A New Space for Medina Creative Housing

Medina Creative Housing is a local nonprofit organization that has worked for 31 to assist individuals with developmental, intellectual and physical disabilities to achieve independence, recognizing that everyone they serve requires different levels of training, support and security and responding to meet these needs. To meet this goal, their mission is to develop quality housing, supports and services to enable individuals with disabilities to live their lives with dignity and opportunity.

To continue to advance the growth and development for all those Medina Creative Housing has the privilege to serve, the organization recently renovated the former Weymouth Community Center — a structure that served as the Weymouth School from 1925 to 1956 and a school for children with disabilities, later known as the Achievement Center, from 1960 to 1992. This special needs school is especially historic because it originally opened in 1953, seven years before Medina County citizens passed a levy for it to operate as the first county supported school for students with disabilities, and 14 years before Ohio legislators issued the mandate that counties must educate children with disabilities.

As the leader in opening opportunities for individuals to live, work and recreate in the community, this project was a true labor of love for Medina Creative Housing. The renovation was an undertaking that represents historic preservation of the first schoolhouse for individuals with disabilities in the state of Ohio, as well as maintaining the covenant that this property would always serve individuals with disabilities and continue to be a community asset. “For over 30 years the building increasingly deteriorated. Despite COVID, increased costs and decreased funding, our vision was realized,” stated Medina Creative Housing CEO Dianne DePasquale-Hagerty.

The newly renovated building, now called “Creative Living Lifestyles Health & Wellness Center,” enables Medina Creative Housing to offer a continuum of day array services and health and wellness programming. Some of the community programs that will take place at the Creative Living Lifestyles Health & Wellness Center are the Day Program with a host of enriching activities including life skills training, music, art, nutrition programming, yoga classes, exercise and education programs. It will also serve as a community asset in partnership with Weymouth Preservation Society, Heartbeats Jump Rope Team, Jacobs Ladder and Ohio State Extension.

Additionally, the Creative Living Lifestyles Health & Wellness Center will host Medina Creative Housing's 17th Annual Raising the Roof Dinner & Entertainment Charity Fundraiser, also known as the Ohana Gala, on April 15. The fundraising event will feature an authentic Hawaiian performance by Pacific Paradise Entertainment, Hawaiian cuisine and live and silent auctions. Buy tickets to attend the event and learn more about what the evening will have in store at MedinaCreativeHousing.com/ohana-gala.

In addition to the services and programs provided at the Creative Living Lifestyles Health & Wellness Center, Medina Creative Housing provides 80 housing units for individuals with disabilities to live independently in the community with supports. This includes a unique privatized housing option, Creative Living for Life, offering families the opportunity for permanent housing where they can self-direct and define their loved one's future and customize their home from accessibility features to the paint on the walls, to the type of cabinets.

There are 18 additional services and programs that Medina Creative Housing and Affiliates also currently operate from direct care supports, transportation, home delivered meals, Life Skills Training Summer Day Camp, Resident Enrichment Program, Therapeutic Horseback Riding, Special Olympics, Equine Psychotherapy, Day Programs, Post-Secondary College Program in Partnership with Tri-C and Therapeutic & Exercise Programs. These programs directly support and enrich the lives of individuals with disabilities. 

There are six additional community assets that are open to the public and provide vocational training and supportive employment for individuals with disabilities, helping them learn a wide variety of marketable skills while earning an income. The community assets include Creative Pet Play, Creative Therapy Ranch, Creative Living Coffee, Creative Living Produce, Grande Café & Roastery and Z’s Cream & Bean. By supporting these community assets, you directly support Medina Creative Housing and the individuals they serve. Medina Creative Housing is not just creating a “home,” it is creating a “lifestyle” for individuals with disabilities to become fully integrated into their community and become all they can be, leading full and happy lives.

For more information about Medina Creative Housing and to learn more about the Creative Living Lifestyles Health & Wellness Center, visit MedinaCreativeHousing.com. Also, visit MedinaCreativeHousing.com/support-us to learn more about how you can support the nonprofit's mission through donations and volunteering.