Fallsnewspress.com - New community center provides help for people with disabilities

RPC Photo / Lisa Scalfaro The County of Summit Developmental Disabilities Board has opened its new community service center at the corner of Second Street and Oakwood Drive. Above, Stephen Meyer, center, finishes a transaction with Sean Kiniklis inside the Gift Gallery and Bistro as Sue Wall, with the Board’s Job Exploration Training program, praises Stephen’s work.

RPC Photo / Lisa Scalfaro Jeff Phillips packages a Kong-brand canine chew toy in the production area of the county’s new community service center.

RPC Photo / Lisa Scalfaro Cynthia Zalen, right, finishes up packaging a Kong pet toy as Karen Peiser, left, waits to work on her next project at Summit DD Board’s Falls Center.

RPC Photo / Lisa Scalfaro Kathleen Moriarty (pink) and Dawn Greny (print) work on projects in the habilitation classroom at Summit DD Board’s Falls Center as does Anthony King, who has a seat by the windows that offer a view of the businesses on Oakwood Drive and Second Street.

by Steve Wiandt

Reporter

Cuyahoga Falls -- Locating its new community service center downtown was important to the County of Summit Developmental Disabilities Board.

The DD Board's new Cuyahoga Falls Center was built at the corner of Second Street and Oakwood Drive because board officials wanted to be close to the city's various points of interest. The new location, the board's first in Cuyahoga Falls, opened March 1.

The 15,800-square-foot building is the result of a $2.4 million construction project funded through a tax levy approved by voters in 2006, said DD Board spokesman Kevin McGee, director of public and community relations. The Falls center and a new center in Barberton are "an important part of fulfilling a promise to offer day programs," McGee said. "Before, there was a waiting list. Now we are operating with no waiting list."

The levy, the DD Board's only source of public funding, started in 2007 and runs through 2012, McGee noted.

"We picked this location because we wanted to be integrated right into the downtown," said Kevin McGee, public relations director for the DD Board. "This is one of the busiest corners of Cuyahoga Falls." McGee said the board's Gift Gallery and Bistro is purposely situated in the front corner of the building facing Second Street.

The Gift Gallery and Bistro is a "forward-facing program," McGee said, and there is direct interaction between its employees and the public. Most of the people who work in the Center's coffee and gift shop are participants in DD Board training or employment programs which are open to qualifying persons with disabilities.

The Gift Gallery and Bistro is now serving the public sandwiches, salads, Coke products, coffee, tea and desserts. Complete lines of ceramic and sewn gifts for any occasion are available during store hours which are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday (closed on Sunday).

McGee noted that he would like to see people use the Bistro as a place to meet, adding that the coffee shop will offer free Wi-Fi to customers who want to access the Internet.

Doors will open out as well as in to community

Darann Warner, manager of the Falls Center, said the Center will host group outings where people being served by the Center can walk or ride Metro Regional Transit Authority or DD Board transportation to destinations such as the YMCA, library and Natatorium. Downtown shops and festivals will also see support by Center individuals and groups, she said.

In addition to outings, Warner said, people from the community will be invited in to speak on a variety of topics. For example, members of the police and fire departments will be asked to come and talk about safety, she said. A nutritionist and a yoga instructor will also give seminars at the Center.

Another important reason for locating in Cuyahoga Falls, Warner said, is now the DD Board can better serve individuals with disabilities and their families who live in the city and its surrounding area. Before now, program members had to travel to centers in Akron, Bath, Tallmadge or Twinsburg, some sitting on a bus for as long as 90 minutes one way, she said.

"Now they can get their services where they live," she said. Most, but not all, of the people who use this facility live in Cuyahoga Falls. There are 10 DD Board centers in the county.

Activities include work, life skill training

Individuals begin to arrive at the Falls Center around 10 a.m. Programs begin at 10:15 a.m. and run throughout the day until 4:15 p.m. when transportation arrives to take everyone home. During a typical day, participants take part in a number of programs tailored to their individual needs and abilities.

Those who work and draw a paycheck at the Center are employees of Weaver Industries, McGee noted. Weaver works with Summit DD Board, he said, but is a separate entity handling payroll. Staff members who assist Weaver employees are employed by the county, McGee added.

Those taking part in the production or vocational training program manually package products delivered to the center. Products such as golf tees, auto parts or chew toys for dogs are boxed for shipment back to the respective companies for distribution. Trainees are paid based on their production.

The center also offers habilitation programs that teach individuals functional life skills. Some are taught and tested in motor skills for possible entrance into the vocational program, Warner said. Some individuals are in a blended program where they spend part of the day in habilitation and part in production.

Next to the production area is a room with tables and vending machines where trainees and staff can take a break or eat lunch. There are several clubs offered to those in DD Board programs including the Coffee Club. The center also has an employees council made up of people in DD Board programs representing their peers.

Building designed with integration in mind

"Community integration was carefully considered in every element of [the building's] design," said McGee. In addition to locating the coffee shop in front, an outdoor patio was built to accommodate customers in warm weather.

To the rear of the building, facing Front Street, is a larger patio that will be used in conjunction with an ice cream and coffee shop that will be open while festivals and concerts are in progress.

Inside, it's hard for workers and visitors to lose sight of where they are. The building has many windows that look out onto Second Street, Oakwood Drive and Front Street and neighboring buildings. "Visually, you're right there in the community," said McGee.

A grand opening celebration at the site will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony and public tours April 28.

E-mail: swiandt@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3141