UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee, the Helen Ross McNabb Center, and local and state officials gathered in Chattanooga Tuesday to celebrate the completion of the Bailey Home, a new supportive-living facility in Hamilton County that will serve the needs of adults living with mental illness.
The Bailey Home was created by the Helen Ross McNabb Center through a $340,300 grant from UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee to help adults recovering from mental illness live healthier and more independent lives. The Bailey Home will provide comprehensive support services to each resident through onsite and community resources with a dedicated staff that will work 24 hours a day to help with daily-living skills, ensure that medication needs are met, and coordinate daily life skills groups. The new facility has five bedrooms, and it will house 10 clients at full capacity.
“People who are living with and recovering from mental illness deserve the opportunity to live healthier and more independent lives,” said Rita Johnson-Mills, CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee. “We are grateful for the opportunity to support the Helen Ross McNabb Center and help make that a reality for more Tennesseans with the Bailey Home.”
In 2013, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee committed $1 million in grant funding to help support organizations that provide safe, affordable, quality, and appropriate housing for people living with mental illness after having been discharged from a mental health facility. In June 2015, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee presented the Helen Ross McNabb Center with its grant to develop the Chattanooga project.
“Our Housing Services team helps provide permanent, safe, affordable housing to people who are homeless and experiencing symptoms of a mental illness,” said Helen Ross McNabb Center CEO Jerry Vagnier. “We currently offer 162 units in Knox and Hamilton counties, and we greatly appreciate the generosity of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee in helping us increase the number of housing units we can make available to people in need.”
“I commend UnitedHealthcare for its recognition that people living with mental illness are not only deserving but also capable of thriving in our communities with balanced and productive lives,” said Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke. “In partnership with the Helen Ross McNabb Center, and with the support of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, this investment will make a true impact in the Tennessee communities we serve together.”
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), more than 245,000 adults and 65,000 children in Tennessee live with serious mental health conditions. Many of them are homeless and survive on low incomes. The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse estimates that nearly 190,000 Tennesseans with mental illness are in need of housing assistance.
Since 2001, the Tennessee Creating Homes Initiative has leveraged public, private, and nontraditional funding sources to create more than 4,600 housing options for Tennesseans diagnosed with mental illness and co-occurring disorders.
“There is a wealth of literature, both national and local, to support the essential role of quality housing in the recovery process for people with mental illness,” said E. Douglas Varney, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. “This partnership among the Helen Ross McNabb Center, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee, and other organizations will help put housing within reach for more Tennesseans.”
Source: Helen Ross McNabb Center
To see more photos, pick up a copy of this week's Hamilton County Herald.