Credo gets some 'breathing room'

Staff members of the Credo Community Center for the Treatment of Addictions will have a more private work environment in a few weeks.

The agency's outpatient and administrative center, 595 W. Main St., will have nine offices in its new wing, to make 30 for the facility. Individual offices for clinical, support and executive staff members will provide more comfort and privacy for clients, according to Patricia M. Fralick, director of outpatient services.

"We had to logistically plan shifts so people had individual office space," Mrs. Fralick said. "Now, we even got a little bit of breathing room for growth. Everyone is so excited about getting this done — it's been in discussion for over two years."

The 5,793-square-foot addition to the 11,000-square-foot building also will create large rooms to conduct training workshops for its 90 employees, whereas before Credo had to rent space for training.

Mrs. Fralick said the new space will have group meeting rooms and a break room for employees so that they don't have to eat meals in space designated for client work as they've had to in the past.

Perhaps the biggest change, she said, is the main lobby will move to the back of the building and the current lobby will be remodeled into the executive wing.

"We're able to think and be more efficient to have the executive staff, board meetings and committee meetings centralized," Mrs. Fralick said.

Services to clients throughout the past year of the expansion's planning and construction were never interrupted by the crew from general contractor D.C. Building Systems Inc.

In just a few weeks, some staff will be able to move into the new part of the building. Mrs. Fralick said the goal is to have older parts of the building renovated by sometime in September so the agency can host open houses during National Recovery Month for clients and other residents.

The project also expanded the facility's parking lot, which now stretches from West Main Street to the bank of the Black River.

Because the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services fully funded the project at $1,314,097, Mrs. Fralick said, she'd wait to host open houses until Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo, the office's commissioner, can attend.