Grand Opening and Dedication of County's Gail Steele Wellness and Recovery Center

By The Alameda County Health Care Services Agency (HCSA)

Behavioral Health Care Services (BHCS) department is pleased to announce the Grand Opening and Dedication of the Gail Steele Wellness and Recovery Center at 409 Jackson St. in Hayward.  The event will take place on Wednesday, March 21 from 4 to 6 p.m.

This building and its associated programs are supported through the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) which was passed by California voters in November 2004 to provide funding to expand and improve mental health services and programs.

A subset of this funding, known as MHSA capital funding, was made available to counties to expand and improve their facilities. BHCS and the County General Services Agency (GSA) utilized MHSA capital funds to acquire, rehabilitate, and furnish this new County facility. 

The facility is named in honor of longtime Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele, who retired from office in 2011. The Hayward resident has been stalwart supporter of services meeting behavioral and health needs of children, youth and adults for almost 40 years, including the 18 years she spent as the Hayward area representative on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

“Improving behavioral healthcare services is a calling and passion of Gail Steele, and this is a well-deserved honor,’’ said Nate Miley, President of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

The building will be occupied by three behavioral health programs including the South County Crisis Response Program (CRP), the Geriatric Assessment Response Team (GART), and a satellite office of the Family Education and Resource Center (FERC).  The site will also be utilized to host a variety of trainings and educational events. Services and programs are scheduled to be operational at the site beginning April 2, 2012. 

Steele, who lives in Hayward, said the new center will reflect the progress Alameda County has made in supporting behavioral health services for children, adults and families in the community. “It’s quite an honor to be associated with this great project,’’ she said. “It pleases me to know that this center will be there to help people who too often are left to feel quite alone.’’

Steele will be honored at the Grand Opening and Dedication Event with the ceremony scheduled to begin at 4:30 pm. 

Questions about the event should be directed to Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services at (510) 567-8100.