River Edge to open new center providing training and recovery support

River Edge Behavioral Health Center cleared land for a new peer support and community integration center, which will provide a safe space for people with behavioral health concerns as well as individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities. 

Macon-Bibb County cleared out the site on July 17, knocking down the second of two hotel buildings on Riverside and Ingleside Drive.

“We are excited to be able to play a role in the revitalization of an area that was no longer serving the community a purpose,” said Mayor Lester Miller. “We’re grateful for the important work River Edge does in our community, and we look forward to seeing this new center being built.”

Construction is set to begin in October, and the 35,000 square foot center is set to open in December 2025. Building plans include a common room, teaching kitchen and gymnasium.

The center is designed to help adults with mental health concerns or behavioral health disorders, adults recovering from addiction and individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities, said River Edge CEO Cass Hatcher.

“We are considered the safety net for the state, anyone in crisis or has a disability, that’s what we’re here for, to provide those services,” he said.

The center will create a “welcoming environment” where people can not only access recovery services but also training for life skills, coping skills and activities like arts and crafts, music and cooking.

April Edwards, a regional behavioral health services administrator for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and works to facilitate services in Region 2, which encompasses Bibb County and other counties stretching into east Georgia.

The peer support component of the center will be staffed by specialists who share their lived experiences recovering from trauma or addiction and guide people through that process, Edwards said.

“Because there’s so much stigma regarding mental health, having that support and those types of centers available gives individuals the opportunity to be able to relax and be themselves and be able to understand that, ‘Okay I’m not in this alone.’”

Hatcher said their current space is not very conducive to recovery and treatment, since it’s an old shopping center with no windows and natural light.

River Edge Behavioral Health is currently located off Emery Highway in east Macon. The new space will allow them to offer more wraparound services like educational classes or amenities like the gymnasium.

Camille Taylor, a DBHDD spokesperson, said community integration means individuals can receive “tailored services” with a wider variety of experiences made available.

“They feel like ‘I have a voice, I am a part of this community that I reside in and I am able to express my desires and wishes as everybody else in this community,’” Edwards said.

Hatcher said this project is just part of the first phase of a plan to relocate from their current headquarters to a new location behind the QuikTrip on Riverside Drive. The new headquarters will have an outpatient clinic that provides services for mental health concerns and disorders, along with adolescent telehealth.

Right now, along with the peer support and community integration center, River Edge plans on opening up a crisis stabilization center for individuals with IDD. River Edge also has a permanent supportive housing program with over 398 families and individuals, Hatcher said, both single and multi-family units.

DBHDD emphasizes “meeting people where they are at,” Taylor said, whether they are in crisis or spiraling toward a crisis they want to be able to get people on the path to recovery.

“We want whatever prevention or wraparound services that we can put in place, to help educate and catch on the front end versus it being a crisis that is happening in the community,” Edwards said.