Mental health crisis, addiction center filling gaps in care

LANCASTER, Ohio — A facility open in the heart of Lancaster was built for two issues, but has one mission: to help save lives. 

It’s called The Stabilization, Treatment and Recovery Center, or STARLight Center, a 20-bed facility designed to treat both mental health crises and drug addiction, issues that are usually treated separately, despite often going hand-in-hand. 

“It’s life changing, to have this facility open in Lancaster, Ohio,” said Lancaster’s mayor, Don McDaniel. “There are some other mental health facilities locally, but they’re more of halfway type houses or recovery centers, and they’re not doing what this facility is doing.”

McDaniel said some communities in the state don’t have the resources to provide immediate crisis-level care, leaving those seeking treatment often forced to travel to other areas, sometimes across state lines. There are stories of Ohioans traveling to facilities in Texas for care. Bringing back local treatment and intervention is critically important, he said. 

“Sometimes it was as far away as several counties away that there was an available bed,” Mayor McDaniel said. “That means that that person in crisis was uprooted from the community, taken away from their friends and family, and given a bed several counties away or maybe a couple hundred miles away, depending on the circumstances and just not really conducive to recovering from crisis.”

Without facilities like STARlight, McDaniel said, the consequences can be severe. 

People cycle in and out of jail or emergency rooms. Some end up homeless. Others face an increased risk of death from suicide, illness or overdose. 

The STARlight Center brings resources right to the people of Fairfield County. 

Fairfield County has been hit hard by drug addiction. Data from the Fairfield County ADAMH Board shows 49 people died of accidental overdoses in 2023. 

“Now what we’re seeing is a real mix of substances,” said Marcy Fields, the executive director of the ADAMH Board. “I’m not sure people are seeking out, or getting heroin as much, but we know fentanyl is in many, many drugs. So even though people might be drifting toward methamphetamine and even cocaine is seeing a resurgence. But those drugs are mixed with fentanyl now, so the risk of overdose from an opioid is still really high, because people may not even know it’s in the drug they’re taking. So overdose is still a huge risk. We’re still doing a lot of work getting Narcan out to the community, because that saves people’s lives.”

Fields said STARlight provides a critical option for people seeking help earlier, before they reach a hospital-level crisis. People of all genders can voluntarily seek help. 

“So we’re trying to get help to people that aren’t to the point where they absolutely need a hospital setting and a hospital bed and locked into the facility,” Fields said. “We’re trying to get help to people that are…saying, ‘I’m not doing great; if I could go there voluntarily, I would, because I want to get better.’”

The center is operated by OhioGuidestone, a nonprofit that runs the 24/7 facility. 

Jillian Cleary, the regional director of operations at OhioGuidestone, said STARlight also works to remove financial and insurance barriers that often prevent people from accessing treatment. 

“If someone shows up at the Starlight Center, we can provide them care,” Cleary said. “We don’t have to worry about any of that red tape that sometimes you deal with.”

Since opening to the public in Oct. 2024, the STARlight Center has already served more than 100 people.

Testimonials from clients highlight the impact:

• “Words do not describe the amount of gratitude that I feel for all of the support that I have gotten from everyone here. Literally, every single person in their own way. Each and everyone deserves praise for what they do. Thank you for everything!”

Cleary said one of the unique aspects of STARlight is its inclusive approval. No crisis is considered “too small.”

“We don’t define your crisis; our clients define their crisis,” Cleary said. “It can be something as, you know, like losing a pet, losing a boyfriend, losing, you know, something like that all the way to somebody who’s struggling with really serious mental health issues such as psychosis.”

The center also works with clients on long-term recovery by creating discharge and aftercare plans before they leave.

“We really work closely with the clients who come in to develop a discharge plan and an aftercare plan,” Cleary said “We really want to make sure anybody who comes in, they know that we are glad that they’re there, they know that they’re safe, they know that they’re going to get good care and that they’re going to leave with plans for where to follow up.”

The $4.5 million project was a community effort. In 2018, Fairfield County passed a property tax levy to help fund STARlight. State and federal grants cover about a third of the cost, with the rest coming from local property taxes. 

STARlight is open 24/7, but because of the community, people 18 years and older can get the help they need, and there’s no cost barrier.  

“It takes a village, it takes a city,” McDaniel said. “It takes a county to step forward and say, ‘We need this. We recognize a need, and we want to assist our friends, family and neighbors in overcoming, in this case, addiction, but also the mental health issues.’ And they’re often coupled together.”

Fairfield County ADAMH Board. (Spectrum News 1/Taylor Bruck)

ADAMH is also developing additional resources, including Venture Place, a 24-unit apartment complex to provide permanent housing for unhoused people with behavioral health needs. 

Across the street, the Center of Hope will offer recovery programming and support. 

“So much we see out there are the people in the middle of their problems, and it’s discouraging, and it’s frustrating,” Fields said. “But we don’t see enough of these people that get into recovery and have a great, high-quality life because they’ve got into recovery. And they can in spite of really, maybe a mental health diagnosis or a substance use diagnosis, in spite of that, they can get into recovery and have really the life they always wanted.”

For those outside Fairfield County, resources are available through the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, which maintains an online dashboard of crisis programs by county. 

“Many of us have a lived experience ourselves, myself included,” Cleary said. “And we want you to know that you’re not alone. And so, you know, yes, centers like this need to exist more. It takes a lot of effort. It takes a lot of collaboration between agencies like ADAMH, the city, local law enforcement, the emergency department. And so we’ve really learned how much work it takes to get these things up and running. But I think it’s been a really good example of what a community that cares about their citizens can do when they put their efforts and their willpower and their passion together to make that work for the people who need it.”

For more information on STARlight, click here.