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Providence House details East Campus, ARPA-funded community hub to county committee
Summary
Providence House told Cuyahoga County’s Healthy Human Services & Aging Committee it has invested more than $13 million in an East Campus crisis nursery and a connected ARPA-funded community hub, expects to open a 25-bed residential nursery in February and plans continued fundraising to complete a $5.5 million build.
Natalie Leakes, president and CEO of Providence House, told the Cuyahoga County Healthy Human Services & Aging Committee on Jan. 22 that the nonprofit has invested more than $13 million to develop an East Campus on Buckeye Road and expects to open the residential crisis nursery "by Valentine's Day." The project includes a 25-bed facility and an adjacent three‑story community hub that received county ARPA support for demolition and site remediation.
"99% of our families did reunite," Leakes said, summarizing the program's outcomes and defending the county's investment in the project. She told the committee Providence House served 876 children and families last year and maintained a waiting list of 691 children, and she described long‑term evaluations with Case Western Reserve University that the organization cited to support its mission of diverting families from foster care.
Leakes said Providence House has been operating in Cuyahoga County for 44 years, serves families across more than 38 ZIP codes and expects the new campus to serve roughly 250–300 children per year. She described partnerships and contracts with the county Department of Children and Family Services (out-of-home placement contract) and with the Adams board that have expanded over multiple cycles to support families whose parents require inpatient or outpatient substance‑use or mental‑health treatment.
Leakes detailed the capital plan: county ARPA dollars were used to demolish and abate an adjacent unsafe property (about $111,000 for demolition/abatement), making the site construction‑ready. The community hub is a $5.5 million build; Providence House has raised more than $13.5 million to date and reported approximately $4.7 million remaining specifically for the build. She said the organization has licensed the facility, finished the major build work and is finalizing second‑shift staffing before admitting children.
Leakes said Providence House will issue an RFP for a construction manager as tenant partners are finalized and that additional fundraising is underway for the next phase. Committee members thanked Leakes, asked about tours and staffing, and Conwell invited members to visit the West Side campus now and the East Side facility when it opens.
The committee did not take a separate vote tied to Providence House’s presentation; Leakes’s update preceded other committee actions and the organization’s representatives were invited to return for follow-up as the project advances.
