But some longtime residents of the neighborhood say they were stunned and troubled to learn about the project because they believe it could lead to more crime and problems with drug use and drug activities.
“We don’t want it,” said 70-year-old Glenda Jones, who has lived in the neighborhood for decades. “Why here? Why in our neighborhood? There are plenty of big, open lots down on Stewart Street.”
Officials with OneFifteen, the nonprofit constructing the new housing, said they have worked closely with neighborhood leaders.
Gwen Buchanan, co-leader of the Carillon Civic Council, said OneFifteen has been a good neighbor for the last five years and she believes its new housing project will be run and managed in a responsible way that does not harm the area.
“If they do business the way they’ve done business since they’ve come to our neighborhood, I do support it,” she said. “Everything I’ve seen OneFifteen do has been done with excellence, in addition to inviting us in and getting our feedback.”
Some Carillon residents say they are worried that OneFifteen also plans to add additional recovery housing to their neighborhood in the future.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
New Hopeland House planned
In 2019, OneFifteen opened a new campus at 257 Hopeland Ave. in the Carillon neighborhood that offers outpatient, residential and care advocacy services. Carillon is just southwest of downtown, basically encompassing the few blocks west of Edwin Moses Boulevard from U.S. 35 at the north edge, to Welcome Stadium at the south edge.
OneFifteen — a healthcare nonprofit founded by Google’s sister company, Verily — says its state-of-the-art campus is focused on the “full and sustained recovery” of people living with substance use disorder. The nonprofit says it is trying to help advance evidence-based behavioral health treatments for addiction.
Earlier this month, OneFifteen hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Hopeland House project, which will be built on vacant land on the 400 block of Hopeland Street, about one block south of its 4.5-acre campus.
The two-story sober living home will house up to five people who are in “stable” recovery from substance abuse disorder.
Opposition from residents
But some residents who live in the area are not happy about the project.
Glenda Jones, who has lived on the 400 block of Hopeland Street for about a decade, said her block and the surrounding area is home to many vulnerable senior citizens who often have their grandkids and great-grandchildren over. She said this is the wrong place to put housing for people dealing with serious substance abuse and addiction issues.
“I really believe they’re trying to move us out of this neighborhood,” Jones said. “But we ain’t going nowhere.”
Jones said drug users sometimes will do whatever it takes to get money to feed their habit or addiction, even if it means committing serious crimes.
Annette Gibson-Strong, who lives across the street, recently attended a Dayton City Commission meeting to voice her opposition to the Hopeland House project.
The 65-year-old woman, who has lived her entire life on Hopeland Street, said bringing drug users into the neighborhood is going to put seniors and children at risk.
“We have had to arm ourselves, and it’s not right for y’all to put our lives in danger like that,” she told the city commission. “That’s not fair, to where I might have to kill somebody about my stuff, my property,” she said, alleging that the addicts under treatment include dealers and other criminals.
Ed Davidson, 75, who has lived in the Carillon neighborhood for more than four decades, opposes putting recovery housing in a residential area.
“I would like for it to move someplace else because we’ve got a lot of little kids over here,” he said.
Agency called a good neighbor
Buchanan, with the Carillon Civic Council, said while she can understand why some residents might be concerned, she believes their fears are unjustified.
Years ago, before the OneFifteen campus opened, Buchanan was worried about what impact it might have on the safety and security of the neighborhood.
But she said OneFifteen has been has a true community partner.
Buchanan said the Carillon neighborhood in the past had group homes that were poorly run and managed that caused problems, which may be why some neighbors are upset. But she said OneFifteen is different.
Buchanan said crime has been trending downward in the Carillon neighborhood, and there haven’t been any major issues related to the OneFifteen campus.
Buchanan also said some of the people who have complained about OneFifteen have not participated in neighborhood meetings and events where they can learn about the nonprofit’s plans and share their input.
OneFifteen says it has worked closely with the Carillon Civic Council for years, including during the development of its campus.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the neighborhood and the Civic Council to improve the Carillon neighborhood,” said Dr. Natalie Lester, chief medical officer and acting president of OneFifteen.
OneFifteen says the new recovery house will have an accountability structure in place that requires tenants to follow certain rules and regulations. Residents who continue to abuse drugs will be dismissed from the home.
OneFifteen’s land acquisitions
Multiple people who live on Hopeland Street say they fear that Hopeland House is just the beginning of OneFifteen expanding its presence in Carillon.
They say they are very concerned because the nonprofit has acquired other properties in the area, which they believe will be turned into more drug recovery housing or rehab facilities.
OneFifteen has purchased a couple of vacant lots and an abandoned home on the 400 block of Hopeland Street. The nonprofit says it has no immediate plans for those properties but it will engage local stakeholders when it starts developing them.
Residents said they doubt the community leaders who visited their neighborhood briefly for a groundbreaking would want a sober living home on their block.
Miss Perdue, who lives next to one of those vacant lots, said she already sees “stragglers” in the alley behind her home, who she believes are coming from OneFifteen’s campus.
Perdue said she worries about neighborhood safety and she does not want to live next door to housing for recovering drug addicts.
“We’ve been here all our lives and nobody gave us no warning, no information,” she said. “I don’t understand it. I don’t get it. It’s just really sad.”
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