The STAR Center, used to be a senior home located on Robin Hood Road, off of south 17th Street. When he saw it was listed for sale, the director of LINC Inc. Frankie Roberts, had another vision for this property.
In 2018, Roberts worked with Brian Mingia, the former director of RHA Health Services to purchase the building. Mingia is currently the executive director of The Healing Place of New Hanover County.
"[Brian] and I started this project trying to raise the funds for this particular campus," Roberts said. "In the midst of it, he decided to take the Healing Place Job. So that's where it all started. He was wanting to ensure that we got the detox back going, and we definitely wanted to expand our housing efforts."
Since LINC provides re-entry support for justice-involved individuals, and RHA offers treatment for behavioral health needs and recovery support for youth and adults, it was a no-brainer for the two.
"So when me and Brian was looking, we couldn't raise the funds, and so then one of us had this brilliant idea to ask the county to purchase it and renovate it, and they agreed," Roberts said.
Today, that vision was realized. This 10-room facility, co-operated by LINC and RHA, has enough beds to service up to 18 clients at a time. That includes 16 inpatient beds for medical detox, and a two-bed transitional housing unit.
The total cost to renovate the complex was $4.28 million, which provided for many amenities, including an on-site commercial kitchen, laundry room, kitchenette, and shared bathrooms with showers.
Much of the funding came from the county's purchase of the property, a state grant, and from Trillium Health Resources — the quasi-governmental agency that directs state and federal funding for mental and behavioral health issues for much of eastern North Carolina.
The STAR center was established with the hopes of taking off where The Harbor — which was the city's only state-funded detox and crisis stabilization facility before it closed — left off.
"When Novant purchased the New Hanover Regional Medical Center, RHA was running The Harbor, a 12-bed facility based on medical detox," Roberts said. "And like most businesses do, they had other plans. So, they demolished it and turned it into a parking lot."
He said that left him and his staff responsible for transporting clients from Wilmington to Jacksonville or Raleigh.
Losing The Harbor was greatly felt by the community, said Board of Commissioners Chair LeAnn Pierce.
"Since the harbor closed in 2022 New Hanover County has been without a local option for medically assisted detox," Pierce said. "Residents in crisis had limited choices and families had nowhere to turn. But that changes today."
Commissioner Rob Zapple talked about the importance of public safety to the commission pointing out that the transition from incarceration "doesn't get enough of a shine," in discourses over public safety matters.
Zapple said that's part of the reason why the commissioners were on board with the plans for the center. During the ceremony, Zapple jokingly talked about expanding the center in the future.
"I kind of half heartedly pointed [to] that building next door and said, 'I look forward to the day when we're expanding into there.' Imagine a world where you had men and women here, and you had families in recovery over there," he said.
Without joking — Zapple noted that both properties were up for sale at the same time, so he proposed the idea of creating a mini campus to the county. Ultimately, the decision not to came down to timing and funding, he said.
Even so, RHA's VP of Behavioral Health Sara Huffman encapsulates how beneficial the center will be to the county as a whole.
"We celebrate what this space represents for this community, safety, support, dignity, and a pathway forward for people who deserve every opportunity to heal and rebuild their lives," Huffman said.
For now, LINC's transitional housing program at the STAR Center location will focus on men in re-entry. And they'll be accepting new clients beginning February 1.
For more photos from the ceremony, click here.
Disclosure notice: Rob Zapple is a member of WHQR's Board of Directors, which has no say in editorial decisions.
