Optimae LifeServices, which provides emotional, physical and mental health services, originally moved into Marshalltown in 2020 with the opening of a behavioral health services office at 101 E. Southridge Rd.

The company is currently in the process of putting the finishing touches on a new residential care facility — with plans to open by Dec. 1 — and actively interviewing for available positions now.

“We have people that are coming out of the hospital, kind of needing a place to land for fairly intense services that they don’t need to be in the hospital for,” Optimae Lifeservices Central Iowa Regional Director Meghan Foster said.

The facility will service and house those with mental illnesses or disabilities, allowing them to work on adult daily living skills and providing stability with the goal of moving the patients to a more independent setting. The new facility will be able to house up to eight individuals. There are two residential care facilities in Story County, where patients dealing with schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, personality disorders, depression and anxiety stay anywhere from six months to two years.

Foster

“I think what it does for the Marshalltown community is it allows another layer of support and services that weren’t currently being provided. (It’s) now available for those that need it,” Foster said.

She feels that the support Optimae LifeServices provides brings a community closer together.

“I think people should be proud that we’re noticing. We’re taking the blindfold off our eyes. We’re seeing the people that we live next to, that we work with (and) talk to at the store, who actually have some needs that maybe we didn’t know about before, and now, we’re doing something about it,” Foster said.

In 2019, Central Iowa Community Services approached Optimae about the need for additional behavioral health services in Marshall County.

“We said absolutely. We want to come in, and we want to be able to meet the needs of the community. And that’s really what our mission is all about,” Foster said. “But we also would like some support in establishing this whole array of services.”

The goal is to allow those with mental illnesses and disabilities to move freely throughout a system at any given time and without stigma.

“So, it’s a huge group of people rooting for them in their corner. That’s really what our big ambition is there,” Foster said.

She looks forward to learning more about community partners in Marshalltown. Whenever a new facility is opened, Optimae LifeServices must work with other local agencies such as hospitals and pharmacies.

“Now, with the opening of this facility, I am able to either reconnect with those that we haven’t connected with for a while or make new connections and relationships with people in the community,” Foster said. “We’re building this together, really.”

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Contact Trevor Babcock @ 641-753-6611 or tbabcock@timesrepublican.com.