Philadelphia opens wellness center to help with long-term recovery from homelessness, substance use
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and city officials on Wednesday unveiled a new tool in the effort to help people experiencing homelessness and substance use disorder.
They officially opened the Riverview Wellness Center in the Holmesburg section of Philadelphia.
It's a treatment and recovery facility next to the city's jail complex.
Some of the buildings in the center are being remodeled to house people in longer-term recovery, which officials say the city really needs.
The center is part of what Parker called the city's wellness ecosystem. Managing director Adam Thiel says the facility is meant to fill a major gap. The city has access to 1,400 mental health treatment beds and between 1,600 and 1,700 substance abuse treatment beds, but there are only about 500 recovery beds.
With the remodeling, officials say they'll add 340 new beds.
They'll start accepting residents for the first 132 beds this month.
Parker said she hopes the facility can become a national model.
While the mayor stressed this facility is not solely for people facing challenges in Kensington, the troubled neighborhood has been a focus of her administration.
Brian Parkhill with Parkhill Recovery Solutions says one of the biggest challenges is keeping people in recovery and that he sees a great need for a facility like this.
"We have such a big situation but in the daytime, there was weeks where just Dan and I sent 50-60 people to treatment. And that's really killer numbers. … If we get the opportunity to have that up and running, it will be nice. I'm looking forward to it," Parkhill said.
One of the big challenges Parkhill said they face is not just getting people into treatment but following up and making sure they aren't going back.