This story originally published online at NC Health News .
A new kind of mental health service is available in Wake County, and it offers a voluntary alternative to hospitalization for people experiencing mental distress.
It’s called a peer-run respite house; it’s the first of its kind in the Triangle area and only the third to open in North Carolina. It’s designed to provide a peaceful, home-like setting where people who are experiencing behavioral health issues can stay for up to 10 nights and receive support from trained peer support specialists who are on their own mental health recovery journeys.
Tucked away in a quiet wooded neighborhood off Glenwood Avenue in North Raleigh, the new peer-run facility is a welcoming departure from the clinical atmosphere of a psychiatric hospital or emergency department. The white-painted brick ranch-style home has natural wood shutters, and its interior is bright with accents of teal, light pinks and greens—carefully chosen from colors that have been shown to promote healing and recovery from trauma. The wood and wicker furnishings throughout the four-bedroom home are a marked contrast to the metal and plastic materials in typical psychiatric facilities.