Former Rainbow House site to become adult behavioral health center
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The former site of a Columbia children's center has been sold to Burrell Behavioral Health, with plans to turn it into a behavioral health facility.
Burrell Behavior Health announced in a Tuesday press release that it had purchased the property on 1611 Towne Drive which was the former home of Rainbow House.
Rainbow House had been operating in Columbia since 1986 but abruptly closed its doors in September due to what its President Tyler Willy called at the time were “critical decisions made outside of Board of Directors-approved guidelines” which put the organization in a “ financially unsustainable position."
The land was sold to Little Dixie Construction before Burrell and its parent company closed on the property.
Burrell North Central Region President, Mat Gass says Burrell had an idea of building a facility like this for several years but was waiting to find the right location. He added that the group was cognizant of Rainbow House’s impact on the community, claiming Burrell waited to inquire about the property until it became clear a children’s center was no longer in the cards.
The 1.49-acre property will now be redeveloped into an adult-only residential facility for people undergoing treatment for behavioral health conditions. A spokeswoman for the group says that there is currently no program like it in Boone County or Mid-Missouri.
The CDC estimates that one in five adults in the United States lives with mental illness. However, according to Boone County’s 2023 Health Assessment, the county only had one mental health provider for every 230 Boone County Residents, making more available care a need in the community.
“We've been looking at housing gaps in the community for the last few years and this is an opportunity for us to help solve one of those housing needs,” Gass said. “We’re really structuring housing around individuals that have some pretty complex mental health challenges and this center is really designated to fill that gap as well as keep people out of the hospital.”
Gass says the program is completely voluntary. People who choose to come to the facility would live there from six months to two years. While at the facility individuals will work with a therapist while learning skills to live independently.
"They would have 24-hour residential support and receive teaching and training around taking their medications or learning how to clean their apartment or cook their own meals," Gass said.
The facility is across the street from a daycare and surrounded by commercial properties but Gass believes that the facility will pose little threat.
“Statistically, people have found that individuals with mental health conditions are much more likely to be the victim of a crime versus doing anything that would be considered aggressive,” Gass said. “The clinical staff will do assessments to make sure we get people in the right bedrooms.”
According to a release from Burrell, the facility will have 16 bedrooms designed to house one person per room. Clients can stay anywhere from six weeks to two years while they seek treatment. However the facility is not designed to be a replacement for psychiatric hospitalizes designed for permanent residence.
Burrell says the first clients will begin moving in for treatment in late spring.