MIAMI TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A partnership between local nonprofit and health center has birthed a first-of-its-kind facility right here in the Tri-State.
What used to be a factory in Miami Township is now a 45,000 square foot facility where individuals and families can go and receive almost any resource they need. All at little to no cost.
"We believe this is the future of how we change lives in the United States," said Ken Tracy, the founder & CEO of Impacting Tomorrow, the nonprofit working with HealthSource Ohio on this new facility.
That because there’s no other place like it, as the facility is the first built in the U.S.
Watch to see a full tour of the new facility and all it has to offer:
The facility, located at 455 Wards Corner Road, provides food, clothes, home supplies, medical care, dental care and more to anyone who needs it.
"They qualify by coming in and saying they need us," said Dr. Jody Prather, president of HealthSource Ohio.
We got a tour of the facility with Tracy and Prather, where they showed me all it has to offer and told me why it’s important to the local community.
First was the warehouse, which can store 350 pallets worth of food and necessities. Everything stored in the warehouse is then distributed at over 15 food pantries across the area, including their own.
Tracy said that the entire facility is programmed so that each department can communicate with the others. He said this was an intentional move.
"If in the medical or dental facility, they identify someone with a nutritional issue, they can automatically contact our warehouse, put in an order, and we will bring the food up directly to them," said Tracy.
Next, they showed us the market.
"The market … is the largest market in the state of Ohio," said Tracy. "We serve on a weekly basis, 2,000 guests."
The market always has eggs, milk, bread, meat and fresh produce, as a top value of theirs is providing nutritional food to the community.
We then made our way through the boutique, which has clothes, household items, diapers and feminine hygiene products. Again, free to anyone in need.
People can go to the boutique and the market once a week.
Next was the occupational therapy room, which serves 250 children a week.
"This is about treatment, this is about providing services, but it’s also about education, you know," said Prather. "It’s also about empowering these folks."
Every department educates people on what they’re receiving, whether it be how to better take care of themselves or how to make nutritional meals with the groceries they got.
The last stop on the tour was the medical center, which isn’t complete just yet.
"We’re gonna have 5 exam rooms, so we’re gonna start with one nurse practitioner, we think that’ll grow to 2," said Prather. "We’re gonna have six dental operatories, which is gonna be able to support dentists, nurse practitioners."
The medical care center will also have behavioral health and OBGYN services; they expect to open in mid to late October.
HealthSource of Ohio accepts most insurances including Medicaid, offers a sliding fee scale, and can assist families that qualify with getting enrolled into Medicaid.
