03/14/2025 | Tyler's Redemption Place

AKRON, Ohio-When you walk into Tyler's Redemption Place in Akron, you get the feeling of a retreat. Cozy couches and warm lighting inside the log cabin harken a spa or sanctuary, and there is even a sauna and salt cave. It's all by design, explained co-founder Shelly Bornstein.

"People walk in here and you see them kind of perk up, like 'Really? This is for me?'"

Bornstein said it doesn't look like the dank, sterile facilities her son, Tyler, would walk into looking for help to battle his addiction to heroin. Bornstein and her husband, Travis, wanted to build a space that felt welcoming, like family. "When you come in a place and you feel instantly accepted, supported, and loved, it changes everything," she said.

Everything changed for the Bornsteins when Tyler, 23, died in 2014 from an opioid overdose. Like many people, Borstein said Tyler's path to addiction began after he was prescribed prescription painkillers. "We didn't understand addiction as a disease," Bornstein said.

After Tyler's death, the couple leaned on their faith to guide them. Two years later, they founded Hope United to bring awareness and support to families struggling with addiction. In 2023, they opened the doors of Tyler's Redemption Place, a Recovery Community Organization (RCO) named in honor of their late son. They wanted it to be a safe place for people in between treatment and long-term recovery.

Not long after Tyler's Redemption Place opened, Pat Hill started showing up. The Army veteran struggled in his transition to civilian life. "My dream was to make my life out of the military," Hill said. "When you lose that, you lose your purpose and support. I tried to replace it with bars and the people who hung out in bars, and it just wasn't the same."

At first, Hill was hitting the gym at Tyler's Place regularly, working out with Travis Bornstein. The two forged a relationship that would help change the trajectory of Hill's life. He got more involved when Travis asked him to help start a men's group, and he now attends weekly veterans' recovery meetings. After some encouragement from others, Hill signed up for a virtual reality therapy program. "I saw other dudes doing it and they're like, 'this is kind of awesome.'"

With grant money from OhioMHAS, Tyler's Redemption Place now offers a veteran-specific therapy similar to a video game. Participants commit to 17 sessions designed to transform negative thoughts and behaviors. "There are interactive videos where you're in a canoe and going down this lake and like they're talking about breathing, meditation, and stuff," Hill said. "It's kind of cool."

Much like a mother bragging humbly about a child, Shelly Bornstein said Hill's transformation hasn't gone unnoticed. "He's really working on himself and growing in so many different ways," she said.

As for her own late son, Bornstein believes Tyler is smiling down on them. "I think he'd be very proud. I think he'd love everything we're doing."