Breaking Ground at Restore
“My son battled addiction and I didn’t find many places that could truly help him or our family.”
Dan Gregory is a member of Christ Community Chapel – Hudson Campus, an experienced businessman, and a father who wanted to change the future for others who share his struggle. We met up with him to talk about the Restore Addiction Recovery center.
“In 2017, we set out with a blank piece of paper and a mission to create a place where people would feel comfortable dropping off a loved one and know they will experience full recovery – mind, body, and soul – from drug and alcohol addiction,” said Dan. “I am grateful to now be part of the solution as the president of Restore Addiction Recovery.”
You may have heard about Restore Addiction Recovery during All In/All Out, the next chapter of Grace Church’s mission to ignite a gospel-centered movement. In these next three years, Grace is taking on three specific projects that are intentional about reaching our community – building a Grace Church Sports Facility, Leadership
Development, and supporting Restore Addiction Recovery. In February 2019, our church family came together to commit almost $8.5 million to accomplish those projects. $1 million has specifically gone to help Restore Addiction Recovery get started.
Here are the details and an update on what has happened since then:
The Purpose
The vision of Restore Addiction Recovery is to create a campus offering a long- term addiction and recovery program that is Christ-centered, biblically based, and clinically supported, to transform the lives of those struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, their families, and our community. The model is different than anything else in Northeast Ohio because it goes beyond recovering from addiction. They will help people understand their addiction clinically and medically, teach the role of diet and exercise, provide help finding jobs, and lead them to a life truly transformed with Jesus at the center.
The Place
At the same time church leaders were praying about and planning for this project, the former Edwin Shaw Rehabilitation Hospital property in Lakemore, OH was being torn down. In 2017, Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro declared the Restore opioid crisis a state of emergency and was looking for ways to fight it. After learning about the joint efforts of Restore Addiction Recovery and Hope United, Summit County gifted the former Edwin Shaw property as a land grant. The original facility there opened in 1915 as Springfield Lake Sanitarium to take on the epidemic of that era, tuberculosis. Now it is committed to fight against the epidemic of our generation caused by opioid addiction.
The Progress
The project is currently in pre-construction phase. Tree removal, placement of water and gas lines, and a few other obstacles have caused delays, however they still plan to open in summer 2020. As of mid September, there are plans and work is being done on the property to prepare for construction.
You can take a virtual tour of the projected Restore facility on their website restoreaddictionrecovery.com
The Partners
“The coolest thing about this is that it is non-denominational and Christ-centered,” Dan said. “We want it to be the Church’s answer to the question of what is being done for justice and mercy for those struggling with addictive behavior in Akron. It may have been started by Hudson Community Chapel, but it is everyone’s resource.”
The Prayer
As the construction phase of this project begins this fall, please pray for all to go according to the Lord’s plan. Their goal is to open the facility without debt and the team is thankful for all He has provided so far and continue to trust in Him!