Recently, NAC team members were honored to join the Mental Health & Recovery Services Board of Lucas County and NAMI OHIO in celebrating the official groundbreaking for Dani’s Place in Toledo, Ohio. This was such a wonderful day for the Toledo community and the organizations that have been supporting the development of this life changing facility.
The event kicked off with an introduction by Scott A. Sylak, the Executive Director of MHRSB of Lucas County. The current MHRSB Board Chair, Reverend Dr. Otis J. Gordon, Jr. led the Invocation. Speeches then followed from NAC’s own Andrew von Lohr, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, the Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services Chief of Staff John Annarino, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, NAMI Ohio Executive Director, Luke Russell and NAMI Director of Housing, Raven Oglesby.
The event closed with Dani’s parents Jeff and Donna Heck, and their son Joshua Leedy sharing the touching story of Danielle Leedy’s life, 33 Forever, Inc., and their dream for her spirit to live on helping others just like her.
After a five-year effort to get this facility off the ground, it was evident how important this facility is for both future residents and families alike. With the breadth of partners, community leaders, government, and funding partners such as the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, MHRSB of Lucas County, NAMI Ohio, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), City of Toledo, fundraising and generous donations, Dani’s Place is on its way to finally becoming a reality! We are so excited to see this project come to fruition and start changing lives in Toledo, OH and the surrounding 20+ counties it will serve.
This project was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $2 Million with 30 percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.