Drug use is up, and that means a crucial treatment program needs a bigger home.

Business is too good for nonprofit Valley Health Associates. One of only two narcotic treatment programs in Monterey County, VHA has seen a marked increase in the need for its services after more teens and adults turned to drugs during the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 7,500 people ages 12 and up have been diagnosed with opioid use disorder but nearly 5,500 are going without treatment and counseling, according to the organization.

VHA is cramped in its 4,500-square-foot rented space on Pajaro Street in Salinas. They have the funds to hire another counselor but no place to put them, says Executive Director La Tonya Glover. Each counselor needs an office for confidential conversations.

She’s now on a quest to raise $400,000 by mid-June to qualify VHA for a $7 million infrastructure grant from the California Department of Healthcare Services. If chosen, they will need a 10-percent match immediately; they have $300,000 toward that goal.

Glover and her staff knew last year they needed to find a larger space to purchase and renovate so they initiated a search in August that led them to an 11,000-square-foot building at 910 S. Main St., inside the Valley Center Shopping Center. They are under contract to purchase the building for approximately $1.7 million, pending the state grant award. In order to be what the state considers “launch ready,” VHA already has architectural drawings prepared.

If successful, VHA will construct the Valley Health and Wellness Center with room for counseling, treatment and programs for youth, adults and families. Glover sees an acute need to expand the organization’s youth programs, especially in the light of recent fentanyl overdoses among teens. Most recently, an 18-year-old Soledad high school senior who was about to graduate died from an overdose on May 21, the Soledad Police Department announced.

“The pandemic forced you to realize this is a huge issue to deal with,” Glover says.