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Mental health center client homes going up

Decatur Daily (AL) - 1/30/2015

Jan. 30--ATHENS -- The Mental Health Center of North-Central Alabama has overcome the loss of its initial contractor and is set to start construction on nine townhouses for clients on East Elm Street.

The homes will be for semi-independent clients who deal with major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

The project for outpatient clients was briefly derailed in September when William Gregory Miller, then Habitat for Humanity of Athens-Limestone director, was arrested and charged with first-degree theft after making $107,500 in illegal purchases with a Habitat credit card.

Habitat was the project manager, contractor and builder of the mental health project before Miller's arrest.

Bill Giguere, development officer for the Foundation for Mental Health, the center's fundraising arm, said Limestone Building Group stepped in to pick up the project.

"Limestone Building Group agreed to work with as much volunteer labor and contributed materials as we can get," Giguere said.

The foundation has raised about $258,000 of the $350,000 needed to complete homes so work will begin in mid-February.

The Limestone County Commission contributed $15,000 and the city of Athens is helping with utilities.

"We have enough money to start the foundations and get us to the point where we're blacked in," Giguere said.

Each townhouse will have three units with two bedrooms each, a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room. This will expand capacity from 20 to 54 bedrooms.

Giguere said the center is building the townhouses to replace the 10 mobile homes that were used in Hurricane Katrina relief.

The new homes will be similar to 10 facilities the center built at The Village in Moulton.

Clients living in the homes will attend their appointments at the Athens-Limestone Counseling Center on the property. Employees will check regularly on them, Giguere said.

Limestone County Probate Judge Charles Woodroof said the facility is a welcome addition, especially if the number of clients it serves grows.

He said the beds are needed after the recent state announcement that North Alabama Regional Hospital in Decatur will close June 30.

He said the homes will help people who, after their release from in-patient care, don't have a home to return to or their family situation isn't good for their recovery.

Woodroof said he has not received any report of problems between the center's clients and their Athens neighbors.

Bayne Hughes can be reached at 256-340-2432 or hughes@decaturdaily.com. Follow on Twitter @DD_BayneHughes.

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(c)2015 The Decatur Daily (Decatur, Ala.)

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