Growing Family
Family Pathways will be giving itself a 20th anniversary present next year with the planned completion of the Monarch Training Institute: Center for Family and Professional Excellence.
Work has begun on the center on the west side of Monarch Place, the former Spang and Co. building at 100 Brugh Ave., following a July 7 ground-breaking ceremony.
“They are starting the footers. They've delivered the rebar for the footers,” said Elan Welter Lewis, executive director and founder of the agency that offers services designed to strengthen families and individuals.
“If everything goes right, the project should be done in August 2018, just before the 20th anniversary of Family Pathways in September,” Lewis said.
Family Pathways was incorporated as a nonprofit agency in 1998 and offers services to at-risk children and families affected by abuse, neglect, trauma, loss and separation.
Lewis said the center has been in the planning stages for years, but the recession of 2008 delayed the beginning of construction of the 16,000-square-foot addition.
Lewis chooses to see the delay as time well-spent.
“It gave us lots of time to secure additional money to make it even more special,” Lewis said.
The addition's $3 million price tag is being covered by a combination of donations, grants and savings, Lewis said.
The addition will house a first-floor conference hall that can seat 200 with a catering kitchen and serving area.
It will also have a children's activity center with an enclosed courtyard, a second-floor strategic planning suite and youth activity center and a third-floor clinical staff suite with library and a break/training room.
Etzel Engineer & Build of Saxonburg is the general contractor and leading the design build process with Pieper O'Brien Herr Architecture of Pittsburgh and Atlanta drafting the plans.
The addition architect, Scott Maritzer of Pieper O'Brien Herr in Pittsburgh, said, “We've made a grander monumental entry in homage to the former train line and city of Butler.”“It's a welcoming door for all the families that are served there,” Maritzer said.“We wanted to give it a homelike feel with stained glass and a fireplace.“We've selected an all-natural brick system that exposes brick on the inside as well as the outside,” said Maritzer, adding the design features exposed steel and timber also.“And Dr. Lewis is looking for an artist that can create a sculptural butterfly that hangs from the ceiling and will be visible to the city and the bridge,” Maritzer said.“And this way, the building can hold different types of functions with the grand hall,” he said.Lewis said Family Pathways intends to have the addition open to share with the community and other agencies.“Other agencies will be able to use it for training and retreats for the staff.“This is a 13-month process,” said Regis Etzel president of Etzel Engineer & Build.“Most of the work will be done by subcontractors. We will be using local subcontractors wherever possible.”Etzel said the biggest challenge will be “building the new building onto the existing building without disrupting operations.”“We would like to get the addition closed in by winter, have the exterior work done,” he said.Erin Convery, manager of operations at Family Pathways, said, “Staff at all levels of the organization were invited to participate in the design experience.“We continue to have internal committees planning the activities and layout of both the youth and children's activity centers.“Family Pathways embraces the concept of lifelong learning and this facility will support actualizing this goal through expansion of training and networking opportunities,” said Convery.“Our goal has always been to offer a learning center and professional department offering families learning opportunities,” Lewis said.“When I started Family Pathways in September 1998,” said Lewis. “I had the goal to provide services to children and families. I really wanted to work with the child welfare population.”Today, Family Pathways employs 40 full-time, 15 part-time and 12 contracted employees that service 5,000 clients annually.“We've worked very hard to be state-of-the-art in mental health services for our families. We have three child psychiatrists which is really wonderful,” Lewis said. “When I worked at Children and Youth in the 1990s there were no services. That's why I was so dedicated to providing them.”And families are in need of Family Pathways' services.People come to the agency through the court system, other agencies or on their own.That's because, according to Lewis, there are a host of problems confronting families and it's gotten worse not better in the 20 years of Family Pathways' existence.“The opioid addiction is undermining family culture in this county and we all need to work together to find a solution,” said Lewis.“It's much more difficult since we started,” she said. “You almost never saw a homeless family and now that is very common.”
