Our Leadership

Ted St. John.

Chief Executive of Hope Town, Inc.

Ted St. John is a dedicated leader and lifelong resident of Portage County, Ohio, with a multifaceted background and a passion for community service. Since 2012, he has immersed himself in various facets of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, holding pivotal roles at esteemed institutions such as Glenbeigh Hospital, First Step Recovery, and New Day Recovery. 

Throughout his career, Ted has been instrumental in ensuring agencies meet necessary licensing and accreditation standards, while also spearheading the establishment and operation of several local recovery houses. Prior to his work in SUD treatment, Ted enjoyed a diverse career path that included many years as a personal trainer, national-level bodybuilder, health club owner, and successful steel sales professional.

Beyond his professional endeavors, Ted remains actively engaged in community service, serving on committees such as the Portage County Drug Task Force and the Trumbull County ASAP Coalition. Currently, Ted holds pivotal roles in organizations such as the Portage County Substance Abuse Coalition, the Advisory Board for Portage County Specialty Dockets (Drug Courts), and Board of Directors for Ohio Recovery Housing.

Additionally, Ted sits on the Board of Directors for the state’s OneOhio Recovery Foundation, leveraging his expertise to advocate for those in need of support.

Ted’s commitment to service extends beyond his professional and advocacy roles, as evidenced by his honorable service in the U.S. Air Force as a Military Police officer. Furthermore, Ted has contributed to education and youth development as a member of the Windham School Board since 2020. With a rich tapestry of experiences and a steadfast dedication to making a difference, Ted St. John continues to be a driving force for positive change in his community and beyond.

Adam Ciganik

Program Manager

Adam oversees our Jail Reentry Program and community linkage programs. He is a certified Peer Recovery Supporter with lived experience recovering from alcoholism/addiction.

Adam was born and raised as a Portage County resident to a single mother, who was a Sergeant Correctional Officer at the Portage County Jail. He was taught the importance of being of service to others with an empathetic perspective. These morals diminished as Adam’s addiction rendered him powerless and a slave to compulsive self-centered behavior. From age 15, Adam’s addiction continued to spiral out of control for over a 20-year period. His mother passed away from cancer on Mother’s Day 2011, in which he experienced untreated mental health as well. The years that followed consisted of I.V. Heroine use which produced consequences such as: depression, isolation, homelessness, incarceration, drug overdose, suicide attempts, and the inability to maintain long-term employment.

On June 6, 2019, through an act of desperation and divine intervention, Adam decided he had suffered enough and admitted himself into residential treatment with the willingness to change.

Adam decided to continue being employed in the construction trade throughout the first few years of recovery. He often found himself anticipating the moment he was done with the workday so he could go help more people find recovery. He realized that his soul’s urge was to be of maximum service to others. He decided to follow his heart by changing his employment direction.

Adam worked for Hope Village as a certified Peer Recovery Supporter in 2021 until 2023. During that time, he was promoted to the position of Jail Reentry Supervisor and Linkage & Navigation Coordinator. He then transferred to Hope Town and we brought his programs with him. Now, he and his staff continue to help bridge gaps and navigate urgent needs when assisting individuals suffering from mental health and addiction.

Adam enjoys nature and spending time with family and friends. He is a Master Mason of the Ebenezer Lodge in Wooster, Ohio and a recognized DeMolay International advisor of Ohio At Large.

Since Adam’s addiction caused his family so much pain, he has personally made it his mission to aid and assist the loved ones with their suffering as well as the addict.

“Not only do the Addicts need to recover, but the families do as well…”

Neil Hirsch

Project Manager / Hope on Wheels Manager

A lifelong resident of Northeast Ohio, Neil has utilized his own experience with long-term recovery to fuel his motivation to help other people with addiction achieve their own life goals.

Neil began working in the treatment field 5 years ago as an overnight monitor for a treatment center in Warren, Ohio where he quickly realized that that people with addiction in treatment were being underserved. After achieving his CDCA licensure, Neil began running groups and individual sessions for New Day Recovery at their River Falls location. Looking for ways to innovate in the addiction treatment field, Neil worked his way to lead CDCA where he was given the chance to start leaving his fingerprints on the program model itself. Neil then left to join a start-up treatment center in Warren, Ohio called Safe Harbor Recovery, where he worked with a team of talented individuals that believed in him enough to let him help design the program model and settle into a new position: program coordinator.

Neil joins Hope Town as the Program Manager with a firm belief that every person with addiction has a voice that deserves to be heard and acknowledged, and he has made it his purpose to meet them where they are at and attempt to guide them to a new life. Realizing that addiction recovery has many different layers and that certain areas of the recovery process are being underserved, Neil was attracted to the vision of Hope Town to help those struggling with substance use disorders reintegrate into society with a plan for continued success and better odds at building the life they were always meant to live.

Neil spends most of his time exploring the local area with his 5-year-old son trying to find the perfect playground, or he can be found with his young German Shepherd on walks or the local dog parks.

With music being his biggest passion, Neil also enjoys collecting and maintaining vinyl records from all genres of music. Taking great pride in being a student of life, Neil encourages others to have a conversation as he believes many great miles of distance can be bridged with communication.

Shelley Goff

Event Coordinator / Female House Coordinator

Shelley is our Administrative and event coordinator, as well as overseeing the Women’s Recovery House. She received her CDCA licensure from the state of Ohio. At 55 she went back to college and is currently attending Kent State Trumbull branch seeking all classes that relate to addiction, recovery, and behavioral health. She enjoys going to school and learning.

Shelley was born and raised most of her life in Warren, Ohio, Trumbull County. When she remarried, she moved to Columbus, Ohio then to Ocean City, Maryland where she lived for 12 years. She loved the eastern shore and misses the very slow paced “salt life” living. She is a mother to 3 children, a son Dustin (Terri) of Clintonville, Ohio, a daughter, Heather (Chris) of Niles, Ohio and a stepdaughter, Jessica (TJ)of Warren, Ohio and a grandmother to a beautiful red hair, blue eyed little girl.

She spent 40 years in the healthcare field doing medical insurance billing and then in the fall of 2022 became a part of Hope Town. She knows firsthand the effects of alcohol and substance abuse and the destruction it does to the family. For 35 years her brother, Mark, struggled with alcohol and substances abuse which ended up taking his life in October 2022. The years of ups and downs with his personal struggles to remain in recovery was hard on the entire family.

Shelley is grateful to be a part of a mission-driven team that is focused on producing life-changing results for the individual as well as their family.

Brian Norsen

House Manager / Operations Coordinator

He came to us for help in late 2022 and quickly proved himself invaluable to the Hope Town mission. From the day he arrived, he proved himself as a person with a tenacious work ethic and adapted to thrive in our system. His passion for helping others and willingness to align to our mission proved itself immediately and putting him in a position to help the Hope Town mission became inevitable.

Brian spent 20+ years in the masonry trade and was most recently a crew supervisor, but he had a desire to align with the purpose his Higher Power presented. He credits his connection as a significant driving force and maintains that it has given him purpose.

Brian has become the manager of our men’s house, a driver, a back-up
dispatcher, and a jack-of-all-trades that makes the mission of Hope Town work the way it does. Recently, he has taken over management of our vehicles and his role is destined to keep expanding.