An aftercare program that bolsters the long-term success of patients recovering from drug and alcohol addiction is moving into the old Boy Scouts of America headquarters on Main Street in Akron's Firestone Park neighborhood.

The Interval Brotherhood Home Foundation Inc., or IBH, plans to use the old Firestone Tire office building at 1601 S. Main St. as the permanent home for its REACH Project, which supports sustained sobriety through peer-based counseling and community outreach.

IBH was founded in 1970 to blend clinical and spiritual approaches to treating addiction. The nonprofit organization operates an 86-acre residential treatment facility for men and women further south on Main Street in the Portage Lakes area.

The REACH Project, which stands for Recovery, Education, Accountability, Community and Hope, was launched in 2014 to “sustain long term sobriety after residential treatment by providing organized post-treatment activities that foster safe friendships, reinforcement of values learned during treatment, a strong sense of community and increased self-esteem,” according to the organization’s website.

IBH reports that 84% of participants stay sober while enrolled in the program, which supervised 373 clients in performing 5,877 volunteer service hours on 265 community projects in 2016.

If IBH executes an option to purchase 1601 S. Main St., the office building constructed by Firestone Tire in 1958 will have been vacant for only a year. The Boy Scouts of America Great Trail Council previously used the 9,500-square-foot space from 1980 until late last year, when the youth organization announced that it would relocate to a 21,453-square-foot building at 4500 Hudson Drive in Stow.

IBH Executive Director Jonathan Wylly said the South Main Street building is intended to expand IBH’s continuum of treatment services.

REACH could be up and running in the building by the end of the year provided IBH gets the necessary government permissions. The location is ideal for the community service part of the REACH mission, Wylly said.

And while there is no specific timetable, a new IBH outpatient program could be in place in the building sometime in 2020, Wylly said.

“It is a big undertaking,” he said. “It’s us expanding what we do.”

REACH and outpatient services work hand in hand with IBH’s mission, he said.

“It’s our goal to hang onto our clients,” Wylly said. “The ultimate goal is to stay with our clients after they leave campus.”

According to a proposal to be considered Friday by the Akron Planning Commission, IBH will perform basic interior remodeling and install new exterior signage and a 6-foot-tall fence around the building and 46-car parking lot to provide privacy for clients and the surrounding neighborhood.

The Akron Planning Department, which anticipates the new tenant will have no negative impact on the surrounding community, has reviewed a conditional use permit and site plans. The city department recommends approval by the planning commission and, when the proposal comes before them in a few weeks for a final vote, City Council.

Reach Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792. Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.