Black Hawk-Grundy Mental Health Center, Inc.

In 1949, a group of citizens on the Social Services Council in Black Hawk County began discussing the need for a mental health center in our community.

These discussions began as a result of the growing recognition that the mental health needs of this community were not being adequately met. These meetings facilitated by Opal Fore, a visiting social worker from the Iowa Mental Health Authority and Glenda Mabrey, a teacher with the Waterloo Public Schools, and Blair Wood, the Black Hawk County Attorney, resulted in the election of the first Board of Directors in December 1949.

In the following months, a great deal of planning and activity took place to prepare for the opening of the Center. According to Glenda Mabrey, “it was a cross section of the whole community, everybody was interested...we really did this on faith and a prayer.”