Our History

In 2005, Mecklenburg County Area Mental Health Authority (AMHA) embarked on an initiative to transform the local mental health service delivery system. A system that had been based on a Traditional, Medical Model, was being challenged to transform its philosophical beliefs, structure, and operations to incorporate best practices in the field of mental health. To do so, the Area Mental Health Authority recognized that a collaborative effort of stakeholders, service recipients, family and community members was needed to identify the barriers to this transformation and to make recommendations to implement changes. As a result, the Adult Mental Health Best Practices Committee was established and for the first year, identified gaps in services along the best practices continuum.

Ultimately, this committee recommended that the County invest in establishing a local resource, training and coordinating entity with expertise in recovery and best practices. The AMHA put out a call for proposals and Ed Payton, Executive Director of Mecklenburg Open Door, an agency that had a long history of providing residential services to individuals with mental health diagnoses, enlisted the assistance of Cherene Allen-Caraco, a service provider and individual with personal and professional experience in mental health recovery, and Dr. Suzanne Boyd, a researcher and professor from UNCC. Together they designed Mecklenburg’s PROMISE and shortly after, the AMHA agreed to fund the program. With this, Mecklenburg’s PROMISE was born! Since that time, the program has expanded its reach and is now operating five programs. In 2007, Mecklenburg's PROMISE was named the North Carolina Program of Excellence for Consumer-Directed Support.