Heading in the Right Direction
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| Rashaad Woods, Executive Director of Heading in the Right Direction. Photo: Urban News |
By Sarah Williams
Rashaad Woods, Executive Director of Heading in the Right Direction leads an organization whose mission is to offer quality services to people with mental health and/or substance abuse issues. With offices in Asheville and Charlotte, the organization’s highly qualified staff provides services that reflect best practices, dignity, and respect for its clients.
Woods, the son of Melvin and Verita Woods, is a young man with a purpose. Educated in the Asheville City Schools system and a graduate of Asheville High School, he earned a BS in community health from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, and his studies led him inexorably to his current job.
Two dimensions—achieving quality and strength—define the purpose
of this organization and its intended contributions to improving the
lives of children and adults who have emotional and other mental health
problems. Achieving quality means ensuring that individuals with
emotional and other mental health problems are provided with the right
combination of community support, jobs, and learning opportunities to
reach their potential—a goal that will lead them to ongoing stability.
Strength refers to the social and cultural structure that children and
adults with emotional and other mental health problems need; that
structure enables them to actively participate with their family and
friends in creating a life that is joyful and fulfilling.
HIRD’s Case Management approach helps recipients gain access to
needed medical, behavioral, social, and other services appropriate to
the recipients’ needs. The individualized process is designed to be
empowering, comprehensive, and focused on outcomes. All services are
available for adults and children ages three (3) and older who have
mental illness or substance-related disorders.
In-home assessments are initiated within 48 hours of the initial
referral and typically result in three- to five-month treatment plans
focused on increased awareness of diagnosed disorders and in-depth
understandings of related psychiatric illnesses. The outcome is the
development of a strategic management plan to alleviate and/or cope with
symptoms and identify and capitalize on pre-existing family strengths.
These are some of the services provided by Heading in the Right
Direction, Inc. Rashaad and his staff provide professional mental health
services to the consumers they support.
Heading in the Right Direction, Inc.
Asheville – 31 College Place, Building B, Suite 222, Asheville, 28801-2483
Phone (828) 505-8305.
Charlotte – 5501 Executive Center Drive, Suite 238, Charlotte, 28212
Phone (704) 536-1114.
