Closing of Bryson to displace 60 people

The home for mental health clients in Youngstown will shut down Sept. 1.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

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, director of care, to find a new location so 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.

Owner Robert Van Sickle announced the closing early in June.

Closing Bryson, 115 Illinois Ave., will also displace about 11 full- 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 in a 100-year-old building that was once a nursing home and a dormitory for Youngstown State University students. It needs rewpair for which money is not available, Crissman said.

Crissman said the decision to close was made after months of struggling financially because of the age of the facility, low reimbursements for clients, and escalating operating expenses.

The Mahoning County Mental Health Board has also begun looking for approved housing for the 40 or so indigent clients it placed at Bryson, said Ronald Marian, mental health board executive director.

The clients will also be evaluated to see if some qualify for placement in independent living or nursing homes, he said.

Regarding finding a new facility, Marian said his agency can help Crissman and Carlisle in some ways, including navigating the licensing process, but it cannot provide public money to a private nonprofit business.

alcorn@vindy.com