After 14 years at the Crossroads Church north of Perry, Zion Recovery Services Inc. is relocating its offices to downtown Perry at 1314 Second St.
“We’re wanting to reduce transportation barriers to services,” said Zion Recovery Services Program Director Laurie Cooley. “Where we’re at right now, it’s kind of a ways out of town. So being in town, if they don’t have a vehicle or don’t have money for gas or something like that, then at least we can be more accessible and have them attend their services.”
The Second Street commercial space, built in 1905, was restored by the Nudgers investment group in 2016.
“My clinical supervisor has been working with the Nudgers on making the move,” Cooley said, “and it just seemed like the right amount of space for us.”
Cooley said she is aiming at a Feb. 1 target date to complete the move. She said a local Perry contractor is putting in a few new walls and wiring the office for phone, fax and high-speed internet for online medical records.
Zion’s Perry office employs one full-time and two part-time staff members, Cooley said. The company serves an average of about 50 clients out of the Perry offices, she said, but the caseload can vary from month to month.
Along with Dallas County, Atlantic-based Zion Recovery Services also serves Fremont, Page, Montgomery, Cass and Adair counties. The system serves about 1,300 clients annually at seven outpatient sites and one 27-bed adult residential facility in Clarinda.
“We’ve been in Perry since the 1970s and haven’t moved very often,” Cooley said, “but as we’ve looked at some of the hardships of the population we serve, the decision was made that we wanted to get into town.”
She said Zion’s walk-in clicnic has become popular since the service was started 18 months ago.
“That has really assisted individuals who need services,” Cooley said. “They can just walk in and get their assessments done that day.”
The Nudgers completed the $1.5 million restoration of the building in part by means of state and federal tax credits for historical restoration. Most of the repair funds was secured through arrangements with Great Western Bank in Perry, with the city of Perry providing a backstop surety for the loan on the strength of its own borrowing capacity.