Unanimous zoning approval was recently granted for the counseling center at 3517 Brandon Ave. that’s expected to serve 780 to 900 clients weekly.

The vision for the project, which has a budget approaching $10 million, “is to create a space where we can provide all of the adult and child and youth services in one location,” agency Executive Director Mark Chadwick said. “What the community gets and the folks that we serve get is a building they can be proud of and a building where they can come and feel comfortable getting services.”

A large-scale project likely to open in 2025, it will be aimed at healing residents of the region suffering from mental illness or distress at a time of skyrocketing mental pain. Ninety percent of American have told surveyors they believe the nation faces a mental health crisis and half of adults reported a severe mental health crisis had befallen a family member, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. One in five adults have reported that they consider their mental health to be fair or poor, while one in three people under 30 said that. The U.S. Surgeon General has said kids are in crisis as well.

Countless efforts are underway to offer services, including the creation of a crisis hotline with number 988 as well as increased mental health funding from the state. In terms of new facilities, the proposal by Blue Ridge is the fourth project in the region to have either opened in the recent past or advance in progress.

Bradley Free Clinic in Roanoke opened a 1,900-square-foot behavioral health wing last year. Last month, Carilion Clinic opened a 37,000-square-foot outpatient services center at Tanglewood Mall in Roanoke County. Also unveiled this year, LewisGale Medical Center in Salem has been assessing a plan to build a 63,000-square-foot center to hospitalize the mentally ill and to provide outpatient care in Bonsack.

At Blue Ridge Behavioral Health, a public provider of outpatient mental health care based in Roanoke and serving the region, the agency needs more space as a result of new or expanding programs like Marcus Alert, Crisis Services, and Permanent Supportive Housing, it said. After considering its options, it chose the Brandon Avenue building with nearly 50,000 square feet of space, Chadwick said. Blue Ridge once leased the space, but it has been vacant for more than three years.

Adult clients currently receive care at the Burrell Center on McDowell Avenue, while children and teenagers go to its child and family services office on Franklin Road. Blue Ridge expects to remain in the Burrell building when it opens the planned care center on Brandon Avenue, Chadwick said.

As for its other properties, Blue Ridge will more likely than not also continue to use the Franklin Road building, dedicating it to administration and education. Meanwhile, the agency is “exploring” whether it will continue to use its administration building on Elm Avenue, the director said. 

As facilities for mental health services improve, it will be critical that the region attract more therapists to the region, said Amanda Heasley, practice manager at Roanoke Valley Counseling Center. It employs 14 therapists and hopes to hire four more for 2024.

“There’s only a limited number of providers in the Roanoke Valley, so it can be challenging when things become busy to find a provider in mental health. There are certain times of year when it becomes busier and we’ve just entered that time right now,” said Heasley who explained that the resumption of school and the holidays are seasonal triggers for distress.

A week ago, the practice had 25 available slots for new clients while, on Thursday, it had six or seven, she said. 

Renovations at 3517 Brandon for health care purposes parallel a project on the same street to establish new offices for Roanoke Oral Surgery and River Ridge Dermatology.