It is with a great deal of pleasure that we present you with this 1999 / 2000 Annual Report of the Community Health Center. Within these pages you will find demographic details of our clients as well as financial operating data.

The majority of this annual report, however, deals with the realization of dreams that had their inception four years ago and are now a reality.

It was at a San Diego Health Conference in 1996 that a new modality of health care, achieved by blending Primary Health Care with Behavioral Health Care, was first envisioned. With the unanimous support of the Community Health Center's Board of Directors, a four-year plan was undertaken to achieve this new modality of Health Care.

In July 2000, the first phase of this study was realized with the purchase and renovation of a South Campus for the Community Health Center. This new facility, located at 702 East Market Street, Akron, Ohio, brought together staff from three separate locations and greatly enhanced the management structure. In August of 2000, the corporate name was changed from the Community Drug Board to the Community Health Center. This name change was made to more accurately reflect the new holistic approach to addiction treatment.

Phase two was realized in September of 2000 when Mrs. Hope taft, Ohio's First Lady, formally dedicated the South Campus as the site of the Community Health Center's new Adolescent Treatment Unit, Employee Assistance Program services, as well as the Primary Health Care Center. With this formal dedication, the development of a holistic wrap-around treatment modality envisioned some four years earlier was at last complete.

It is a documented fact, however, that a truly efficient recovery program requires far more than client treatment. Each family member has been affected by the disease of abuse and addiction; thus to achieve full recovery, each family member must be considered as well as the client. It is toward the realization of this goal that in 2001 the Community Health Center will open a new facility known as the Peachtree Estates. This eight-unit apartment complex will be for the reunification of homeless, recovering mothers and their children and will encompass total wrap-around care and support. Peachtree Estates is made possible through the cooperation of the following agencies: The Knight Foundation, The GAR Foundation, The Musson Foundation, The Ritchie Foundation, The Sisler Foundation, The Callhoun Foundation, The Ronald McDonald Charities, Summit County Housing Trust Fund, Ohio Housing Finance Agency, Center for Substance Abuse and Treatment, Summit County Department of Development, and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. When operational, Peachtree Estates will compliment the Cluster Homes the Community Health Center now operates in conjunction with the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority to provide housing for recovering mothers and their children.

In October 2000, under the guidance of Dr. Daisy L. Alford-Smith, Director of Summit County Department of Job and Family Services, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment issued a grant to the Summit County Department of Job and Family Services and the Community Health Center providing support for the operation of the cluster apartments and Peachtree Estates.

The following pages provide greater detail into the efforts of the Community Health Center to truly make a difference for the residents of Summit County who are in need of a new tomorrow. We are "focusing on your future."

John F. Herwick, President

Theodore P. Ziegler, Chief Executive Officer