The Carrousel District
In the News!

Nursing association heals throughtout the area
Reprinted with permission of Mansfield News Journal. This article appeared
in the Mansfield News Journal on October 15, 2007.
Written by Jami Kinton

The Visiting Nurses Association says its organization will serve anybody. According to its Web site, the VNA is a nonprofit, community-based home health organization, offering quality of life and independence to patients through comprehensive home health care.
Guided by charitable missions, VNA's currently care for nearly 4 million people annually around the country.
The Mid-Ohio VNA is based in Mansfield and is assisted with funds from United Way. In addition to Richland County, it also serves Ashland, Crawford, Huron, Holmes, Knox, Marion, Morrow, Wayne and Wyandot counties.
"What really makes us unique is that we'll care for anybody," said Steve Hagerman, Mansfield business development manager. "Because we're a nonprofit organization, we almost never turn people down who require our services."
Corporate Director of Advancement in Cleveland, Diane Gallagher said the current demand for home care service is high. "If grandma is elderly and needs home care after being released from the hospital, we provide the services she needs," Gallagher said. "People are getting kicked out of holspitals faster than ever before, so there's a great need for what we do."
Hagerman said the local VNA can provide nurses, physical, occupational and speech therapists, personal care assistants, social workers and mental health workers to its patients.
"We don't really provide long-term care for people," Hagerman said. "We just help people until they can get back on their feet. Everyone's care is also determined on an individual basis. We might turn someone down because we just don't have the staff to provide for what they need, but we would never decline someone our services because they couldn't afford them." United Way funding is tapped into when needed, he said. "A lot of seniors don't realize that Medicare could also cover the whole thing," Hagerman said. He added that if the VNA cannot assist a patient, it refers individuals to another agency that could help.
Gallagher said the services don't always have to be within a patient's home. "We're flexible enough to meet them somewhere else if they prefer," she said. "We have nurses who meet their patients at McDonald's. They have a cup of coffee and talk about health, and that makes it a little less formal."
Hagerman said personal care assistants could be on-call for as long as 24 hours a day. "They can cook for you, clean or even take you to a concert," he said. "They can also travel with you. People really want to stay out of nursing homes, so this business is definitely growing."
One of the more unique services VNA offers is an in-home health monitoring program, called the TeleCare program. Hagerman said the system collects daily clinical measurement which can include everything from a person's heart rate and blood pressure to glucose level and lung capacity. Any irregular results prompt a call from a live, local nurse. "Re-hospitalization has been highly reduced with the installation of this machine," Gallagher said. "Patients really miss this when we take it out of their homes."
Hagerman said the main goal of the VNA is to care for people and provide education to keep them healthy. "Basically, we just want to let people know we're here and we want to help," he said.
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Find you peace at Yoga on Main

Reprinted with permission of Mansfield News Journal. This article appeared
in the Mansfield News Journal on December 17, 2006.
Written by Lisa Miller

Outside, cars were zipping along and workers were hurrying back
to their offices. Inside, on the second floor of 111 N. Main
Sreet, the only sounds were Amy Secrist's breathing and her 2 1/2
year old son Thomas' happy feet on the bare floor.

Beginning in January, Secrist will teach Ashtanga yoga and Claudia Cummins will instruct Hatha yoga classes at Yoga on Main.

Annamarie Fernyak, of Engwiller Properties, the property management company for the buildings in the Carrousel District, said the company was "facilitating" the yoga studio. That includes doing the marketing and organizing but leaving the programming up to the instructors, who will offer yoga classes and meditation workshops for children, adults and seniors.

"We have this really wonderful space," Fernyak said of the 1,000 square-foot site that features a skylight, large windows, cream-colored, allergen-free paint and laminate flooring.

Many studios don't offer a dedicated space, Fernyak said, and are forced to share their areas with aerobics or other fitness classes.

While 'Yoga comes first," she said the Yoga On Main space will also be available for use by groups promoting positive spirituality.

One of Cummins' former students, Fernyak said she spoke to the Mansfield native about teaching downtown and Cummins, in turn, recruited Secrist. With the studio right around the corner from her Fourth Streeet office, "now I have no excuse," Fernyak said.

A Harvard University graduate, former Washington, D.C., journalist and White House staffer, Cummins writes, works in her family's local business and teaches yoga. Her web site explains that "Hatha yoga fosters health, happiness and well-being through focused movement of the body and breath. The deep stretches and flowing motions of this ancient art calm the mind, heal the body and energize the spirit. Considered a form of meditation through movement, yoga strengthens the body while melting away long-held tensions that obstruct our natural vitality. Consistent practice has the power to unleash rich and creative streams of energy from deep inside, inspiring a profound sense of health, wholeness, ease and illumination."

Secrist, who grew up near Pittsburgh, has lived in the Mansfield area for 10 years. She has a bachelor's degree in English from the Ohio State University and is working on her master's degree in English. She studied at Yoga on High in Columbus and has taught at the Richland Academy and the OSU-Mansfield campus.

"I think there's a lot of interest" in yoga, Secrist said before demonstrating a sun salutation and then poses including upward facing dog. Noting its health benefits, she said yoga teaches how to breathe effortlessly and deeply to lower stress levels, with the twising and bending offering a kind of massage to the internal organs.

The 28 year old said she doesn't really have any goals of how many people will come to the sudio when classes begin next month but acknowledged, "I'm excited for the possibilities." She advises new students to wear comfortable clothing, not too tight or too loose. Mats are recommended.

For those checking out yoga for the first time or unsure about making an investment in a mat, Fernyak said props will be provided. "We'll have everything they need," she said.

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Upscale condos could revitalize city's downtown

Reprinted with permission of Mansfield News Journal. This article appeared
in the Mansfield News Journal on November 26, 2006.
Written by Linda Martz

A downtown developer hopes luxury condominiums being
planned now will add diversity and demand that will be good for
the downtown business climate.

In 2008, Engwiller Properties will start marketing the first of up
to 38 condos it plans to renovate in upper floors of retail buildings

Annamarie Fernyak, marketing and leasing director for the
company, sees "empty nesters" as a top market - people in their
mid-50's or older whose children are grown, who are eyeing
retirement and who like small communities and want to be
active, without responsibility for yard maintenance.

Young urban professionals without children will be another target
market, she said.

Engwiller Properties plans to put the upscale condominiums,
finished to the buyers' own tastes, up for sale at prices starting at
$ 100,000.00.

"We know really it's going to take one person to make that jump,
and then it's going to take off," she said.

Fernyak, an interior designer, ran a retail business in the
Carrousel District for 12 years before taking over the property
management portion of Engwiller Properties, which is run by her
in-laws, John and Mimi Fernyak.

She sees herself condinuing what has been their "labor of love"
the last few decades - purchasing downtown buildings and
renovating them for new use.

"The Chamber District has a lot of heart," Annamarie Fernyak said.

Up to now, the Fernyaks have focused on creating attractive
retail space on the ground floors of downtown buildings, she
said. With much of that work done, it was time to begin
renovating the second and third floors of five downtown
buildings for housing.

But the first real work is being done in the building near the
corner of Fourth and Main Streets, which has a rooftop view of
Richland Carrousel Park. That building has space for 10 to 12
condos and will be marketed as The Lofts on Main. One
additional nearby unit, "108 Rear," could be created above the
Manhattan Room at 108 N. Main Street.

With their high ceilings and windows stretching nearly floor to
ceiling, the downtown buildings will make great condos, she said.

Security, a big issue for empty nesters, will be dealt with at The
Lofts by creating a small parking garage for condo owners, which
they would access with a garage door opener. A fenced-in-
walkway between The Lofts and the parking area would provide
safe access at any hour, Fernyak said.

Exterior walls will be insulated to keep heating bills under control
- though if buyers prefer, interior brick walls can be left as they
are.

Noise between floors will be dampened by lowering ceilings 6 to
8 inches and blowing in insulation. "Even after that, ceiling
heights in the Lofts will be impressive," Fernyak said.

Condo buyers can work with Engwiller Properties on design
choices, including countertop materials and appliance colors.
"We are building to suit, within certain parameters," Fernyak
said.

People interested in buying an unfinished condo and making
improvements on their own, with help from the company, could
look into that even before Engwiller Properties completes it's first
model units in 2008. "Obviously they could get great prices on
the raw spaces," the marketing director said.

Four or five prospective buyers - mostly empty nesters - have
nibbled the bait, but the company hasn't actually sold units
because it hasn't been far enough along on such particulars as
elevators or parking, she said.

Mansfield has a lot ot offer those looking to retire, she said - a
relatively small and intimate Midwestern community, with arts
and theater amenities, Mohican State Park, Malabar Farm and
"great nonprofits" in abundance where retirees can stay active as
volunteers.

We want people who have a passionate, vested interest in
downtown," who want to see good restaurants and businesses
in their neighborhood, she said.

"Our goal is to do these two, then move on the the next one,"
she said. " We've been planning this for 12 years."

Engwiller Properties plans to sell the spaces, not rent. "we don't
want to be residential landlords. They will only be for sale, not
for lease," Fernyak said.

Main Street Mansfield would like to see Engwiller Properties
succeed with its plans, said spokeswoman Jennifer Kime.

More than 9,000 people work in the downtown area, she said.

The addition of several hundred people living downtown could
strengthen the customer base for nearby businesses, especially
restaurants, Kime said.

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Downtown Residents hopeful new
condos will improve Mansfield

Reprinted with permission of Mansfield News Journal. This article appeared
in the Mansfield News Journal on November 26, 2006.
Written by Linda Martz

Downtown Mansfield already is home to a few working
professionals - people who don't have far to go when it's time to
clock in at the office.

Rob Hemmick, who runs the computer lab at the Mansfield
Richland County Public Library, moved downtown about a year
ago, renting an upper floor apartment in a building on South Park
Street.

"I just like urban living," he said.

It takes him just three minutes to walk to work. On frosty winter
mornings, "by the time most people have their windshield
scraped off, I'm already there," he said.

Hemmick enjoys living in a neighborhood with interesting
architecture - each building different, not stamped from a
cookie cutter like some subdivisions. "I'm always drawn to
downtowns, and I'm drawn to the history of the buildings," he
said.

He thinks it's sad Mansfield has lost some of its great old
downtown buildings like the Southern Hotel, where Teddy
Roosevelt once greeted local voters. "Now it's just a gravel lot
with about three cars on it," he said.

Hemmick would like to see more people living downtown, but
realized it's tricky business making downtown space attractive to
middle-class people who are used to settling in the suburbs.

It's a chicken-or-egg dilemma, he said. "How can you put the
businesses in when you don't have the people? (And) how can
you get people in when the restaurants close at 5 p.m.?"

Those with a penchant for adventure are likely to be the first to
move in, he said. Hemmick said he's aware of Engwiller
Properties plans to market $100,000.00 condos on upper floors of
buildings. He admits he could more easily envision
empty nesters moving into upscale condos than young
professionals like himself. "I don't know too many young
professionals that have that kind of money," he said.

Still, he's hopeful.

Alan Wigton also lives downtown, in the same building as his
business, Little Journeys Bookshop, 16 S. Main Street.

The move to downtown housing three years ago meant a few
adjustments. He got rid of a boat and second car. Now Wigton
rents a parking space for his remaining car for $ 12 a month. He
uses that space by day, then parks either there or near meters
at night.

His car has never been broken into, unlike his previous address
on Park Avenue West, where thieves struck twice.

"I've always felt safe at night," he said of downtown, noting that
the west end of the square has improved as a residential
neighborhood. One of the two bars near his residence shut
down, which reduced noise at night from people who trekked
between the two.

Wigton believes one factor that has slowed the number of
projects to convert downtown space into housing is that people
insist on elevators before they'll take an upper-story unit - an
expensive proposition not all landlords can provide. "People any
more have no tolerance for going up 25 steps from the street to an apartment," he said.

The business owner said he hopes Engwiller Properties is
successful with its upscale condo plan.

He could envision current retail shops, which have a little extra
space, gradually taking on "mini-mart" functions - selling milk
and bread on the side - as more people move in.

"That kind of thing would grow along with the population," he
said.

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