Families in low-income areas often lack access to addiction treatment facilities. Thanks to the New Markets Tax Credit, many communities have added new treatment facilities and services. Often, substance-abuse treatment is paired with other services in facilities that provide holistic assistance to families and individuals. Below are a few stories of how the NMTC is expanding access to treatment:
Dr. Lucy Sewall Center for Acute Treatment
Opioid addiction, a growing public health issue in the United States, is driving a need for specialized treatment facilities. In July 2016, the Dr. Lucy Sewall Center for Acute Treatment (the “Sewall Center”) received an $11,000,000 New Markets Tax Credit allocation from MassDevelopment New Markets, LLC and a $3,500,000 NMTC allocation from Capital One, also the tax credit investor, to provide needed capital to renovate this critical detoxification center for individuals suffering from substance abuse.
The Sewall Center is part of The Dimock Center. Located in Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, the Dimock Center offers comprehensive, culturally-competent health and community care, behavioral health services, and child and family services to more than 17,000 people annually in Boston and communities across the state.
The Sewall Center provides detoxification treatment to individuals suffering from alcohol and opioid addiction. It is an in-patient program: patients being treated for alcohol detoxification usually stay 3-5 days, and patients being treated for opioid detoxification typically stay for 5-7 days at the Center. After treatment, patients are placed in residential settings that provide structured, safe environments critical to on-going recovery or enrolled in out-patient treatment programs. Of the approximate 3,000 patients served last year, all were low-income, a majority was unemployed, and many were homeless.
The Sewall Center’s detoxification program has been operating in the historic Sewall Building since the 1980s. The building had not been renovated since it opened and was in need of immediate intervention and renovation in order to continue to provide critical services for alcohol and opioid addiction. The renovation of the Sewall Building includes re-design/re-configuration of inpatient rooms, conference rooms, the nurses’ station and staff offices, all of which will support modern treatment methodology, and prioritize security, safety and operational efficiency. As part of the re-design, ten additional patient beds are being added which enables the Sewall Center to help an additional 1,000 individuals annually.
The Sewall Center currently employs 40 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, and they expect to add 10 FTE staff. In addition to training provided to on-site staff, the Dimock Center is engaged with local institutions to further education and training in substance abuse treatment by sponsoring clinical internships at the Sewall Center. Most importantly, the renovated Sewall Center will allow staff to continue to have a strong impact in helping individuals on their road to recovery from addiction.
Other sources of financing included a $5,000,000 grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, capital campaign funds, and a $4,270,000 loan from Century Bank to bridge capital campaign pledges.
Phoenix Rescue Mission
Neighborhood Services Organization Bell Building – Detroit, Michigan

NMTC Finances HealthRIGHT 360’s Innovative Medical Center in San Francisco

Lighthouse Youth Services (LYS) Sheakley Center — Cincinnati, Ohio

High Point Hospital, Middleborough, Massachusetts

Kalamazoo Health Focused Campus
In cooperation with local hospital Bronson Healthcare and Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (KCMHSAS), Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC) developed a campus focused on wellness and food sustainability. The project is located on 13.3 acres of formerly unused land donated by Bronson Healthcare, which is near Bronson Methodist Hospital, the new Western Michigan
University School of Medicine, and downtown Kalamazoo.The campus features three main facilities: the KVCC Center for Culinary Arts/Health Career Programs, the KVCC Center for Food Sustainability and Innovation, and a psychiatric clinic for KCMHSAS. These facilities expand KVCC’s curriculum, providing access to high-tech indoor and outdoor growing systems and gardens, a fresh food aggregation and distribution center supporting local growers, a culinary school, a teaching and retail restaurant, classrooms for health programs, and training in nursing, EMT, and respiratory therapy.
Collectively, each component of the project contributes to the mission of the Health Focused Campus: to provide comprehensive and innovative urban-based food and health education to the next generation of
culinary, health, and urban agricultural leaders. The project sponsor, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, is a fully accredited, public, two-year college with enrollment of about 13,000 students. Founded in 1966, KVCC offers certificate programs in more than 20 areas of study and associate degrees in 25 others.
Currently, KVCC has three campuses throughout the Kalamazoo area, and the Health Focused Campus is its fourth. The project is committed to promoting health and wellness by leveraging the expertise and support
of the community, including local food businesses, nonprofits, neighborhood associations, economic development groups, government agencies, legislators, and faith-based organizations.
The Health Focused Campus is also expected to contribute to the financial health of Kalamazoo. Its proximity to the downtown commercial corridor builds on the momentum created by a number of LISC supported construction and renovation projects in the Edison neighborhood, and it is a catalyst for future investments in the area.
NMTC Finances Livingston Community Health in Rural California
Critical financing will fund the nonprofit health center’s new primary medical care campus which will serve 4,000 additional patients per year
The California Statewide Communities Development Corporation (CSCDC) has provided $11,070,000 of New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation to Livingston Community Health (LCH) to finance its new primary care medical and dental campus located in Livingston, California.
LCH is a non-profit primary health care provider that serves patients from Livingston, Delhi, Stevinson, Hilmar, Cressey, Ballico, Winton, and other surrounding agricultural areas. Since it was founded in 1970, LCH has grown to be the largest Federally Qualified Health Center in Merced County. LCH is the primary source of health care for residents of northern Merced County and portions of southern Stanislaus County, particularly for the uninsured, rural and migrant families and the working poor. Approximately 77% of LCH’s patients live at or below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and 95% live at or below 200% of the FPL. Around 80% of patients are Latino, and 40% are agricultural workers.
LCH’s main clinic is currently located in a cramped 15,000 sq. ft. two-story building, which it has occupied for over 30 years. This site is severely overcrowded, and is located in a residential neighborhood with little dedicated parking.
CSCDC partnered with JPMorgan Chase to provide $11,070,000 in NMTC funding to finance LCH’s new campus. Other financing sources included: loans from Rural Community Assistance Corporation and Northern California Community Loan Fund; and a grant from the Central California Alliance for Health. The new 35,500 sq. ft. main campus will include: (i) a 14,500 sq. ft. medical center, (ii) a 6,500 sq. ft. dental and optometry building, and a (iii) 14,500 sq. ft. administrative facility. The campus will create a consolidated “one-stop” health and wellness center for multi-generational families; including services ranging from primary and wellness care, to resources that support life-long health and wellness. The new campus will house administrative offices, 30 examination rooms, six dental rooms, radiology, optometry exam areas, labs, a pharmacy, patient education rooms, behavioral health consultation rooms, triage areas, medical assistant workstations, as well as a reception, sufficient parking, and outdoor areas. Importantly, the new facility will create a patient-centered medical home and facilitate the integration of behavioral health and substance abuse services into the primary care setting.
The Project will allow LCH to provide primary care services to 19,500 individuals annually, an increase of approximately 4,000 patients beyond their current levels, through 68,000 patient visits per year. The majority of LCH’s patients are low-income individuals on Medi-Cal. The Project is expected to result in 37 new permanent FTE jobs, 150 retained FTE jobs, up to 26 externships for medical assistants and nurses, and six to ten training opportunities for high school students.
