Men’s residential treatment center to open in Dennison
Natalie Bollon, left, of the ADAMHS board and Pam Trimmer of OhioGuidestone cut the ribbon at a ceremony for the new facility.
A milestone was reached Aug. 22 when the ADAMHS Board of Tuscarawas and Carroll Counties and OhioGuidestone held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new 7,900-square-foot men’s residential treatment center in Dennison. The total cost of the facility was $2.7 million.
Stillwater Crossing is the first of its kind in the area for men and has space for 16 residents. It’s estimated 120 men will receive treatment annually.
The services offered will include individual counseling, group counseling, case management, medication management and peer support.
“This is a celebration,” said Mark Murphy, current chair of the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Tuscarawas and Carroll Counties. “This has been a labor of love. This is not just a facility. This is a home, perhaps temporary, but it’s a home for men of all ages that are doing all that they possibly can to overcome, and to bring restoration, and to seek restoration, and support and treatment.”
The new Stillwater Crossing center, operated by OhioGuidestone, will provide substance-use treatment in a residential atmosphere. The services will provide for basic living needs, counseling, crisis intervention and resource development. An individual’s stay is determined by patient need, and aftercare planning services are available.
It is the first residential treatment center for men in Tuscarawas and Carroll counties.
Natalie Bollon, executive director of the ADAMHS board, expects the facility to open in roughly six weeks once it is fully staffed and certified.
There are two ways for individuals to make use of the facility: by suggestion or order of the court.
“Ideally, individuals will make that decision before they would get court involved. If there’s a male in the community who feels like this is a level of care or treatment that they need, they’re going to call Guidestone, which is 330-343-8171, and ask about that process to get into Stillwater Crossing,” Bollon said.
There are different steps and levels for individuals at Stillwater Crossing.
“It’s very important to change people, places and things, and if they leave the facility and use within the first 24 hours, it’s not going to be a successful treatment for them,” Bollon said. “They do need to step back from some of those activities that they typically would have until they get healthy, until they build up some coping skills and until they can identify what their triggers are.”
The individuals learn skills to help them cope when they get back to work and daily life.
“I have seen this tremendous shift in how the county views individuals who are struggling with an addiction. It is a disease. It is something that you need treatment to recover from,” Bollon said.
Bollon feels outpatient counseling is not effective for individuals with serious addiction issues.
“For me, that’s like fixing a fracture with a Band-Aid. You need to have the right care for that level of injury or illness,” Bollon said. “When your addiction is to the point where your family is struggling — maybe you’ve lost a job, maybe you’ve gotten involved with the law — that is a point where once-a-week counseling is not going to get you what you need to get well.”
Bollon appreciates the community is willing to look at addiction differently and help those who are struggling.
“We have a great community and a great group of service providers who really are going to stand behind individuals who want to get well,” Bollon said. “There is no one that’s going to come into this facility who is not going to feel the backing of the team behind them to get well. It’s ultimately their decision or their choice what they do, but it will not be for lack of commitment and passion of the employees working here, supporting them.”
Funding to keep the program functioning will come from Medicaid, grants and other sources.
“That was one of the things we as a board really looked at. We can’t build this facility if we’re not sure that we can sustain it. We made sure that we had a funding plan,” Bollon said.
Men in the area now go to Akron, Cleveland or Columbus to find residential treatment.
“It becomes a game of picking up the phone and asking who has a bed available, and so you don’t know until the end of your phone calls where that person is going,” Bollon said.
There is a Hope Line for Tuscarawas or Carroll counties. Katie Maurer, the Hope Line access navigator who works for OhioGuidestone, will direct those who call her to the best care for their situation. The Hope Line number is 330-663-6812.
“The Hope Line is for anyone, whether it’s a person who’s addicted or a family member who doesn’t know where to go or which way to turn or how to get into services,” Bollon said.
Calls to the Hope Line are increasing, and the number of calls received in August had already reached 50 by Aug. 22.
Partners in the Stillwater Crossing project are Classical Construction, Dewey H. & Irene G. Moomaw Foundation Trust, Haman Family Foundation, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Reeves Foundation, TC Architects, The Blair E. & Anna L. Zimmerman Foundation, the Tuscarawas County commissioners, and the Tuscarawas County Community Foundation.