Lorain County addiction recovery groups get $800k in CARES Act funds

ELYRIA — The Lorain County addiction recovery community will benefit from $800,000 in CARES Act funding that was granted to three nonprofit recovery organizations by Lorain County commissioners Wednesday. Commissioners approved $500,000 in CARES Act funding for Road to Hope Inc., a drug and alcohol recovery organization that is building a new facility in Vermilion to provide housing and resources for women in recovery in Lorain and Erie counties who also have children. Another $150,000 was granted to Alpha House in Oberlin while a second grant of $150,000 will help Let's Get Real Inc., a Lorain-based peer support and recovery organization. The Lorain County Port Authority granted a 2.36-acre property along U.S. Route 6 to Road to Hope in March 2019. In July that year, Road to Hope announced it planned a $1.8 million investment in the former motel at 1863 Liberty Ave. The grounds also will house the nonprofit recovery organization's administrative offices, which will move there from Elyria, Executive Director Jeff Kamms told commissioners during their weekly online video conference. Road to Hope has recovery houses in Erie and Lorain and the new project is more centrally located for the organization. It will have eight two-bedroom and six one-bedroom suites for 24 women and up to 30 children. There also will be day care services provided for clients and their children, Kamms said. The need for recovery housing for women with children has grown over time. Kamms said Road to Hope's Women With Children program saw 13 babies born to women in the program just last year. The pandemic also has changed how Road to Hope has had to work. Pandemic precautions have led to lower bed capacities as precautions have changed the space required to work, in coordination with Lorain County Public Health. Kamms said Road to Hope started as sober living housing for six men, staffed entirely by volunteers. That has since changed, and 19 Road to Hope staff members are themselves in recovery but "their career is helping people in recovery," Kamms said. Commissioner Lori Kokoski said she was glad to see Road to Hope's long-term plans made reality. Overdoses are up 30 percent this year, she said, adding that she believed it was because of the loneliness and isolation created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Alpha House in Oberlin also is expanding, co-founder and director the Rev. Brian Wade told the board, which gave the program a $150,000 grant from CARES Act funds. The organization spent $45,000 revamping two houses to make them livable, Wade said. There have been lists of up to 70 and 80 people waiting to get into recovery housing, he said. The group originally didn't have a women's program, but demand and $16,000 in gifts and grants recently changed that, Wade said. Georgia's House, a six-bedroom women's program named after Wade's grandmother on 20 acres a quarter-mile from downtown Oberlin, is in progress and expected to open in the next two months with a brand new roof, flooring, trim, lighting, electrical and a new kitchen, he said. A second men's house also is in progress, Wade said via video from Lake County, where he and his family are living and setting up a 36-bed Christian campground. "You're making the world a better place, you're changing lives," Commissioner Matt Lundy told Wade. Let's Get Real Executive Director Kim Eberle and her staff also were lauded by commissioners for providing peer support counseling to those in recovery, with commissioners noting it was difficult for the nonprofit to raise donations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Let's Get Real's mission "is to provide information, education, and resource assistance to families and loved ones in their journey from addiction to recovery," according to its website. Small-business grant program Commissioners also announced the fifth round of CARES Act-funded small-business grants totaling $62,500 to 13 small businesses. The newest round went to Ellis Family Carpet Cleaning and Duct Cleaning, Jazz on Broadway, the Amherst Downtown and Betterment Association, Barbiers Tavern, Burning River Boutique Inc., Mastertech Service, Midwest Siding Co., Sadie Scissorhands LLC, What the Cupcakes, American Heritage Apparel Inc., Arabica Coffee Bistro, Giovanni's Hair Design and Phantom Ink Tattoo Body Piercing Studio. The $5,000 grants need not be paid back, Community Development Director Don Romancak told commissioners. As of Tuesday, county officials have received 182 applications for up to $5,000 in grant funds, including 24 applications in the last week. Nearly half the applications have come from women-owned businesses and almost 20 percent from minority-owned businesses. Thirty-one applications have come from minority women-owned businesses, Romancak said. Nearly $209,000 remains to be disbursed out of the $750,000 commissioners dedicated to the program. The grants should help small businesses in Lorain County weather the pandemic through the winter until vaccines are widely available, Romancak said. "The better we handle this virus, the better off our small businesses are," he said. "We can't have a strong economy if we're not healthy." To be eligible, businesses must have gross revenue of $1 million or less; must have been in business prior to March 1, 2020; have 15 or fewer full-time employees; and operate at a business or storefront location. The deadline to apply for the grants has been extended, and additional grants will be announced next week. Questions may be directed to Lorain County Community Development Department staff at (440) 328-2322. "We are pleased to know that the grant is becoming more recognized throughout the community and more businesses are taking advantage of the opportunity," Commissioner Sharon Sweda said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him @daveobrienCT on Twitter.