Youngstown mental health facility to close; clients, workers displaced

By William K. Alcorn

YOUNGSTOWN — County mental health officials are scrambling to find new homes for residents of Bryson Manor before it closes Sept. 1.

The management staff at Bryson is attempting to relocate the 50 to 60 clients who will be displaced.

There is also an effort, headed by Charlene Crissman, Bryson administrator, and Katheryn Carlisle, Bryson director of care, to find a new location so the clients can be kept together.

The decision to close Bryson is more than disheartening — it would be truly devastating to the many mental health clients who call Bryson home, Crissman said.

“We have a location in mind. We just hope someone will hear our story and come forward and help,” she said.

Robert Van Sickle, owner of the facility, announced the closing early in June.

Closing Bryson, 115 Illinois Ave., will also displace about 11 full-time and 13 part-time employees for whom the facility has provided stable employment, and also affect ancillary service providers, Crissman said.

Bryson opened in 1993. It is located in a 100-year-old building that was once a nursing home and a dormitory for Youngstown State University students. It needs repair for which money is not available, Crissman said.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.