The Westlake Center for Community Services creates an atmosphere that fosters community engagement, regardless of age or physical limitations. Completed in 2021, the project consisted of a new 28,000 SF ground up senior community center with amenities such as a movie theater, aerobics studio, banquet hall, bocce ball courts, and serenity garden. The building has an identity distinct from the other community buildings in the Westlake City Recreational Campus and engages the senior citizen community and promotes values such as friendship, wellness, and relaxation.
The center houses the Community Services Department and Social Services Department. Through the Community Services department, the Center creates an environment that allows the City to offer programs and activities to enrich the lives of the 50+ population. The social service staff of the department serves as a resource for information, emergency food for qualified Westlake residents, discount program applications and offers a daily safety phone check and transportation for older adults. All in all, the Center creates a versatile space to support a variety of social, educational, recreational, and wellness activities for all ages.
Studies have shown that when inmates addicted to opioids are released, their chances of fatal overdoes are significantly higher than the general population. The opioid crisis has plagued communities across the United States, and the Appalachian region has been no exception. As one of the poorest areas of the country, resources to combat addiction aren’t as easy to come by.
After the Hocking County Correctional Facility closed in spring of 2018, a group comprised of local public health officials, university professors, the Hocking County Sheriff's Office, and Judge Frederick T. Moses formed the Appalachian Recovery Project. The coalition’s goal was to connect inmates with recovery services to give them a fighting chance of maintained sobriety after their release.
Just over a year later, the Appalachian Recovery Project is
becoming a reality. The Hocking Correctional Facility will be transformed into
a recovery ecosystem that will connect approximately 300 justice-involved women
in Southeast Ohio struggling with substance abuse disorders to a coordinated
regional network of treatment, recovery, and workforce training programs.
Although the all-female building will house a full-service
jail (FSJ)/minimum security jail (MSJ), the most innovative piece of the
project is the community-based correction facility (CBCF) component – STAR, a
substance abuse treatment and recovery program.
STAR (structure, therapy, advocacy, restoration) provides the tools needed for residents to evaluate and change the unhealthy thinking patterns that continue to cause problems in their lives. In an environment filled with support and opportunity, they will learn communication skills, problem solving strategies, and how to achieve their own vision of success. Participants also have access to support groups, community service opportunities, spiritual services, educational services, and employment services.
Additionally, each STAR resident works with an assigned
reentry specialist and together, they knock down barriers the resident might
face after graduation (access to housing, employment, mental health counseling,
relapse prevention, etc.) Every resident that graduates goes home with a continuing
care plan that will ensure the continued success of the STAR graduate.
The overall design of the renovated building works in conjunction
with STAR to beat the statistic by creating a new rehabilitative process for Hocking
County and the surrounding regions.
DS Architecture had the privilege of conducting the feasibility study during the project’s initial conception as a pro bono contribution and was later awarded the opportunity to design the updated 76,000 square foot structure. DS Architecture is incredibly passionate about creating this innovative, functional design and is honored to collaborate with the community of organizations that are committed to transforming the facility.
