The Family Resource Center, located in Findlay, is now able to help families across Hancock County in one location.
The Family Resource Center had a North Campus and South Campus for different resource services but is now located on Carlin Street, where all services will be provided.
Hancock’s Site Director Sue Sorg said the mission of the Family Resource Center is to “provide specialized behavioral health services to children, youth, adults and families in our multicultural communities in order to strengthen family life and promote personal growth.”
The Family Resource Center has services to help with things such as addiction, depression, outpatient counseling, medical services and prevention.
Community Relations Lead Dave Crosser said, “We serve the entire family. It could be somebody who is in the criminal justice system and maybe they’re transitioning back into a sort of regular society. It could be someone who’s family says you need help and here’s a way to do it.”
The Family Resource Center is a Certified Behavioral Health Clinic in Hancock County, meaning they can serve anyone regardless of ability to pay or location in relation to the facility.
The Carlin location originally served youth until the COVID-19 pandemic, when it became the administrative offices. The renovation of the building was funded by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and a community development block grant.
The Family Resource Center has received grants from multiple federal funding organizations such as the System of Care, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic, Community Mental Health Centers, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion – Expanding Our Reach and the Community Foundation of Findlay-Hancock County.
The renovation started in June 2022 and was opened for services on May 25, 2023. While the North and South Campuses were multi-floor, the Carlin location is now one-level, giving it a nicer “flow for our clients and our staff,” Sorg said.
Sorg notes the new building offers a much more comfortable feel than before.
“We have very warm colors, we now have security that we couldn’t offer in our other locations that were very open,” Sorg said. “To access any other area in the building, you have to have a badge to get through so it offers an environment that is safer and secure.”
Since the previous buildings were between 99 to 120 years old, Crosser says he thinks this new facility lends them more credibility with their clients.
Crosser adds the new facility allows the teams to collaborate with one another for both adult and youth services, when they could not before.
“The other great addition is that we have a pharmacy in house now,” Crosser said. “I always think about someone who is being treated for anxiety and maybe a crowd is one of their triggers. The last thing you want is to come in and see your therapist to get a prescription and you have to either drive across town or find transportation to get to a pharmacy or you’re going to stand in line in a grocery store. It might not be the best place for you. But now, at this facility, you can walk out with your meds from the in-house pharmacy.”
The pharmacy at the new facility is its own entity and leases out the space to provide care for the Family Resource Center’s clients.
Sorg and Crosser both became a part of the Family Resource Center in different ways, but with the same care and passion towards its message.
Sorg is on the administrative and operational side of the Family Resource Center and does not provide direct client care on a day to day basis.
However, she says, “I know the job I’m doing is directly reflective of how our customers can experience their time here at FRC. So while I’m not at the forefront of it, I know behind the scenes all that I do is really important to make sure we’re living and breathing our mission statement and our guiding principles, which are really important to us as an organization.”
Sorg says anything she can do to help make somebody’s day better and their experience better coming into their building is what she tries to do every day.
Crosser, who spent most of his career in local radio, had the Family Resource Center on his show and decided to use his platform to amplify the organization’s mission.
Crosser left the radio station after receiving a job description for the Family Resource Center and says he thought, “Gosh, if I can use my name and people who know me as a kind of platform to start talking about this stuff, maybe we’ll get the community to learn a little bit more about what the Family Resource Center does.”
Crosser says, “I think it’s something that people let slip far too often in their lives because they’re afraid to talk about it (mental health) or they’re not comfortable with who they’re talking about it with. So I love being able to tell stories about what we do and hopefully make it a little easier for people to talk about.”
Sorg says she hopes the new building will help the clients feel they are in a safe space.
“We’re really just excited to offer our staff and our clients a place to be proud to walk into and hopefully help our clients in their recovery journey,” Sorg said.
The Family Resource Center is open Monday through Friday from 8 am to 6 pm with walk-in services, as well as telehealth options. It is located at 1941 Carlin St. in Findlay. For more information, visit www.frcohio.com.
