MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Few noticed the middle-aged woman wrapped in a sheet on Tuesday, May 12, as a who’s who of Memphis as mental health care leaders gathered to celebrate the completion of what Alliance Healthcare Services calls a 24/7 “mental health emergency room for kids.”
The lady in the sheet found a spot to sit down on Memphis’ new state-of-the-art mental health campus and, for a few minutes, soaked in the ribbon-cutting celebration for the new children’s facility in Memphis’ Binghampton neighborhood.
In short order, an observant Alliance Healthcare team member welcomed the lady in the sheet, who was determined to be an adult mental health consumer, and escorted her inside the adult crisis center that opened just last year across the street.
“You know we’re in a mental health crisis in Shelby County, all across our country,” Alliance CEO Laurie Powell told Action News 5’s Joe Birch after the ribbon cutting. “And this is the answer: a wellness campus.”
Laurie Powell, CEO of Alliance Healthcare Services(Action News 5)
Powell says she’s dreamed of a “Children’s Wellness Center” since she became the nonprofit leader in 2018.
“It’s about addressing mental health needs at an early age. If we can talk to kids right when they’re experiencing some of the trauma, we can help them become successful adults, and I always say, stop the school-to-prison-pipeline by helping them with their wellness at an early age,” Powell said.
The new Children’s Wellness Center sits directly across Malcomb Street from Alliance’s Adult 24/7 Crisis Wellness Center at 3200 Broad Avenue.
Marie Williams, Tennessee’s Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, helped convince Governor Bill Lee and the General Assembly to make major investments in Memphis mental health care with Alliance.
Marie Williams, Tennessee’s Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, touring Alliance Healthcare Services’ Children’s Wellness Center in Memphis(Action News 5)
“This center represents hope; it represents compassion,” Commissioner Williams told a crowd of 200 local mental health professionals and elected officials who attended the ribbon-cutting. “It represents the belief that when a child is hurting, struggling, overwhelmed and in crisis, they deserve immediate care, dignity, safety and support, not in another state or another county but close to home.”
The state-of-the-art Children and Youth Wellness Center will serve youngsters ages four to 17.
It opens June 1 and will remain open 24/7/365, helping families with children who may be experiencing suicidal thoughts, severe anxiety, aggression, trauma symptoms, panic attacks or other psychiatric emergencies.
Alliance says parents had two options in mental health emergencies until now: an emergency room or admission to a hospital.
“So many of our young people are in crisis,” said Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis after the ribbon-cutting. “A lot of it is underlying issues that facilities like this will address and keep our young people out of the criminal justice system.”
Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Alliance Healthcare Services’ Children’s Wellness Center on Wednesday, May 13, 2026(Action News 5)
Alliance says it expects the youth and adult mental health crisis facilities to reduce traffic in jails as well as emergency rooms, where people in a mental health crisis often end up.
Mark Billingsley, the Alliance Foundation’s fundraising executive, guided the nonprofit on a three-year campaign that netted $45 million for both the adult and children’s wellness centers.
The State of Tennessee invested in Alliance to the tune of $7 million for the adult center and $5 million more to build the children’s facility.
Billingsley says the state and philanthropists responded so generously because so many families are experiencing mental health challenges with someone they love.
“They can get counseling, appropriate care, and therapeutic care in an incredibly warm and inviting environment,” said Billingsley, who was unopposed in his return bid to serve on the Shelby County Board of Commissioners starting September 1.
Alliance Healthcare Services says its Children’s Wellness Center will serve as a mental health emergency room for kids.(Action News 5)
“We hope people will utilize our services, and no one will ever be turned away for inability to pay,” Billingsley said.
Alliance is the largest comprehensive behavioral health provider in Shelby County.
“At a time when so many young people are facing anxiety, depression, trauma, loneliness, substance use challenges and emotional struggles, this center sends a powerful message. You are seen. You are valued and are never alone,” said Commissioner Williams in her ribbon-cutting speech.
Just like the lady wrapped in a sheet who showed up unannounced on Alliance’s doorstep on May 13, parents with children experiencing mental health challenges can go see a licensed clinician without an appointment, any time of day, at 602 Malcolm Street starting June 1.
Click here to sign up for our newsletter!
Click here to report a spelling or grammar error. Please include the headline.
Copyright 2026 WMC. All rights reserved.