Boardman Police Chief Todd Werth has announced that a wellness center is being created to assist first responders with mental and physical health challenges brought on by their jobs. 

The 4-acre property on Raupp Avenue in Boardman Township was donated by the Clarence R. Smith Family after living in the home for years. Chief Werth said Smith was a longtime supporter for first responders. 

”He's always been supportive of the community here in Boardman, Mahoning County, and kind of an extension throughout the state of Ohio and he always worked behind the scenes supporting the different things that the community did,” Chief Werth said about Smith. 

The main home will include office spaces, clinical rooms, meeting spaces, lounging rooms and a memorial garden. A separate building on the property will be a physical wellness space with a gym and rehabilitation machines. 

The Smith Center is not intended to replace existing services or programs, but will instead focus on serving as a place for first responders and their families to attend proactive wellness programming.

“We’re the helpers. We’re the people that respond that help our community, help our people and it’s always about that being first and kind of taking care of ourselves sometimes can be secondary," Chief Werth said. "Having this dedicated space … is just a great aspect to kind of get rid of that taboo to where, again not so much we don't want help, it just a function of its always been the community first.”

According to a press release, while there has been an increase in wellness initiatives to tackle mental health challenges for first responders, a roadblock to first responders seeking help is the reluctance to reach out for these services or visit facilities where they will encounter the people they've interacted with in an official capacity.

“We don't want to have wounded warriors,” Duane Piccirilli, the executive director of the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board said. “They're involved with trauma probably on a regular basis so this creates a safe space for them.”

The Boardman Township Trustees dedicated $253,000 to the improvement of the existing property and Mahoning County Commissioners added an additional $464,000 of Opioid settlement funds to completing phase one of the project.

A non-profit agency, in the name of Clarence R. Smith, is being formed to run the wellness center to facilitate coordinating wellness training, education and services for first responders and their families.

Any police, fire, EMS, or dispatcher in the Mahoning Valley will be able to access the center. Werth said it is expected to open in October.