Organizations Step Up in Support of Mental Health in Belmont County
Kailey Carpino Trending
The National Alliance on Mental Illness Greater Wheeling hosted an open house Tuesday at the new Bridgeport Drop-In Center.
Ohio Valley Options LLC, a home for men diagnosed with a mental health or substance use disorder, also hosted an open house.
The Drop-In Center provides free services to any adult in mental health treatment. No appointments are necessary.
"It's just a great place for individuals in mental health treatment to come to find a community of support," Julie Gomez, executive director at NAMI Greater Wheeling, said.
Keith Miller, director and supervisor of the Bridgeport Drop-In Center, leads most of the activities at the center.
"Keith does fun, different activities every day. We provide free lunch for anybody who attends," Gomez said.
Gomez said some of the activities include arts and crafts and listening to music.
Gomez said NAMI Greater Wheeling also has a drop-in center in Wheeling, and opening the new location is helping to reach more people.
"This was just a really awesome opportunity for us to sort of expand and come across the (Ohio) river," Gomez said.
The Drop-In Center is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is located at 855B National Road.
For more information, contact NAMI Greater Wheeling's Bridgeport office at 740-609-5407 or namigreaterwheeling@namiwheeling.org or visit namiwheeling.org.
Ohio Valley Options is separate from NAMI but hosted its open house in coordination with NAMI.
"We wanted to do the open houses on the same day so that way, people could come and see sort of both because they're all related to supporting people who have mental health conditions," Gomez said.
Kelly Sellers, owner and operator of OVO, said she's still working through the licensure process and plans to have the new facility open by March.
"We intend to provide a living space for four adult males with a mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use disorder," Sellers said.
The house is fully furnished, and Sellers said that kitchen utensils and "basic living necessities" will be provided.
Sellers said anyone interested in living at the home would need to fill out an application. She said a referral would be ideal but not necessary.
For more information about OVO, contact Sellers at 740-609-5411 or ovoptions.llc@gmail.com.