Dani Leedy’s legacy inspires new rehab center in Toledo

Jane Imbody
| Reporter assisted by AI

A new mental health rehabilitation center in Toledo is set to open this fall, honoring the memory of Mansfield native Danielle “Dani” Leedy.

The 17,000-square-foot, $11.4 million facility named Dani’s Place will provide a supervised living environment for individuals transitioning from inpatient psychiatric care, according to a community announcement.

Leedy, who died by suicide in 2019 at age 33 after a long battle with depression, inspired the creation of the center. Her parents, Donna and Jeff Heck of Lexington, founded the Mansfield-based mental health nonprofit 33 Forever Inc. after her death.

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Facility will serve up to 16 residents

The center will serve up to 16 residents at a time and includes three wings with individual bedrooms, a kitchen, a meditation room, a workout room, group treatment rooms, an outpatient wing and an internal open courtyard. Funding came from a collaboration of federal, state, local and private sources, including 33 Forever.

Toledo-based Unison Health will operate the facility.

Facility will fill a mental health care void

The facility aims to address a critical gap in mental health care by providing continued treatment and care for individuals leaving inpatient psychiatric care.

“After three short days in a lockdown psychiatric unit of a level one trauma center, they gave her [Dani] back to us without post-hospitalization care, any plan, referrals for anything; we were left completely on our own,” Donna Heck said in the announcement. “It was in that scary and dark time that the seed was planted in our minds for the concept that is now Dani’s Place.”

Scott Sylak, executive director of the Mental Health & Recovery Services Board of Lucas County, noted that people recovering from surgeries and other medical issues routinely enter rehabilitation settings before returning to their homes. In contrast, people recovering from a major mental health crisis typically leave the hospital after a stay of just three to 10 days.

Individuals discharged too soon from psychiatric hospital care are at 14 times greater risk of suicide within three months after their discharge, according to LeeAnne Cornyn, director of Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

“According the National Institute of Mental Health, one in five adults in the United States lives with mental illness and suicide is the second leading cause of death for those between the ages of 10 and 34. That has to change,” Jeff Heck said in the announcement. “These aren’t just statistics. These are people. It could be your aunt, your neighbor, your co-worker, your friend — or even your daughter.”

This story was created by Jane Imbody, [email protected], with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct/.

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