UTICA — The Giotto Center Community Health and Behavioral Services building is now open to the community.

The building, located at 1002 Oswego St., and prominently facing the arterial, will now serve as Upstate Caring Partners’ (UCP) primary location for counseling, psychiatric services, group therapy, play therapy, crisis and peer supports, and recovery services. The new building will now replace the three locations — 1427 Genesee St., 1500 Genesee St., and 326 Catherine St. — where services were previously provided, offering a single location for all services that UCP provides.

“As we have seen the need for our services grow, it became apparent that we could deliver care more effectively and efficiently by bringing all of our clinicians and supporting staff under one roof in the form of a system of care,” said Geno DeCondo, executive director of UCP. In addition to the services provided by UCP, the Giotto Center will also have primary care and a pharmacy, supported by care management from Central New York Health Home Network.

Funding for the building was provided by the Giotto Family, who serves as the namesake of the building, as well as the offices of Oneida County and the City of Utica, The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, Mother Cabrini Foundation, and Gilroy, Kernan, and Gilroy.

The highlight of the building, in addition to the convenience of having services in one location, is the first-in-the-nation SMRT1 Technology Public Health Kiosk, which Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. explains “provides free, anonymous 24/7 access to harm reduction resources, including Naloxone, fentanyl test strips and wellness supplies such as COVID-19 test kits to those in need.”

With the Giotto Center now open, officials with UCP say they are better equipped to continue their mission and to continue supporting people who need the services they provide.

“Our mission is to empower people by the ability to serve people from a more whole-person approach,” said Jennifer Barlow-Gagnon, executive vice president of behavioral health services at UCP.

“We have the ability to ensure that we are giving them the tools to feel empowered in our community,” she added.