Welcome to the Community Health Center of Akron, Ohio

Services for people with traumatic brain injuries probably will expand in coming months.

The Ballinger Traumatic Brain Injury Clubhouse, a nonprofit group in Akron that provides support and activities for people with brain injuries, this month merged with the Community Health Center.

The Community Health Center is a nonprofit organization with a $12 million annual budget that provides such services as addiction treatment; behavioral and primary health care; and wellness, prevention and housing programs to about 3,600 people a year.

The clubhouse is in front of the Community Health Center's Summit Terrace Apartments at 697 E. Waterloo Road in Akron.

To live in the 21-apartment complex, people must be diagnosed with at least two of these conditions: physical or mental handicaps, mental health disorders, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and alcohol or substance abuse, said Community Health Center marketing and public relations manager Chrissy Lockhart.

The Community Health Center has provided meeting space and money to the clubhouse since it opened three years ago.

At the clubhouse, members socialize, go on outings and learn various skills.

The merger will mean the clubhouse's budget will increase from about $40,000 a year to about $150,000 a year.

Lockhart said the agency will now be able to provide the clubhouse one full-time and two part-time workers.

Ballinger Executive Director Betty Bacalu, who had been working as a volunteer, now will be paid.

Lockhart said eligible members will be able to get Medicaid-covered services, including mental health and behavioral counseling and drug and alcohol treatment if needed.

"Nearly 20 percent of individuals with a TBI are in need of additional care for a mental health and/or substance abuse disorder," said Ted Ziegler, chief executive of the Community Health Center. "Traumatic brain injury is a devastating disability that leaves the victim alone and often times depressed, but most of all, very aware of the life they lived before the accident."

Bacalu said one of the problems is a gap in services for those with traumatic brain injuries.

If people suffer a traumatic brain injury before age 22, she said, they are eligible for services from their county's mental retardation and developmental disabilities program. But if the injury occurs when they are 23 or older, few services are available.

Bacalu said the hope is the clubhouse will be open on Fridays, starting in May. Hours now are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Ultimately, she said, the goal is to have programming at the clubhouse five to seven days and more hours each day, perhaps including evenings.

To volunteer at the clubhouse, contribute or participate, call 330-724-4000 or go to http://www.ballingerclubhouse.org.

For more about the Community Health Center, go to http://www.commhealthcenter.org.