and necessary addition to our services – not only for those in need in our community, but also for taxpayers who expect those services to be delivered in a cost-effective manner.”
The 9,200-square-foot facility will extend emergency sobering services, detoxification services, and mental health crisis services to Boise Valley residents in need. The facility is planned to provide a sobering station, 12 beds for detoxification and eight beds for mental health crisis.
Construction cost of the facility is estimated at $2.7 million, with an annual operating budget of $1.8 million. The facility will be owned and maintained by the Boise City/Ada County Housing Authority.
Other funding partners include United Way of Treasure Valley, Region IV Mental Health Board, the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, Boise City/Ada County Housing Authority, Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center, and the Community Detox Coalition. Additional construction funding was provided through federal funds brought home by Idaho’s Congressional Delegation.
Posted by Neva Geisler, Director, Volunteer Engagement
Every Thursday night you can find 15 high school kids at United Way taking time from their very busy schedules of school, college searches, music lessons and soccer practice to invest two hours of brain power to plan Break Through with Farmway Village, this year’s alternative spring break project. In addition to the 30+ hours they have already invested, these students will spend two full days of their spring break getting down and dirty creating community gardens, renovating housing units, fencing a basketball court, painting and doing trash pick up. This is tough stuff; we’re talking about breaking up concrete and hauling it away with wheelbarrows and buckets. Like that.
Which might lead you to ask–who does that? What high school kid, already juggling a hundred responsibilities, spends every Thursday night talking about sponsorship needs and concrete cutters?
These are kids like Mara Truslow. Mara is a senior at Riverstone International School. Mara is completely and totally dedicated to service, and not because she’s building her resume, but because, in her words, “What else is there?”
It is this spirit that helped seperate Mara from 350 other candidates to be selected for the Ingram Scholarship, a full tuition scholarship at Vanderbilt University, specifically for students showing and outstanding commitment to service and volunteerism. This scholarship is just the next step for Mara, who will go on to create, serve and lead people in ways that make the world a more livable place for everyone.
I am honored to know Mara, just as I am honored to know the rest of these amazing students who are giving so much of themselves, many just for the fun of doing it. This is one of the coolest parts about being a part of United Way–there’s a lot to do out there, and a lot of different ways to do it. And I think we’ve struck gold with the alternative spring break project and the process of planning it.
My thanks and admiration to Kylie, Maddie, Karl, Adam, Monica, Ali, Carol, Daniel, Janelle, Linda, Lucas, Shannon and Tamara. It is an honor to work with you.
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About United Way of Treasure Valley
United Way of Treasure Valley advances the common good by focusing on education, income and health. These are the building blocks for a good life -- a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health. Our goal is to create long-lasting changes that prevent problems from happening in the first place. We invite everyone to be part of the change. Together, united, we can inspire hope and create opportunities for a better tomorrow.
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