As a person in recovery, Elizabeth Montalbano has felt first-hand the added challenges of the last 20 months.

“The mental health issues that people experienced, isolating, just overall being scared," she said. "It’s been turning people who don’t have [COVID-19] into hypochondriacs.”

In Ulster County, opioid deaths went up more than 60% from 2019 to 2020 and suicides are up more than 25%. While the pandemic has exasperated the challenges people have faced, Ulster County is doing something about it.

The county will spend around $20 million to address mental health needs in the area, including re-establishing the department of mental health, adding more mobile crisis teams and increasing services at schools. The biggest investment will be for the county’s first-ever mental health and addiction recovery center.

For Ulster, it will be “... the first time we’re using federal relief funds to build mental health and addiction recovery center," said Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan. "A physical place where everyone can come and get access to the full continuum of services.”

According to Ryan, the center is slated to begin development in 2022, beginning with a crisis stabilization center. And it will have an abundance of resources for people who may be struggling.

“Those at the greatest need, in a true mental health or substance use crisis, they need immediate help; they cannot wait," Ryan said. "It will operate 24/7 and allow 48 to 72 hours of immediate and priority, robust care right there.”

Ryan adds that this is the first step, and the county will add on with future resources for inpatient and outpatient care.

David McNamara, the executive director of Samadhi Recovery Community Outreach Center, says more resources are desperately needed in the fight to curb the mental health and addiction crisis.

“More options for medication-assisted treatment, which I think is also going to be a part of what we’re doing," McNamara said. "And then, maybe even looking at medically-supervised detox, detox outside of a hospital setting.”

For Montalbano, it’s a chance to help everyone in Ulster County, not just those in crisis.

“Even if they’re not an addict. You don’t have to already have that issue to prevent that issue from happening," Montalbano said. "You can get help at anything.”