Needs dictate the response at The Center for Balanced Living

 
According to Laura Hill, Ph.D., the biggest business challenge at The Center for Balanced Living was her.
“I’m a psychologist first, a researcher second and will run a business if I need to, and I needed to,” says the president and CEO. “On one level it’s probably best I didn’t know all that it would take to open a nonprofit, or I would never have done it. It was the most overwhelming thing I’ve ever done in my life.
“And it has certainly been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever experienced in my life.”
In the late 1990s, Hill was directing Harding Hospital’s eating disorder program. But when the hospital merged with The Ohio State University, it was one of the outpatient programs that closed, even though it was the only treatment center in Central Ohio at the time.
Hill moved over to OSU’s Department of Psychiatry and encouraged the dean to establish a treatment program, as he was getting hundreds of calls a month.
But in the end it all came down to one person.
Hill had a patient suffering from severe acute anorexia who was sent out of state for inpatient treatment. But when she returned, she began to relapse.
“She was very timid and becoming quite sick again. And she said, ‘Dr. Hill, I just can’t fight this. I just don’t have any reason to live.’” Hill says. “And in my desperation, I looked at her and said, ‘If you’re willing to fight, then I will fight to open an eating disorder clinic.’
“And she got up, to my surprise, walked across the office, and said, ‘Will you shake on that?’”
The two kept each other going and held each other accountable. Nine months later, the patient ceased her treatment and a month after that, Hill opened a clinic on the former Harding campus.
Today, The Center for Balanced Living has its own building with 35 employees, who have helped with groundbreaking research.
The nonprofit sees about 500 adults and older adolescents a week — the average patient age is 37. It also provides free support groups to thousands and has aided Nationwide Children’s Hospital in opening its own eating disorder program that focuses on younger patients.
Look elsewhere for answers
When Hill first opened the center, she found support along the way. More than 200 people helped her with the process — she still has a list.
Hill took copious notes, while using her vicious stubbornness and the patients to keep her grounded and moving forward.
One of the scariest moments was when a grant fell through at the last minute.
She had money to buy furniture and computers, but no money to pay the salaries of herself and three others.
Everybody worked for no income for four months; within two years they all were paid back.
That blocked grant led Hill to believe if they relied on grants for ongoing funding, they’d be doomed.
“Ultimately, I decided, the only thing I can do is what I’m doing in this moment, and I’m just going to keep going,” Hill says. “And if it closes, or if it never gets off, it doesn’t. If it does, we’ll take it one day at a time. And that’s the only way I’ve been able to survive it.”
Even today, when she finally feels like she knows what she’s doing, Hill relies on her board of directors. This past year, the center did its first major fundraiser in order to find its own building, which wouldn’t have been possible without the board and area foundations.
“If you’re going to step into it, don’t assume that you have all of the answers, but together the whole community has the answers,” she says.
Stick to your mission
Even though the center has always grown, Hill ensures it sticks to its mission — providing specialized eating disorder treatment, education and research to meet the needs of the community, whether that’s Central Ohio or wider.
“I truly do believe if the need is there, then the opportunity can follow,” she says.
If something comes up that fits within that mission, it’s the center’s responsibility to meet that need, whatever that takes.
“Many times, the staff will come and say, ‘Let’s do this,’ and I will say that’s a great idea, but that’s not a part of our mission,” Hill says. “So and so is the agency to do that, so let’s collaborate with them, so we don’t have to reinvent that wheel.”
Hill and her staff also seek feedback from the clients and their families with every clinical tool that’s developed, trying to make it as practical and effective as possible.

“The central part of The Center for Balance Living is the clients,” she says. “The service and the strength are in both the clients and our amazing staff and our leadership through the board. I just get to be the interpreter along the way.”