CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Local and state leaders are breaking ground on a first-of-its-kind facility in Charlotte.
The Katie Blessing Center will be the largest and only pediatric behavioral health care facility in North Carolina.
“We need a place for them to go and start the healing process, and that’s what this facility will be,” said Dr. Michael Estramonte, the founder.
Work is underway, and by this time next year, crews will turn the bare walls and floors into a one-of-a-kind mental health facility designed with children in mind.
“It’s really being called a unicorn, and we didn’t realize we were building a unicorn initially,” he said.
Dr. Estramonte is the brains behind the Katie Blessing Center. Named after his mother, the center’s goal is to offer comprehensive care for kids ages 5 to 17 with behavioral health needs.
“It can range from everything from serious depression disorders, autism, substance abuse disorders, eating disorders,” said the doctor.
Part of this includes creating a behavioral health urgent care. With the help of Novant Health, there will eventually be 72 beds.
“There’s a dedicated and licensed clinician that will see patients within 30 minutes of them arriving,” said Dr. Sidney Fletcher, president of Novant Health Charlotte.
Dr. Fletcher is one of the many people who spoke at Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony. Some of the speakers were youth who shared their personal struggles with behavioral health.
“I ended up with the eventual diagnoses of ADHD, autism and anxiety and I’m sorry to say that even though I do have those diagnoses, I was not offered the help that I needed during that time,” said Evie Thompson, who’s on the center’s student advisory council.
More than 100 people were in that crowd listening, including various North Carolina and Mecklenburg County leaders, who are proud to offer these services in the Queen City.
“I think it says something that it’s going to be here in Charlotte,” said Charlotte City Councilwoman Marjorie Molina. “I think it’s groundbreaking to be able to say that we’ll be able to serve children.”
This will be a two-phase project. Phase I of the Katie Blessing Center is expected to be open in the spring of 2026. The behavioral health urgent care could open as early as the end of this year.
