Womanline merging with Family Services; services not affected

Family Services of Dayton will now oversee Womanline, a counseling and mental health service, in a move designed to save on administrative costs.

The merger will not affect program offerings from either organization, but Womanline will move into Family Services’ building located at 2211 Arbor Boulevard, Family Services executive director Bonnie Parish said in a news release Tuesday.

Womanline previously was located on Sixth Street in Dayton’s Oregon District. It downsized its work space and moved to Kettering two years ago.

The two organizations were still trying to combine budgets on Tuesday and Parish said they did not know yet how much money would be saved from the consolidation. Family Services gets the majority of its more than $1.6 million in support from government grants, services for the deaf community and the United Way, according to a 2013 annual report.

“It’s what the community and our funders are asking for,” Parish said of the merger.

While the organizations have previously worked with each other to provide services, Womanline formally became a program of Family Services on Dec. 1. Parish anticipates the merger will allow the organizations to “better serve those in need.”

“We just want to continue doing together what we’ve always done,” Parish said.

For most of its 30-plus years, Womanline has focused on helping women who were sexually abused as children, according to the organization’s website. In 2014, Womanline expanded its services to assist those with eating disorders.

The organizations are celebrating coming together just as Family Services is celebrating its 120th birthday.

“We are excited about the opportunity to work together to continue to be at the forefront of providing critical mental health counseling services for the Greater Miami Valley,” Parish said.

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