Larry James, Ellis Wright-Dunbar Community Development Project

Hi there. I'm Dr. Larry James. I'm the dean of the School of Professional Psychology here at
Wright State University.
I'd like to welcome you to being with me for a little while
because I want to share with you this great project that we're going to be
doing, spearheading for the university.
It is called the Ellis Wright-Dunbar Community Development Project.
Now what that is, it's going to tie into
the university's mission and Strategic Plan.
The hallmark of the project this to help provide jobs in the
community,
offer
significant, needed mental health servicesand continue to
offer our students and faculty the opportunity to work on cutting-edge
research. The Ellis Wright-Dunbar Community Development Project
will use the expertise and
the richness of our university
to enhance the community
around the Duke Ellis Institute of Human Development.
Now ladies and gentlemen the Duke Ellis Institute, in case you haven't had the opportunity
to be there
it sits down in the heart of the Dayton community. It sits at the intersection of
West Third and
Edwin C. Moses Boulevard.
It is naturally our teaching clinic, that's where ninety five percent of our
students and faculty
in the School of Professional Psychology work, teach, do their research and see patients.
And if you've been down around that community, you notice that there are a fair
number of blighted
property. And that community has seen some hard time.
Its our vision to develop a partnership with the Wright-Dunbar
Association, acquire those properties
and develop cutting-edge centers of excellence and institutes.
And these institutes will provide mental health services, one
will be a memory clinic with the mission of providing services to adults
who are suffering from a variety of many memory disorders like
dementia and Alzheimer's
a second facility
will be
a house or center
specifically designed to meet the needs of young children in our community
who are suffering with
Aspergers syndrome
and autism.
And the third center will be a place that's called Nathaniel's Place.
Nathaniel's Place will be the integration
of the arts
classical music
dance
poetry, drama, and clinical psychology.
When we integrate those together to provide services
particularly to veterans who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder,
traumatic brain injury and things like that.
We estimate that this project,
very rich and robust project, all three combined
would generate approximately fifty jobs
for the community.
These projects collectively together
well not only provide education opportunities for our students
innovative and cutting-edge
research opportunities and advanced services,
but it will be a part of of our mission to help
the community grow.
and provide jobs for the citizens of the great Miami Valley region.
It's been a pleasure having this opportunity to share with you this
outstanding visionary
and cutting edge project.
We've included a video for you to take a look at.
It's going to provide you with an overview of the project.
So thank you for joining us and if you have any questions,
my name and contact information is listed below.Thank you very much.
At every stage of life there are needs to be met.
In every community there are people with special needs. For many people, mental
health services are important over a lifetime.
Our children facing the frustration of learning disabilities and emotional
problems.
Some are adults who struggle with debilitating mental health conditions.
Others are older people losing their precious memories and sense of confidence.
People facing these mental health issues and others have a great resource in
Wright State University's Duke E. Ellis Institute.
Located on West Third Street at Edwin C. Moses Boulevard across the Great Miami
River from downtown Dayton, Ohio.
It's the clinical and classroom home of the university's School of Professional
Psychology.
It's a place that provides care, conducts research, and trains the next generation
of mental health professional psychologists.
The School of Professional Psychology has a vision to open even more centers
of clinical care
as part of a plan to expand community services from the Ellis Institute.
Childhood is a time of carefree innocence for some,
but not for everyone.
Distraction, frustration, anger
and an inability to do what is expected
define the lives of more children than many people would like to admit.
Learning disabilities create roadblocks on the way to confidence.
The Ellis Institutes proposed Child Resource Clinic
will specialize in finding ways around the road blocks to learning.
So children can begin the lifelong journey to literacy
and understanding of the
world around them,
even before kindergarten.
Among people 70 years of age or older
few are weightlifters or marathon runners,
but growing old has its compensations.
The wisdom of years is one.
The ability to look back over the lessons of a lifetime
and understand the present in a way someone younger never can.
But even this victory is denied to some.
There are people who awake each day knowing a little
less than they did the day before. Victims of Alzheimer's
and other dementias that steal away treasured memories.
For them, there are often more questions than answers
and many answers that quickly fade away
only to prompt the same questions
again and again.
Over time,
people living with Alzheimer's come to need increasing supervision.
The Ellis Institute's proposed Alzheimer's Treatment Center
will provide innovative and cutting-edge research and intervention in
the effort to help patients remain as active as possible,
as long
as possible.
Imagine living with constant fear and confusion,
trapped in a state of mind that separates you from everyone around you.
Imagine being unable to pursue your work,
manage your relationships,
or even take care of yourself.
The people who will come to Nathaniel's Place can imagine such a place because
they live it
day after a day.
Intervention and treatment will be the theme of Nathaniel's Place, a proposed new
clinic of the Ellis Institute.
You may have heard of Nathaniel.
Whose story was told motion picture
"The Soloist".
Nathaniel's Place will be a tribute to one man's struggle to overcome.
When it's up and running Nathaniel's Place will make a critical difference in
hundreds of lives in the years ahead.
Using music, the arts and writing
in conjunction with clinical treatment.
Dayton is the Ellis Institute's hometown.
For two decades, the institute has conducted its important work at the gateway of the
historic Wright-Dunbar, a neighborhood that continues to restore its past and build
anew.
In fulfilling its mission the Ellis Institute and Wright State University
will add to Wright-Dunbar's growing number of renovated properties,
with new clinics, new research projects and the ongoing training of professional
psychologists. Their proposed expansion of the Duke E. Ellis Institute
will advance it's mission,
helping the institute and Wright State University's School of Professional
Psychology
change lives for the better
for many years to come.
One of the nice things about
my position here as dean in the School of Professional Psychology,
not only do i get the opportunity to teach
and do research
and provide needed mental health services to a variety of citizens in this community,
but every day
I get to use the richness and the greatness at this university to help provide jobs.
And after all, ladies and gentlemen, Wright State means jobs.