History

The history of the Safety Forces Support Center begins with the Furnace Street Mission (FSM), which opened in Akron in 1926. Founded by the Reverend Bill Denton, FSM was established to serve the needy. For over 90 years FSM has operated numerous ministries providing social services in the greater Akron area, from boys’ homes, to youth camps, prison ministries, halfway houses, and student services and supervised visitation. Over the years, the programs of the Furnace Street Mission have continued to change to meet the needs of individuals. The work of Bill Denton was gradually taken over by his son, Bob. Robert, “Bob” Denton has a unique background of being an ordained minister, a long-time reserve police officer and a PhD in Social Work.  His work to support victims of crimes in the late 1960s led to the creation of the national Victim Assistance Program in 1972. He was one of the founders of the National Organization for Victim Assistance and served as its president. In Akron, Denton was the Victim Assistance Program’s first executive director and served in that role from 1972-2012. In 1994, due to its ever-expanding role in the community, the Victim Assistance Program became its own standalone agency and was incorporated as a separate 501(c) (3) organization.

While still serving as the Executive Director of Victim Assistance, Bob Denton founded the Safety Forces Chaplaincy Center in 2009. By 2012, he made the decision to dedicate his focus solely to the needs of safety forces, recognizing that first responders were an underserved population with intense and unique job stresses that required specialized support. Unfortunately, in 2017, Bob suffered major health issues impacting his ability to work. In response, the board of directors and staff worked hard to ensure that all client counseling and emergency response needs continue to be met in a professional, high-quality manner.

Board member, Chip Westfall (retired APD) assumed the stopgap position of Interim Executive Director for the first six months of Rev. Denton’s illness, and in order to continuously provide counseling services to first responder’s arrangements were made with Greenleaf Family Center (Akron). Two of five Greenleaf counselors that provide counseling services are former police officers, both possessing significant, first-hand experience working with this population. In 2018, following Interim Executive Director Chip Westfall, the organization hired Bob Gribble, Ph.D., licensed counselor and former firefighter, to serve as the Interim Executive Director for 2018.

At the end of 2018, SFSC identified and hired Executive Director, John Balash, a former police officer and licensed professional clinical counselor, and licensed chemical dependency counselor. Previously, he was the Director of Behavioral Health for Greenleaf Family Center. Having the necessary background and expertise, as well as the experience with SFSC, helped to ensure a smooth transition. Additionally, Bob Gribble agreed to remain active in the organization and to serve on the board in 2019. SFSC is also fortunate to have APD Captain Kris Beitzel agree to serve as President of the Board; and Chip Westfall, former SFSC Board President and initial Interim Director, agreed to remain on the board of directors to support Mr. Balash through his first year.

In 2019, the organization was incorporated as the Safety Forces Support Center under its own 501C3 designation with the IRS. Thanks to the hard work and commitment of the staff and board members there was no break in service to Summit County’s first responders, and in fact, all services grew enormously. Because of the growing demand for clinical hours – up to 90 in 2019! – and peer support training, the decision was made by the board to hire a designated Executive Director to oversee the business operations  of the SFSC, freeing Mr. Balash to focus exclusively on counseling and peer support oversight for the time he remained with the Center.

By 2020, the staff had grown to include Executive Director, Cameron Mosley; Director of Behavioral Health, Kay Krych; Director of CISM and Education Service, Jennifer Cramer and Administrative Assistant, Stacey Millward. With the combined efforts of Kay and Jennifer, the SFSC provided over 400 clinical hours of counseling, over 1900 hours of chaplaincy outreach, 11 debriefs supporting 80 first responders, outreach to 15 departments/groups and trained 10 team members in CISD – all during the pandemic that shut down the SFSC for nearly 8 months.

Growth continued in 2021 with over 650 clinical hours provided, requiring the addition of three new PRN counselors to keep up with demand. As stigma is reduced, trust is established, and first responders reach out for the help they need, the Safety Forces Support Center intends to be here. By God’s grace and the generosity of the community.