Every year, 1 in 5 people in the U.S. suffers from a mental disorder, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Many individuals who experience an acute mental health crisis may be taken directly to jail or a hospital emergency room without being properly diagnosed or assessed. In many communities this can be the only available option to manage mental illness.

Founded in 1953, Henderson Behavioral Health (HBH) provides healthcare and housing in the Fort Lauderdale and surrounding Broward County area for adults and children with behavioral health conditions. HBH provides prevention, education, treatment and rehabilitation to accelerate and maximize each individual’s recovery. HBH is South Florida’s oldest, largest and most highly accredited nonprofit behavioral healthcare system providing behavioral healthcare and housing for over 22,000 persons per year. The need for critical behavioral healthcare services is on the rise, and in order to manage the increased volume of people who experience a mental health crisis, HBH will replace its 60 year-old building. 

With NMTC financing through Florida Community Loan Fund, HBH built a new 32,000 sq-ft facility to relocate and expand HBH’s CSU, and made improvements to an existing outpatient building. The new building houses a new Crisis Stabilization Unit and is located adjacent to HBH’s existing outpatient facility. It will house crisis walk-in services, a centralized receiving center, mobile crisis response teams, and a pharmacy, all on a single campus. The purpose of a CSU is to screen and assess individuals and either admit them for stabilization or refer them to other services. HBH’s CSU services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with services provided on a sliding fee scale when not covered by insurance.

The new HBH facility includes 48 beds – compared to the old facility’s 23 – and serve an estimated 2,400 individuals annually. The CSU also provides 3 meals a day for up to 5 days for each patient, totaling over 10,000 meals served each year. Located in the center of Fort Lauderdale, the project is easily accessible by Broward County Transit for client convenience. 

Florida Community Loan Fund (FCLF) provided $14 million in federal NMTCs for Henderson Behavioral Health. The investor is PNC Bank. This transaction was completed in June 2019.

“Henderson Behavioral Health has an over 60-year history of serving clients in the Fort Lauderdale community. Financing through the NMTC Program is important for a project as vital to the community as the expansion of their Crisis Stabilization Unit. We are proud to partner with HBH to expand these critical services.” – Nelson Black, FCLF Chief Lending Officer