Chris West, North Coast Community Homes CEO & President, espouses that the residents must be at the center of the NCCH mission to provide a stable, safe, and supportive living environment for individuals living with developmental disabilities and mental health challenges.
When a ruptured water main near Akron Children’s Hospital occurred on Saturday, January 22, it also caused a subsequent loss of natural gas service to Dominion Energy Ohio customers in the area.
This disrupted service to NCCH residents living in the Cedar Road apartment complex. With temperatures barely getting out of the mid-twenties, NCCH leadership decided to move over twenty residents into a local hotel.
“Not knowing how long repairs would take to restore heat, it was not safe for our residents” West stated. West continued, “We worked with our partner organization, Community Support Services, who arranged transportation for the residents to the hotel. Plus, we made sure they were provided food service during their stay.”
The team dedicated to serving Summit County is headed by NCCH Housing Services Manager, Janice Stahl. In Summit County, NCCH provides and maintains homes for those with severe and persistent mental health challenges. Mindful of being resident-focused, Stahl coordinated the efforts to inform residents of the loss of service and to get them comfortably placed in the hotel. Stahl offered, “Many of our Summit County residents have been homeless at some point in their lives. Helping them to feel secure and comfortable was so important during this temporary change to their environment.”
The Cedar Road complex did not suffer any damage nor were any individual resident units damaged. Dominion Energy Ohio had service restored by Monday, and residents could return to their apartments.
To learn more about North Coast Community Homes visit NCCH.ORG.
Photo originally appeared in Akron Beacon Journal, January 22, 2022 in a story by Alan Ashworth.