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After more than a decade spent mostly empty, the former Korten’s building in downtown Longview has been transformed into a recreation and wellness center for youth.
CORE Health opened its Ascent Youth Activity Center in September as a free, safe location for children and teens to hang out, as well as the agency’s hub for youth behavioral health and addiction services.
As the name indicates, the center aspires to help youth raise themselves up in life, said Frank Morrison, CORE Health executive director.
“These are kids who may need to strengthen their mental health or get off drugs,” he said. “But we didn’t want to be just a behavioral health center, we want all youth to come.”
The Longview behavioral health agency bought the 27,000 square-foot building in August 2020 and have been renovating it since.
Last year, CORE moved its youth services from its 14th Avenue office to the new center, which has about 30 staff members, Morrison said. The organization serves about 400 to 500 youth per month at the center and at local schools, he said.
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The center primarily offers mental health services, including individual and group counseling, substance use disorder counseling, along with a safe space open to all youth in the community, Morrison said.
In 2020, CORE received a $2.2 million grant from the state Department of Commerce Behavioral Health Facilities Program to open the center.
Additional child care services to be offered by Community House on Broadway shelter as Longview licensed provider options dwindle
Additional child care services to be offered by Community House on Broadway shelter as Longview licensed provider options dwindle
The ground floor houses several offices, childcare rooms and the future Grizzly Shakes shop. Morrison said the ice cream counter will provide a job training opportunity for those 16 and older when it opens, likely in March.
The second floor includes therapy meeting rooms, an art studio, a homework space, a kitchen, a media center, a rock climbing wall and a resource room. The floor also has an event space that Rivertown Church uses on Sundays, Morrison said.
Much of the basement still is under construction and will feature a recreation room with games like ping-pong and air hockey. It also houses a completed workout room donated by the nonprofit Harlie’s Angels.
The fitness room at the CORE Health Ascent Youth Activity Center was donated by the nonprofit Harlie’s Angels.
Morrison said having the center open after years of planning is “like a dream come true.”
“It’s a sigh of relief to have a place they can be accustomed to, a fun place with a support structure,” he said.
Primarily parents reach out to get their child in services but some youth self-refer, Morrison said. Washington law allows minors 13 years old or older to initiate evaluation and treatment for outpatient or inpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment without parental consent.
Matt McCoy, youth substance use disorder counselor, said the center has helped grow the program and provides a space for youth clients to be around their peers. It’s also allowed activities beyond the basic group therapy meetings that have helped engage youth, he said.
Most youth in the program are struggling with alcohol and cannabis use but some also use substances like fentanyl, McCoy said.
CORE provides outpatient services but helps youth get into inpatient treatment, which is a long process, McCoy said. Since opening the center, staff have helped about six to 10 youth get into inpatient substance abuse treatment, he said.
About 19 youth are in the CORE substance use disorder program right now, McCoy said. Some are required to participate under a probation plan, an at-risk youth program, and a few come on their own, he said.
McCoy encouraged parents struggling to get their child to participate in treatment or counseling to reach out to CORE.
“We are here to meet the need … to meet their kid where they are at and increase their motivation for change,” he said.