Grand Junction, Colo. – Mesa County Public Health made 2025 a turning point for mental health care in western Colorado. The department launched a dedicated Behavioral Health Division, rolled out a user-friendly online resource platform, and brought community leaders together to map out real solutions. Residents now have clearer paths to care in a county where too many have struggled in silence for too long.
Leaders Face Hard Truths at First-Ever Summit
The year started with a packed room and honest talk.
In February, Mesa County Public Health hosted its first Behavioral Health Summit. Hospital CEOs sat next to street-level crisis workers. Nonprofit directors shared tables with law enforcement and school counselors. Everyone agreed: the old system was breaking.
“We realized we couldn’t keep doing the same things and expect different results,” said Jennifer Daniels, who became the county’s first Behavioral Health Division Director in July.
The summit zeroed in on four urgent needs:
- Better crisis stabilization options (people should not sit in ERs for days)
- More local treatment beds and outpatient programs
- Reliable long-term funding instead of year-to-year grants
- Keeping trained counselors and therapists from leaving the valley
Those four priorities became the roadmap for everything that followed.
New Division Hits the Ground Running
July 1 marked the official launch of the Behavioral Health Division – the first time Mesa County Public Health had a team focused solely on mental health and substance use.
The division wasted no time. Staff worked with local providers to update referral lists weekly, cut paperwork delays, and track where gaps still exist.
Daniels explained the simple goal: “Make it easier for someone having the worst day of their life to find help fast – without feeling judged or getting lost in the system.”
Early numbers show progress. Crisis calls routed to local mobile response teams instead of law enforcement rose 28% in the second half of 2025 compared to the year before, according to preliminary county data.
Find the Right Fit Campaign Breaks Through the Noise
The division’s biggest public move came in August with the “Find the Right Fit” online platform.
Visit findtherightfitmesa.com and answer a few short questions – insurance type, what kind of help you need, Spanish or English – and the site returns a short list of providers who actually have openings and match your needs.
In just five months the campaign reached nearly 100,000 impressions on social media – remarkable reach in a county of roughly 160,000 people.
“People told us they would Google ‘counseling near me’ and get 50 results, then give up when the first three places had full waitlists or didn’t take their insurance,” Daniels said. “We wanted to fix that exact pain point.”
Local therapists report more appropriate referrals and fewer no-shows. One Grand Junction counseling center said new client calls jumped 40% after the platform launched.
Real Help for Rural Communities
Mental health challenges hit harder in rural areas like Mesa County. Limited providers, long drives, and stigma keep many from seeking care.
The new division partnered with the Delta County Health Department and Mind Springs Health to extend telehealth options into Fruita, Collbran, and the North Fork Valley. A new crisis receiving center in Grand Junction is now in the planning stages for 2026 opening.
Substance use treatment saw gains too. The division helped secure state funding to add 12 new recovery beds at The Maverick House, the county’s only residential treatment facility for young adults.
Momentum That Residents Can Feel
Perhaps the biggest win of 2025 is harder to measure but impossible to miss if you live here.
Parents at soccer games talk openly about therapy. More men in their 40s and 50s are calling the crisis line. Teenagers share the “Find the Right Fit” link in group chats.
One local father told KJCT his 19-year-old son finally got help for severe anxiety after months of refusal. “He said the website made it feel normal, not scary,” the dad shared. “That’s all it took.”
Daniels hears stories like that every week now.
“We’re still far from perfect,” she admits. “Wait times are still too long in some cases, and we lose good clinicians to Denver or out of state. But for the first time, we have real coordination, real data, and real hope.”
As 2026 approaches, the division is already scheduling the next summit and applying for federal grants to keep the momentum going.
Mesa County residents have made it clear: mental health matters here. And in 2025, the community finally started acting like it.
What do you think about these changes? Have you or someone you know used the “Find the Right Fit” platform? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
