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Day workshop moves to former Byzantine Center
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BOARDMAN
A former private school that sat vacant for years will once again be a place of learning.
Turning Point No Limits Alternative Center, a day workshop for people with developmental disabilities, has moved into the former Byzantine Catholic Center School at 5512 Youngstown-Poland Road.
“This place is big. As soon as we saw it go up for sale about two years ago, we knew we wanted it,” said Mary Kay Tusinac, company vice president.
The family-owned business was founded by its chief executive, Kathy Phillips, Tusinac’s sister, in 2001 to provide home-based care for people with developmental disabilities. It has since expanded to two workshop locations in Austintown and Campbell, and a day habilitation service in Salem.
The Austintown and Campbell workshops that serve 45 clients and the main office in Youngstown will move to the center on Youngstown-Poland Road which should be open in November, Tusinac said.
Residents surrounding the school were curious about the new tenant, said township zoning inspector Anna Mamone.
She said turnout was high for last week’s board of zoning appeals decision to issue a conditional-use permit, which was needed because all private schools need such a permit if located in a residential area. The permit for BCC had expired.
“Everything was positive that night,” Mamone said.
Tusinac said some residents had confused Turning Point Residential Inc., her family’s company, with Turning Point Counseling Services Inc., which offers treatment for drug and alcohol addition and behavioral health care.
Tusinac said she reassured residents that the center’s operating hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and told them that center facilities such as the gym will be open occasionally for residents to use.
Turning Point also allows the Youngstown Christian School football team to use the field. Tusinac said she wants center to be a part of the surrounding community, not isolated from it.
“It’s a different spin on the workshop. We try to integrate our clients into the community,” she said. Clients learn daily life skills, including job training at participating businesses such as T.J. Maxx and Petitti Garden Center.
Clients are paid minimum wage for their work outside and inside the center, Tusinac said.
“They bloom, and sometimes they surprise their own family,” she said. “[Having the business] has changed our lives, too.”