HELP Foundation cuts ribbon on Lakewood facility's $2 million renovation
A ribbon cutting was held March 27th to celebrate the grand opening of HELP Foundation’s newly expanded and renovated facility in Lakewood.
HELP provides residential, day support, vocation and summer education programs to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Tami Honkala, HELP’s president and CEO welcomed an enthusiastic gathering. Thanking ”a lot of amazing community member donors,” the generosity of the Lakewood community and HELP’s hard-working board members, Honkala mentioned this was not only a grand reopening of this facility but the 60th anniversary of the HELP Foundation.
“But this project is so much more than just a building. It’s about creating even greater opportunities for the individuals we are blessed to serve every single day,” she said.
The Lakewood facility, one of several locations that serve communities in northeast Ohio, had its beginning in Lakewood sixty years ago. Founded in 1965 by two Lakewood mothers seeking support for their sons with disabilities, HELP has grown from a single residential home for children with disabilities into a leading organization that serves more than 600 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) across Northeast Ohio. HELP provides residential, adult day support, vocational training, and employment assistance, according to officials.
HELP fulfills its mission by offering the following services within its system for 600 people with disabilities:
Employment services
Residential services
Adult day support services
Vocational training services
Transportation services
HELP also has a Harvest Greenhouse in Euclid, a hydroponic greenhouse and classroom; the Harvest Kitchen training facility in Lakewood, where attendees prepare, package and label produce grown at the greenhouse; and Susanna’s Cafe by HELP Harvest in Cleveland’s Midtown neighborhood, which offers locally sourced meals, job training and employment.
Services provided at HELP’s Lakewood facility serve about 100 people and include:
Vocational programming in its HELP Harvest Kitchen and Lakewood Park concessions.
Adult day support
Help employment services
HELP transportation
On hand to cut the ribbon were Honkalo, Peter J. Henry, Jr., HELP Board president, Lakewood Mayor Meghan F. George, Dale Miller, Cuyahoga County Council president/member District 2, and Tristan Rader, state representative District 13. Funding for the $2 million project came from a variety of sources, including the David & Jackie Clark Family Fund, The Higley Fund, The Samuel H. & Maria Miller Foundation, The Community Fund of Ohio and Key Bank.
Tours of the facility began after the ribbon was cut and guests were welcomed into the bright and modern multi-use space. Common areas, classrooms, meeting rooms, and an expansive kitchen were the highlights of the tour. Transitions between areas have the ease of spaciousness including the modern restrooms.