WOOSTER — What started as a reactionary comment in a meeting has become a reality as dozens of people celebrated the opening of a new facility housing NAMI/MOCA House on one side and Anazao Community Partners on the other.
State and local officials, joined by community partners and supporters, toured the former LifeCare Hospice headquarters on Back Orrville Road to see what has become of the place.
Doug Bailey, community capital project manager for the Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services, said he appreciated the collaborative nature of the endeavor, saying something like this might not work in every part of the state.
Ken Ward, executive director of Anazao (formerly Your Human Resource Center), recalled how he would see the …show more content…
That’s when Ward blurted out he and Walkerly would work on project and use the money.
And they did.
“This is a blessing,” Green said. “This place is changing people’s lives,” like his own. Since moving from the manse on College Avenue (from where the name MOCA is derived) next to First Presbyterian Church, there have been about 35 new people who have come to explore the peer services offered by the organization.
“I love it here,” said Debbie Beck, a volunteer at MOCA House. “I feel safe here. It is so much better. One consumer said it was like caviar here.”
MOCA House’s model of peer recovery programs is helping people, said Thom Craig, director of the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation’s mental health program. He doesn’t know of other programs quite like it.
“It’s people with lived experiences helping others,” Craig said. “This place keeps people from feeling isolated.”
“The state is pleased to invest in projects like this,” Bailey said. “We have to make tough decisions, and there is never enough money to go
State and local officials, joined by community partners and supporters, toured the former LifeCare Hospice headquarters on Back Orrville Road to see what has become of the place.
Doug Bailey, community capital project manager for the Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services, said he appreciated the collaborative nature of the endeavor, saying something like this might not work in every part of the state.
Ken Ward, executive director of Anazao (formerly Your Human Resource Center), recalled how he would see the …show more content…
That’s when Ward blurted out he and Walkerly would work on project and use the money.
And they did.
“This is a blessing,” Green said. “This place is changing people’s lives,” like his own. Since moving from the manse on College Avenue (from where the name MOCA is derived) next to First Presbyterian Church, there have been about 35 new people who have come to explore the peer services offered by the organization.
“I love it here,” said Debbie Beck, a volunteer at MOCA House. “I feel safe here. It is so much better. One consumer said it was like caviar here.”
MOCA House’s model of peer recovery programs is helping people, said Thom Craig, director of the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation’s mental health program. He doesn’t know of other programs quite like it.
“It’s people with lived experiences helping others,” Craig said. “This place keeps people from feeling isolated.”
“The state is pleased to invest in projects like this,” Bailey said. “We have to make tough decisions, and there is never enough money to go