CFR’s New Central Campus in Fort Dodge -
Grand Opening May 17, 2019!
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The Grand Opening of 211 Avenue M West in Fort Dodge Iowa
On May 17, 2019, the Grand Opening was held for this beautiful facility that consolidates all three of our former Fort Dodge locations into one centralized area.
Our Groundbreaking
Our new location, which is located at 211 Ave M West, offers increased space, accessibility, and security for CFR clients and staff. This new central campus consolidates all of CFR’s Fort Dodge locations under one roof, allowing CFR to improve operational efficiency and resource sharing.
Why We Are Building
In 2017 alone, CFR served 3,000 clients across Central Iowa. As we have seen the need for our residential and outpatient facilities continue to increase over the last several years, CFR Board of Directors decided it was necessary to assess our services and our facilities.
We identified that our most pressing needs were:
CAPACITY: CFR may receive 15 to 20 referrals per day for Adult Residential Treatment, but is forced to turn many away due to limited bed availability. This lack of capacity leads us to not being able to treat someone who is in serious need of physical and psychological care.
SAFETY: Due to the structure of our outdated facilities, we are unable to install a central security system or effectively monitor all of our entrances. In the past, we have had issues between clients or problems with people entering and exiting the building.
ACCESSIBILITY: Steps and elevation changes in our current facilities may serve as a barrier to many seeking our services. It can be difficult for clients with limited mobility to participate in our services.
To address these challenges, CFR created a plan to build a new facility. We purchased land on Ave M West to build our new facility. CFR engaged architectural firm, ASK Studios, out of Des Moines and Woodruff Construction of Fort Dodge to design a building to meet the needs of the organization and its clients.
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The Impact of This New Facility
INCREASED CAPACITY: The bed count has increased by 17 beds. That means we are able to accept 17 more clients each month and be able to treat over 200 more clients every year.
IMPROVED SAFTEY: The new building’s modern technology provides a safer and more secure environment for those in our care. Our new facility accommodates up-to-date medical equipment and building features to meet the needs of clients and staff, and keep them out of harm’s way. The safety features include: optimized client visibility on all units, door handles that cannot be used as an anchor point, and breakaway bathroom fixtures. In our new space, we expect to observe a decrease in safety and security related issues.
INCREASED ACCESSIBLITY: The new central campus is fully accessible and we can now serve more individuals who have limited mobility.
INCREASED EFFICIENCY: By locating all Fort Dodge staff in one building we have increased efficiency and transparency, while reducing costs that are duplicated due to the need for specific equipment in each building.
Additional Building Features
GENDER NEUTRAL RESIDENTIAL ROOMS: Our current Fort Dodge buildings do not afford us to comfortably provide for special populations such as LGBTQ community. For instance, in our current buildings, we do not have designated residential rooms for clients who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth or who are physically transitioning to the opposite sex. In the new facility, we will have two gender neutral residential rooms to provide a more comfortable environment to the LGBTQ community.
GENDER SPECIFIC PROGRAMMING: The majority of the groups currently being held at CFR Fort Dodge locations are co-ed as the space available to hold groups is very limited. This is problematic because clients are more likely to ask questions and participate when they can freely discuss the issues and solutions that impact them the most. Many clients will not openly participate in group if members of the opposite gender are present as they are embarrassed to do so. Our new facility will have an increased number of group spaces and secured residential units for males and females, allowing CFR to offer gender specific programming.
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OUR FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
Will you help us reach our goal?
To help fund this new $6.6 million facility, CFR has set a goal of raising $2 million in the community. During the past several months, CFR staff and volunteers have been sharing the agency’s plans with local community members and made early progress toward their fundraising goal. CFR will be reaching out to all of Fort Dodge and the neighboring counties to seek support for this building project that will benefit so many residents of Central Iowa.
Are you interested in supporting or volunteering for this campaign? Please email MichelleD@cfrhelps.org to learn about how to get involved!
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