Ritter Center opens its new Health & Wellness Center at 800 A Street in downtown San Rafael with a free public celebration on Thursday, Oct. 15.

The event runs from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the new building, two blocks from Ritter Center's former home at 16 Ritter Street. Admission is free, and the celebration is listed on the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce events calendar.

Staff are already seeing patients at the new site. At a Sept. 17 Homelessness Subcommittee meeting, Ritter Center staff said the larger space has improved client flow and brought all employees under one roof for the first time, according to city meeting records.

The project, branded "Ritter Builds Hope," drew a $10.4 million grant from California's Bond Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, announced in May 2025. The facility serves people experiencing homelessness, mental illness and substance use disorders in Marin County.

CEO Mark Shotwell said in that May 2025 announcement that the new building would address a critical gap in mental health counseling, substance use treatment and crisis response in the county. Ritter Center is the only Federally Qualified Health Center in Marin with a Healthcare for the Homeless designation.

Community fundraising has fueled the effort alongside state dollars. By March 2026, Ritter Center reported raising more than $20 million toward a $22.5 million capital campaign goal, according to an organizational post on Instagram.

San Rafael's Planning Commission considered use and design review permits for the 800 A Street medical facility in August 2022. The application also called for demolition of an adjacent building at 804 A Street to expand parking.

Marin County had contracts with Ritter Center totaling more than $825,000 in fiscal year 2025-26, covering healthcare, homelessness prevention, rapid rehousing, medical respite, Housing First and reentry programs, according to county budget records.

Nick Rhodes, a former Ritter Center client who is now a special education teacher, reflected on the organization's role in a May 2026 donor story on Ritter Center's website. Rhodes experienced homelessness as a child in Marin County. "During the times when it was streets, there was Ritter Center—or there was nobody," he said.

The Oct. 15 grand opening at 800 A Street is free and open to the public. Doors open at 4:30 p.m.