State, local, and NAMI Ohio officials helped break ground on Oct. 3 for the Fred Frese Residential Step-Down Center in Northfield, Ohio. When it opens in the fall of 2025, the Frese Center will be the third residential facility in the state for people leaving state psychiatric hospitals, supported by the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio. It will join the Adam-Amanda Center in Athens and Dani’s Place, which is currently under construction in Toledo.
The $9.9 million, 17,000-square-foot Frese Center will be located adjacent to Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare in Northfield. It will transitional house patients leaving the hospital for 60 to 90 days to allow them time to adjust to treatment and medications.
The center is named for the late Dr. Fred Frese, a psychologist, clinical professor, mental health advocate, and consumer. Dr. Frese, who died in 2018 at 77, was nationally known as both a professional and a consumer of mental health services, having been diagnosed with schizophrenia as a young man while in the military. He made more than 2,000 presentations locally, nationally, and internationally during his 40-year career. Dr. Frese taught at Northeast Ohio Medical University and was Director of Psychology at Western Reserve Psychiatric Hospital.
Several members of Dr. Frese’s family, including his son, Frederick Joseph Frese IV, attended the groundbreaking. Also participating were LeeAnne Cornyn, Director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services; NAMI Ohio Executive Director Luke Russell; Keith Stahl, Director of Community Support Services; and Leslie Stoyer, Executive Director of Summit County NAMI.
Russell said the Frese Center will be part of a “continuum of care—some folks need a step down from inpatient.” He noted that in 2016, the NAMI Board of Directors set a goal to establish a mental health rehabilitation center in each of the six state hospital catchment areas.
“Dr. Frese and his wife, Penny, are legends for being known as public voices for people with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses,” he said. “Fred’s impact, leadership, and legacy within NAMI are enormous. He served two separate six-year terms on the NAMI National Board of Directors starting in 1995 and was a major force in bringing the voice of lived experience into NAMI’s leadership. He later served on the NAMI Ohio Board from 2009 to 2017.”
With the support of the state of Ohio, which contributed $2 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, The Fred Frese Center is being spearheaded by Summit County ADAMHS Board with their director Aimee Wade and their staff.