WARREN, Ohio – A new center that combines behavioral health crisis services and supportive housing for homeless women and children stands to serve more than 3,000 clients annually when fully operational.
That’s the assessment of the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board, whose representatives joined other stakeholders to celebrate the Behavioral Health Crisis Center and Sister Jean’s Lighthouse at 820 Pine Ave. at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday morning.
“The goal of this project is to help people in a behavioral health crisis have somewhere to go besides the emergency room,” said April Caraway, the mental health board’s executive director.
A second component is to provide transitional housing for homeless women and children, Caraway said. The facility will house six, two-bedroom apartments for female head-of-household families and two one-bedroom units for single women. All of the apartments are fully equipped.
“Our partners in the [Greater Warren-Youngstown] Urban League will be in charge of the supportive housing side,” she said. “It was a dream of Sister Jean Orsudo, who ran the Emmanuel Community Care Center in Girard. She worked so hard to help any family who was experiencing homelessness.”
Orsudo died in April of last year. “We wanted to honor her memory,” Caraway said.
The Urban League also runs the Christy House emergency shelter in Warren, added Caraway, emphasizing the facility is always full. “There are only 28 beds. They are always full, and there’s always a waiting list.” Thus, this new center would help house those who are among the most vulnerable in the community.
Renovations are finished for the center’s housing area and a 24/7 crisis services center, while work continues on an outpatient component to the facility. The housing section will be open in October.
The Crisis Access Center will be operated by Coleman Health Services and will include outpatient services such as private intake rooms, pre-screening offices, mobile response and stabilization services offices, counseling, case management, pharmaceutical services and a reception and waiting area, said Hattie Tracy, president and CEO of Coleman Services.
“The 24/7 crisis services are extremely important for us to be able to meet individuals when they are in crisis and to make sure their needs are met when they are struggling,” she said.
Tracy said 7,670 square feet of the approximately 17,000-square-foot building is currently under renovation to accommodate Coleman’s outpatient operation. “It should be ready to go by the end of November,” she said.
Work toward opening a new facility began in 2019, and the need for housing was exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. In 2023, the Mental Health and Recovery Board began searching for grant monies to secure a more permanent solution for families. The organization provided $2.5 million to meet match requirements to secure additional funding for the project, Caraway said.
The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services provided an additional $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan funding and another $1.26 million in capital grant funding toward the project, she said.
LeeAnne Cornyn, director of the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health, praised the efforts of the various partnerships that made the project happen.
“What’s so unique about this facility here is the addition of a supportive housing component,” she said. “I haven’t seen that anywhere else.”
Mayor Doug Franklin added that the name Sister Jean’s Lighthouse is appropriate, since these beacons are used to guide ships from troubled waters and into safe harbors – a metaphor that applies to those who may be struggling.
“This facility provides a foundation to rebuild their lives,” he said.
Pictured at top: From left are Hattie Tracy, president and CEO of Coleman Health Services; LeeAnne Cornyn, director of the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health; and April Caraway, executive director of the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board.