More than 8,000 individuals in the city of St. Louis sought mental health services through the Missouri Department of Mental Health and psychiatric programs, with 68%, or more than two thirds of them, according to the Department of Health.
“We’re a part of history today, so let’s just pause for a second,” she said. “This [health] crisis within a crisis, within a crisis, within a crisis has been allowed to plague our communities with intentions rooted in white supremacy.”
– Dr. Matifadza “Mati” Hlatshwayo Davis, city health director
Mental health services are not as available in north St. Louis as they are in other parts of the city, and the newest Amanda Luckett Murphy Hopewell Center on the People’s Health Centers campus on Delmar can help reduce that healthcare gap.
There are also Hopewell Centers located at 909 14th Street and 4236 Lindell Blvd in St. Louis. Hopewell’s Lacy Clay Center for Children’s Health is at 5647 Delmar Blvd.
May is National Mental Health month and, fittingly, the ribbon cutting ceremony and open house for the facility, which features an adult behavioral health program, was held Thursday, May 4, 2023.
10th Ward Alderwoman Shameem Hubbard Clark said services provided at the new facility are necessary for the community.
“I just want to thank [People’s Health Centers CEO] Dwayne Butler, the staff, and everyone here,” Hubbard Clark said.
“Not just on a professional level as a partner and an advocate for this work, but also as somebody who has received the services firsthand. I know the work firsthand, I know the need firsthand, and I know that this place is going to make a difference,” Clark added.
Dr. Matifadza “Mati” Hlatshwayo Davis, city health director, called the opening historic.
“We’re a part of history today, so let’s just pause for a second,” she said. “This [health] crisis within a crisis, within a crisis, within a crisis has been allowed to plague our communities with intentions rooted in white supremacy.”
A proclamation from Mayor Tishaura O. Jones praised the facility for providing a comprehensive array of behavioral health services to children and adults in northern and central parts of the city.
“That is why now, more than ever, mental and behavioral health services like these provided by Hopewell Center, are more critical than ever,” Davis said.
“This team has been on the front lines of behavioral health for decades, so don’t get it twisted, there’s nothing new about this, there’s just a building to formalize it.”
Serving as the primary adult behavioral health service in St. Louis city, the Hopewell Center will deliver a safe place for adults experiencing behavioral health challenges to receive help and services they need either by appointment or walk-ins.
Services offered include health and mental health intake and assessments, tele-health, therapy and 24-hour crisis counseling, suicide prevention and psychiatric nurses for healthcare along with medication administration and much more.
The new location is 11,000-square-foot and located in the heart of the Delmar Divine, near the DeBalivere Metrolink.
The space includes 28 offices, including therapy offices, seven nurse stations, a kitchen, restrooms, security guard station, a large welcoming lobby with three intake windows. There is also an area for community support specialists who serve as case managers.
“Mental health needs to be addressed in our community. The goal of our Delmar campus is to integrate primary health care and mental health, serving as one necessary resource to holistically heal our community,” said Butler.
“We offer full health and wellness services to anyone in need at our Hopewell Center Adult Behavioral Health Program facility which is nestled between our Betty Jean Kerr’s People’s Health Center and Children’s Behavioral Health and Dental Care for Kids program facility.
“Our programming is aimed at removing the stigma around mental health so that anyone experiencing trauma, stress, and other factors that lean into being socially and emotionally well, are not afraid to seek or ask for help.”
Community support specialists will provide medically necessary services to clients that support their treatment goal. This can include access to psychiatric services as well as housing and utility assistance, transportation, and social services.
“We take our clients’ hand and walk with them providing direction and guidance as they drive their own decisions,” said LaShonda Thomas, Community Support Specialist Supervisor and Crisis Counseling Program Manager.
Teresa Brandon, Hopewell Center Chief Behavioral Health Officer for Amanda Luckett Murphy Hopewell Center, said she wants the center to make mental healthcare more accessible and less stigmatized in the Black community.
“One of the things that makes it even more special is that we are a family of corporations with People’s Health Center and one of my biggest challenges in my career has been trying to fight the stigma that’s associated with mental illness,” she said.
“When you are on a campus where behavioral health and mental health and physical health can all combine, when they’re all combined, it’s not like you’re having to walk in a door that’s so different than going in for diabetes or any type of physical health thing.
“For me, it’s like we’re kind of going beyond the shadows of mental illness; we are now opening it up where it doesn’t have to be a shadow, you don’t have to feel like you are stigmatized or that there’s something wrong with you for seeking help.”
According to Brandon, the facility will serve adults, kids in transition, age, substance abuse and others who struggle with mental and behavioral health across the whole spectrum.
“One of the big things that happened with Hopewell is that we transitioned from becoming a community mental health center to a certified behavioral health access to care center and being right in the city, it helps us be able to serve more people,” she said.
“The goal is to be able to provide outreach, community-based service and care to be able to meet those that oftentimes don’t just reach their hand out, and sometimes we have to make sure we are reaching out to them and making sure they can get the help that they actually need.”
The newest Amanda Luckett Murphy Hopewell Center is located on People’s Health Centers campus at 5669 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri, 63112. Please visit hopewellcenter.com for additional information.
