 Park Rapids will soon see a new facility known as Hawke, the Heartland Activity and Wellness Connection. A meeting was held last Friday to update the public on the progress. Sarah Winkleman was at the meeting and has the details. A better connection and hawk have set out to break cycles of poverty, substance abuse, domestic violence, childhood obesity, and most of all the unmet needs of the community. I got tired of saying no we don't have that service in town and so I just started hiring people and providing some of those services. Not only will behavioral health needs be met but also an adjoining community center will create additional opportunities. It's very inspirational to see what the community is doing pulling together the private sector, the community, the state, the federal in a way that really benefits the community in just a multitude of ways and helps create a community where people want to live and raise their families and work and spend their lives in. One of the many unique services the hawk will provide is integrated treatment. We don't experience them individually. I don't have my chemical health struggles and my mental health struggles. I have them together so being able to treat the client as a whole rather than trying to divide out those symptoms it only makes sense. Providing the best possible care was always at the heart of the project. Danielle's going to make a difference. Just 100% is going to make a difference and I wanted to be part of that. The dream is becoming a reality with the construction for the project underway and the hype throughout the Park Rapids area beginning to grow. I really think what they're doing here the way they pulled so many facets of the community together could really be a model for the rest of the country. A model built on the idea of community connection. The connections that people are making with family members, with other residents, with professionals, with advocates. Danielle and her team are leading the way, one connection at a time. Reporting in Park Rapids, Sarah Winkelman, Lakeland News. The hawk plans to begin taking patients sometime this October. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.