Hope Town Ohio

05/30/2026

🎉 Huge congratulations to our house manager Justin on earning his CDL!

This took hours of studying and a whole lot of perseverance — all while continuing to show up for the men he supports at Hope Town every single day. Justin's hard work is a reminder that recovery isn't just about finding your footing again. It's about building something forward. New skills. New doors. New possibilities.

We're so proud of you, Justin. Thank you for showing our community what's possible when you keep going. 🧡

Drop a comment below and help us celebrate him!

05/29/2026

Mark your calendar — Saturday, June 27! 🔥

Grill • Chill • Recover is back, and we cannot wait to welcome our neighbors, families, and friends to Hope Town RCO for an afternoon built around community, connection, and real recovery stories.

Here's who's joining us:
🎤 Kyle Overmyer — Former sheriff turned author. His book Prison Prodigy tells a story of hope, purpose, and redemption you won't forget.
🧠 Dr. Nicole Labor — Addiction medicine physician with 20+ years in recovery. She's bringing the neuroscience that might just change the way you see everything.
🎶 Chrissy Strong featuring Tim Ellinger — A live performance of music, truth, and the kind of storytelling that stays with you.

And there's more — free food off the grill, an ice cream truck, 50/50 raffle, every attendee entered to win a FREE AI class, photo booth, co****le, Kids Zone with face painting and a bounce house… and Ted will be getting dunked. Bring your best throw. 🎯

📍 Hope Town RCO | 9621 E Center St, Windham, OH 44288 🕓 4:00–7:00 PM ET 🆓 Free event. Family-friendly. All are welcome.

Tag a friend, share with your group, and we'll see you there!

05/28/2026

Meet our Advisory Board Member — Edwin Wong, Co-founder of Psyrin · San Francisco, CA

Edwin Wong isn't just attending the Ohio AI Leadership Summit for Behavioral Health, Recovery, and Workforce Development. He's helping shape it. Edwin works directly with state departments and state leaders across Ohio to help form AI solutions for our behavioral health systems — bringing a perspective that is both national in scope and deeply rooted in what Ohio needs.

In his words…

"I accepted because the standards being written right now will define the next decade of this field. I think there is a huge risk of overregulation rooted in fear, rather than pragmatic collaboration rooted in optimism.
And this is also why this summit matters — behavioral health AI is moving from theoretical to operational on an unprecedented time horizon."

If you are a leader, funder, legislator, or decision maker in behavioral health, recovery, or workforce — take the survey before June 1st. Your voice shapes the agenda.

September 10, 2026 · NEOMED · Rootstown, Ohio

https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/survey/qvIeikBVQ6Y5YDbYOYuU

Know someone who should weigh in? Please share this post and tag them.

05/27/2026

Today I had the opportunity to attend an outstanding presentation on Workplace Mental Health & Addiction by Dr. Kathleen Pike, CEO of One Mind and Professor & Director of the Mental Health + Work Design Lab at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Her message was powerful and timely: workplace mental health and well-being can no longer be viewed simply as an employee benefit. It is a strategic leadership imperative and a core business strategy that impacts culture, productivity, retention, and the bottom line.

That framing matters deeply in behavioral health, recovery, workforce development, and every organization trying to lead well in the 21st century. When we invest in the well-being of people, we strengthen both the mission and the organization.

I was grateful to attend alongside Alisha Nelson and Aimee Shadwick from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, and then headed straight over to the Huntington Building across from the Statehouse to meet with my good friend Teresa Lampl, CEO of The Ohio Council of Behavioral Health & Family Services Providers.

As always, Teresa and I covered about 20 different topics in an hour — rapid-fire updates, insight, strategy, and enough good ideas to make your notebook nervous.

Days like this remind me how much momentum Ohio has right now in behavioral health, recovery, workforce, and leadership. The conversations are changing, and the opportunity to lead with purpose has never been greater.

05/27/2026

Recovery happens here. 🌅
Every Wednesday at 5:00 PM, our doors are open for Narcotics Anonymous at Hope Town Recovery Community Center. Come as you are.
📖 NA Basic Text + Just For Today
📍 9621 E Center St, Windham, OH 44288
✨ Open meeting — all are welcome
Tag someone who could use the reminder. 💙

05/26/2026

Now that we're back home and settled in after the holiday weekend, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on a truly meaningful trip.

Hope Town was honored to join the team at AI Owl for a two-day conference in Kingston, Jamaica. It was an experience that left a lasting impression on all of us. We're deeply grateful to AI Owl for believing that the work we're building at Hope Town could contribute meaningfully alongside such accomplished leaders and institutions.

From the moment our team arrived, the hospitality of Jamaica, Excelsior Community College, and the people we met was truly unforgettable. A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Philmore McCarthy, Senator Marlon Morgan, Jodian Dias Carty, our driver Chris, the team at Hocking College, and the entire staff and community at Excelsior. Dr. McCarthy's gracious welcome into his home in New Kingston was a moment our team will carry with us for a long time.

What stood out most wasn't the agenda or the accomplishments. It was the genuine human connection. The kindness, the authenticity, the shared laughter, and a common commitment to solving real problems together. The people of Excelsior made us feel like family, and their focus and energy were a natural match with AI Owl and our team at Hope Town.

We left with what matters most: kindness, purpose, and joy, and a renewed belief in what's possible when good people come together across communities and borders.

05/22/2026

Hope Town AI — Day 2 in Kingston, Jamaica.

Yesterday, Ted took the stage at Excelsior College and delivered his talk on "AI for Workforce Integration: Accelerating Recovery, Skills and Employee Pathways" — and the response was something we won't forget.

Our ecosystem model, our mission, the work we do every day in Portage County — it resonated. Government leadership, the tourism bureau, higher education, and nonprofit organizations all connected with what we're building and what we believe: that every person deserves a pathway forward. That hope is something you give back, not just talk about.

Across sectors, across different communities, the conversations were real — and so were the possibilities. Ways we might be able to walk alongside people and organizations far beyond our own county lines. That's humbling. That's exciting. And that's exactly why we do this work.

To our partners at AI Owl — thank you. Thank you for the invitation, for the platform, and for believing that what we're doing in a small corner of Ohio is worth sharing with the world. We think so too.

Grateful. Energized. And already thinking about what comes next.

05/21/2026

05/20/2026

Hope Town AI has landed in Jamaica.
Ted and Zoey are in Kingston at Excelsior College for an AI conference hosted by AI Owl and Hocking College — and today they got to do something we don't always get enough of: just listen. Sitting in the room, hearing from government leadership and higher education, and watching a country come together as they prepare for the future of AI. That kind of alignment is something special to witness.
This is what it looks like when a small organization from Portage County shows up on a big stage. We don't take that lightly. Every conversation, every connection made in rooms like this one has the potential to find its way back home — into our programs, our work, and the people we serve.
Grateful to our partners at AI Owl who invited us to be a part of this. Proud of our team. And ready for tomorrow.