Mallory Meeker stood at the back porch of a Whole Living Recovery home, two white trash bags filled with her belongings in hand. Meeker felt like she had finally crossed a finish line.
“I just felt like I could breathe for the first time,” Meeker said.
Meeker grew up in Licking County, but had been living unhoused in Columbus for years, struggling with her substance use disorder. Meeker returned to Licking County to embark on her recovery.
That’s when she found out about Whole Living Recovery, a sober group home dedicated to supporting Meeker on her recovery journey.
Read more: A recipe for recovery
Whole Living Recovery is one of the many organizations that receive funding from the Mental Health and Recovery for Licking and Knox Counties levy up for renewal in the Nov. 4 election.
The levy, a 10-year, 1-mill property tax renewal, provides funding to the organization Mental Health and Recovery for Licking and Knox Counties (MHR). The levy will raise $4,730,381 annually, amounting to $19 for every $100,000 of property valuation. The tax is not an increase. If it’s passed, property owners will pay the same amount in property tax for this levy that they would have ten years ago.
Mental Health and Recovery for Licking and Knox Counties is a government entity responsible for providing access to mental health and substance use disorder resources in the two counties. Kay Spergel, executive director of Mental Health and Recovery for Licking and Knox Counties, said the goal is to build what she refers to as a continuum of care, promoting health and wellness by making services more accessible.
“I think that many people in a community are not aware of what a mental health and recovery board is until they need our help,” Spergel said. “People will reach out to us, generally, in crisis, looking for help.”
The main function of the board is to fund mental health resources, assisting with the cost of mental health services that would otherwise be unaffordable. The board funds:
- Suicide prevention through the 211 or 988 24-hour crisis and text line
- Crisis response
- Psychiatric services
- Drug and alcohol prevention programs
- Counseling services
- Domestic violence shelters
- Mental health education
- Parenting programs
- Specialized training for law enforcement and first responders
The board collaborates with 17 community partners between the two counties, referred to as safety net partners. These safety net partners provide mental health and substance use disorder treatment programs, and include the Behavioral Healthcare Partners of Central Ohio, Licking County Alcoholism Prevention Program, The Main Place and Whole Living Recovery.
According to 2024 data offered by the MHR board, over 24,000 people between both counties utilized services connected with the board. Over 10,000 of the people who utilized services were children.
One of the services that the board assists with is subsidizing rent for residents of Whole Living Recovery homes, which is $400 a month including utilities.
“But when we get people that are coming to us from treatment or jail, they’re not working,” Stephanie Dunlap said, who serves as executive director of Whole Living Recovery and is a licensed peer supporter. “So we have contracted with the mental health and recovery board to kind of assist with their rental payments.”
When a resident first arrives at Whole Living Recovery, they are in phase one. This can last about one month but depends on the resident. Rent is completely covered by the Mental Health and Recovery board.
In phase two, a resident pays half of their rent, and the board covers the other $200. In stage three, about a month later, the resident pays $300 and the board chips in $100. In stage four, the resident covers the full rent.
“(Rent assistance) is to help keep this organization sustainable and running,” Dunlap said. “But it’s also to help (the residents), because they’re going to leave and go to an apartment. They need to be able to pay rent.”
Whole Living Recovery operates five community-based houses meant to support individuals serious about recovering from substance use disorder in Licking County.
Dunlap, who is also in recovery, helped Meeker get into one of the recovery homes, and by her fourth month as a resident, Meeker had a breakthrough.
“I slept like, seven hours straight,” Meeker said. It was a big deal for Meeker, who was still experiencing withdrawal symptoms from opiates and fentanyl, making sleep nearly impossible.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh. I’m doing something this time,’” Meeker said. “I made it through a whole night, and I’m sleeping.”
Meeker now works as a case manager and peer supporter for current residents of these homes.
The rent assistance that MHR funds is especially crucial for residents participating in the Licking County Day Reporting Program, an alternative to incarceration that offers participants mental health resources, drug and alcohol counseling, GED classes and job placement assistance.
“It is a full-time job being in day reporting,” Dunlap said. “So I don’t expect them to work, so that’s an exception for them to be in phase one longer.”
10 years ago, the last time the levy was up for renewal, Spergel was fairly new to her executive director position, and had never run a levy campaign before.
“I had no idea if this thing was going to pass or not,” Spergel said.
The levy passed in Licking County last year by 65%, and in Knox by 68%, Spergel said.
Ten years later, Spergel says the need for mental health and recovery resources is still significant. In its 2024 MHR community survey, 52% of respondents reported that the community did not offer enough mental health services. 41% of those respondents also reported struggling to afford mental health services due to lack of insurance.
“We know one in five adults struggle with issues related to mental health, particularly depression and anxiety that’s untreated,” Spergel said. “So we know there are people out there that would potentially benefit from care and support if they have the opportunity to be able to access it.”
And often, as Spergel said, they need to be able to access support immediately.
About a month ago, Dunlap was going through her voicemail, deleting old messages when she found a message from four years ago.
The woman on the other end of the phone was Meeker. She sounded desperate, worlds away from the place she had gotten to now, with the help of Whole Living Recovery.
“That’s why this doesn’t seem like work to us, because we know that we’re helping save people’s lives and bring moms back to their kids and restoring people to sanity,” Meeker said. “To make it to safety and be here somewhere like (Whole Living Recovery,) it’s completely life changing for us.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. To learn how to get support for mental health, drug or alcohol issues, visit FindSupport.gov. If you are ready to locate a treatment facility or provider, you can go directly to FindTreatment.gov or call 800-662-HELP (4357). For more resources, visit mhrlk.org.