The 1979 State Plan from the Ohio Department of Health identified that youth drug and alcohol treatment was the number one health priority for Ohio. This plan, allocated to be awarded to the first community in Ohio to provide vision, commitment, a program model and a site for residential treatment of chemically dependent youth with mental health needs. Thanks to the inspired leadership of ADAMHS Board of Cuyahoga County, Cleveland was awarded funding for this unique program and New Directions was born.

The initial Board of Directors arranged for the consultants to help develop the program, deal with various start-up needs, hire the director, and recruit more volunteer Board members. In
1980 Nikki Babbit was hired as Executive Director.

On February 8, 1981, we welcomed our first clients into the facility provided by David Gleason. Gleason, President of the  Austin Powder Company agreed to lease two of their farmhouses in Glenwillow, Ohio, to the new program.

With the hard work, dedication, and commitment of our Board of Directors we moved to our permanent site on Chagrin Boulevard in 1989.

The word “demonstration” in our grant took on a new meaning: showcase. The Ohio Department of Health sent national and international health care officials and treatment providers to review our model. The most interesting visitors were those from the Soviet Union. As a result of these visits, Nikki Babbit was invited to discuss adolescent treatment and New Directions at the first Sino-American Conference on Alcoholism in Moscow. She was also given the opportunity to help start AA and Al-Anon in Moscow.

Upon Nikki’s retirement in 1995, the Board of Directors conducted a search for her replacement, and as so often happens, the best can often be found in our own backyard. Mike Matoney was hired as our new Executive Director. Mike was one of our first counselors in 1981, and after five years, moved on to hospital management. With this knowledge and experience he was ready to lead us through the challenges and keep us moving in a positive direction.

Since then, we not only grew in space, we expanded our programming to include various levels of outpatient treatment, gender-specific residential treatment, parent empowerment groups, and home-based treatment. In 2001, we started our gender specific residential treatment program.

In 2005, we moved our female clients to a house on Beechbrook’s property.

In 2007, in collaboration with Applewood Centers, we opened our dual diagnosis treatment program for male adolescents.

In 2008, we opened the doors of the Nancy Hanna House on our Chagrin campus, where our female clients reside.

New Directions has survived many obstacles since those early days in 1980. We stand today on the shoulders of those individuals who believed in our mission and were willing to sacrifice their time, talent, dollars, sweat and tears to move us forward. We owe them our deepest gratitude. Our admiration and appreciation is boundless for all of you who contribute with dedication and love to our most humbling endeavor – helping our young people live! We honor all of you!