Three projects have been selected by a panel of judges representing 13 statewide organizations as finalists for the 2025 Governor’s Award for Parks and Recreation presented by Ohio Parks and Recreation Association. MetroParks of Butler County’s Suicide Prevention Sign Campaign, Preservation Parks of Delaware County’s The Braille Trail at Hogback Ridge Park, and the City of Toledo’s One Pill Can Kill: One Voice Can Save a Life were selected from among the 13 first place award winners.
MetroParks of Butler County’s Suicide Prevention Sign Campaign
MetroParks of Butler County, in partnership with the Butler County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board (MHARS), launched an initiative in 2025 to make mental health resources immediately visible and accessible in public parks. Between 2020-2024, Butler County’s parks saw 18 suicides and 17 fatal overdoses, highlighting a critical need for crisis support. In response, the agencies installed mental health crisis signs in all 23 MetroParks, displaying the Butler County Crisis Hotline, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, and the Veterans Crisis Line. Strategically placed near parking lots, trailheads, and kiosks, the signs reach thousands of visitors in high-traffic areas, providing a “no wrong door” path to help.
This partnership combined MHARS’ behavioral health expertise with MetroParks’ operational and design capacity, creating a sustainable, low-cost model for other parks and recreation systems. With over 1.05 million yearly park visits and extensive social media reach, the initiative has amplified crisis support messaging countywide, promoted hope, and reduced barriers to care. The program has already expanded to multiple cities and townships, establishing a scalable framework for integrating behavioral health awareness into public green spaces.
By transforming parks into safe, welcoming spaces for healing, this initiative ensures that every visit can connect someone in distress to life-saving resources, fostering community resilience, hope, and mental wellness.
Preservation Parks of Delaware County’s The Braille Trail at Hogback Ridge Park
In April 2025, Preservation Parks of Delaware County opened the Braille Trail at Hogback Ridge Park in Sunbury—the only known Braille Trail in central Ohio. At 0.4 mile, the trail creates a safe, inclusive way for people of all abilities to connect with nature. Designed to engage touch, sound, and sight, the trail features a continuous guidance rope threaded through metal posts, a stable crushed gravel surface, and three interactive interpretive signs. Visitors are invited to listen to the forest, feel the bark of a shagbark hickory, and explore the tactile shape of Ohio’s state wildflower, the trillium.
The project also includes the park district’s first family-style accessible restroom with an adult changing station and a 3D tactile map at the trailhead. These achievements remove barriers and set a new standard for accessibility in parks.
Developed in partnership with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, the American Council of the Blind of Ohio Sports & Recreation Committee, and the Sunbury Lions Club, the Braille Trail reflects collaboration, creativity, and resourcefulness. Supported by a $120,000 grant from the Delaware County Board of Developmental Disabilities, the project is both financially and environmentally sustainable.
City of Toledo’s One Pill Can Kill: One Voice Can Save a Life
The One Pill Can Kill: One Voice Can Save a Life initiative represents a groundbreaking collaboration between the City of Toledo Parks & Youth Services, DEA Operation Engage, and the DEA Educational Foundation. Designed to address the fentanyl and opioid crisis through recreation and youth engagement, this program transforms basketball courts, community centers, and dance floors into platforms for prevention and wellness.
What began as a community conversation evolved into a nationally recognized model. Through martial arts, basketball clinics, and creative arts, youth gained life skills and the confidence to advocate for themselves and their peers. The partnership was later featured by DEA Community Outreach Specialist Wendi Jackson in Washington, D.C., highlighting Toledo as the first municipal park system in the nation to partner directly with the DEA on prevention education.
By integrating recreation with real-world prevention strategies, Toledo demonstrates how parks can strengthen resilience, empower youth, and save lives—aligning with statewide efforts such as RecoveryOhio to promote education, wellness, and hope across communities.
The Governor’s Award for Parks and Recreation, presented by Ohio Parks and Recreation Association was established in 2010 to recognize the one park and recreation project, program, or event that has had the most significant impact on quality of life in the preceding year. Officials from 13 statewide organizations formed the voting panel for the 2025 award. They judged the first place winners based on the following criteria:
- Demonstrated impact of the project, program, or event on the community quality of life;
- The project, program, or event is unique/innovative or presents a new way of doing something;
- The project, program, or event addresses a felt need in the community and includes clear goals which are achieved; and,
- The project, program, or event is utilized by the community and outcomes can be demonstrated.
The award winner will be announced and the award presented at the OPRA Annual Awards Dinner on February 3, 2026 at the Kalahari Convention Center in Sandusky.