Transitional housing coming

Creation House in Elyria to help women battling addiction

They thought they were building a school, but little did they realize they were actually building a church and a home for the broken.

That is the observation of Senior Pastor Paul Grodell, who along with fellow Senior Pastor Cindy Grodell of Beyond the Walls Church, 101 Woodford Ave. in Elyria, are creating a year-long, faith-based transitional housing facility called Creation House for women suffering from addiction.

“I believe the heroin epidemic is the plague of the 21st century. Creation House will be a home to those in need who want to walk free of their addictions and destructive lifestyles,” Grodell said.

Creation House will operate out of the old Roosevelt Elementary School, 6121 West River Road South.

The church had been leasing a portion of the school for three years from the school district, but in 2014 it purchased the school outright for $50,000 in an auction.

“We originally planned for Creation House to be a facility for men, but after seeing the growing number of women overdosing from heroin, we decided to pursue women facing addiction,” Executive Director Mark Merlihan said.

Merlihan stressed Creation House will operate as a home, not a rehab facility.

“We don’t call Creation House a rehab because we are not licensed professionals,” Merlihan said. “I want these women to feel as if they are home, give them something they aren’t used to.”

The three-story building will accommodate 50 women to start off, but if bunk beds are added it could accommodate over 100. It will consist of seven dormitories, two computer labs, a family room, an exercise room, a cafeteria, a kitchen and a culinary school.

The culinary school was chosen specifically because of the eating habits of addicts, Merlihan said.

“A majority of addicts have fourth-grade-level eating habits, eating tuna fish out of a can, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and macaroni and cheese,” Merlihan said.

“The culinary school will allow them to develop better eating habits as well as give them an option to pursue a career in culinary after the program.”

The year-long program will be broken down into three four-month phases. The first, the introductory phase, will focus on daily mentoring.

Phase two, training and teaching, focuses on restoring the individual and the phase three, new creation, focuses on reintegrating individuals into society.

Upon completion of the program, Creation House will hold a graduation ceremony for each candidate. It will have a continual education program, where candidates who completed the program can become staff.

Merlihan said he can relate to battling addiction because for years he struggled with heroin addiction.

“This is something I hold dear to my heart because I once was an addict myself,” Merlihan said.

“Two-thirds of the staff has faced addiction, so we know what detox feels like.”

A state-licensed counselor has been hired and plans to partner with other organizations for the medical aspect.

Creation House will be accepting donations for solid wood five drawer dressers, night stands, lamps and twin XXL bedsheets.

SUBMITTED Rendering of Creation House