AKRON, Ohio – Community Support Services (CSS) officially announced the opening of THRIVE House Aug. 13 alongside its community partners: the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, Summit County Executive’s Office, Summit County Land Bank, Summit Psychological Associates and the County of Summit ADM Board.
The 14-bed facility in west Akron provides transitional housing for unhoused individuals newly released from the Summit County Jail who participate in the jail’s THRIVE (Transition. Help. Restore. Independence. Value. Empower.) program. The program pairs caseworkers with those who are struggling with mental health and substance use disorders and aims to aid them in recovery by providing treatment and medication, and connecting them with resources and benefits.
The THRIVE program was developed in 2022 as a collaboration between Summit County Sheriff Kandy Fatheree and Summit Psychological Associates. THRIVE House is a continuation of that program as a means to help stop those with mental health and substance use disorders from falling into the “endless loop of incarceration and release.”
CSS staffs THRIVE House and provides vocational, clinical and housing support for the residents. Clients will continue working with case managers to reach their treatment goals, including finding permanent housing. Residency is voluntary, and participants may live at THRIVE House until they find permanent housing.
Summit County Land Bank renovated the property and leases the facility to CSS. Funding for case management portion is provided by the Summit County Executive’s Office through opiate abatement funds, and funding for the transitional housing and on-site services is provided by the County of Summit Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board.
Keith Stahl, director of residential services and operations for CSS, remarked on the importance of the community effort during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “It really, really is a testament to Summit County that partners come together and work together to come up with solutions,” he said. “(THRIVE House) would not happen and the lives wouldn’t be changed if (there) wasn’t this community effort.”
