RiseWell to Break Ground on New Wyandanch Behavioral Health Facility

More than 1,000 residents of Wyandanch and surrounding neighborhoods in the Town of Babylon will gain access to consolidated behavioral health, substance-use, and primary-care services once RiseWell Community Services breaks ground on its new two-story clinic this April.

RiseWell, formerly known as the Federation of Organizations, announced the project last week. The two-story building, sited within the Wyandanch Village area, will roughly double the organization's current physical footprint and bring mental-health counseling, substance-use treatment including medication-assisted therapy, primary-care screening, and comprehensive case management under a single roof. The existing clinic on Long Island Avenue serves adults, children, and veterans.

The expansion carries particular weight in a hamlet that a 2000 Suffolk County Planning Report identified as the most economically distressed community on Long Island. Access to behavioral health services has remained persistently limited relative to need, with gaps that have historically pushed residents toward emergency rooms and, in some cases, the justice system. RiseWell's Wyandanch operation holds a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic designation, known as a CCBHC, a federally recognized model built specifically to deliver comprehensive, no-wrong-door behavioral health care in underserved areas. Governor Kathy Hochul announced RiseWell's CCBHC certification as part of a statewide expansion of the model on Long Island.

The new facility fits squarely into the Wyandanch Rising revitalization framework that the Town of Babylon has pursued for more than a decade, a transit-oriented redevelopment effort backed by more than $500 million in planned public and private investment aimed at transforming the hamlet's downtown into a sustainable commercial and residential hub. RiseWell's two-story clinic adds a public-health anchor to that footprint, giving the community infrastructure that addresses chronic disease burden alongside economic development.

On the funding side, RiseWell has previously leveraged federal grants to sustain its CCBHC model; expansions of this scale typically draw from a combination of state capital funds, federal behavioral health grants, and philanthropic support. The new building is also expected to generate new jobs for clinicians, case managers, and support staff within the hamlet.

Detailed construction timelines are expected to be released as the project advances toward an April groundbreaking. Local elected officials and health advocates in the Town of Babylon have backed the project, citing its potential to shorten appointment wait times, improve care coordination for clients with complex needs, and strengthen referral pipelines from Wyandanch schools and community organizations into evidence-based treatment.