Mission: South Street Ministries equips and inspires the restoration of community, economy, and faith.

Vision: South Street Ministries aspires to empower authentic community voice, leadership, and transformation within the South Akron, Summit Lake, and Reentry communities.

Purpose: Inspired by the love and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, SSM partners with our neighbors in wholistic community development to pursue justice, peace, and love.

Twenty-nine years ago, Duane and Lisa Crabbs moved into the Summit Lake neighborhood. They established a presence there as a family, as neighbors, and as pastoral friends. As they raised their own children, neighborhood kids would join the Crabbs family for whatever event was planned. Children from Summit Lake would join the Crabbs family on a trip to the library, for an evening bonfire, or to play on the swing set.

As the Crabbs children grew up, presence turned into programming and the present youth activities of South Street Ministries were formed: after-school program, bike shop, youth gardening, summer camp, open gym, football camp, girls group, and throughout it all, a continued neighborhood presence.

Founded in 1997 by Duane and Lisa Crabbs, South Street has had twenty-nine years of programming, ministry, and shared life with residents of Summit Lake and South Akron, including some of the lowest-income and under-resourced individuals in Akron. South Street Ministries became a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2008, and the organization formalized its commitment to the physical, socio-economic, and spiritual well-being of the South Akron/Summit Lake neighborhood.

South Street’s mission statement is to equip and inspire the restoration of community, economy, and faith. South Street’s vision statement is to empower authentic community voice, leadership, and transformation within the South Akron, Summit Lake, and Reentry communities. Thus, South Street Ministries reaches across racial, economic, cultural, and religious barriers for the enrichment of the community. This mission is best quantified through South Street’s programmatic efforts.

The major programs of South Street include Firehouse Youth program (school-year and summer), Bike Shop, South Street ReDirection Services, and Community Engagement. The largest endeavor of South Street Ministries is The Front Porch, a community hub in South Akron, where most of the daily activities of South Street now take place, including ReDirection Services, recovery groups, the main Bike Shop shop, and general administration.

Over the years and today, the 798 and 801 Grant Street properties have operated as a Community Hub and entry point to the South Akron neighborhood. The Front Porch building, located at 798 Grant Street in South Akron, was donated to South Street Ministries in 2008. Hank Richards and the Kingdom Builders owned the property and prayerfully transferred the building to South Street in order to open up the Front Porch Café. With the support of Christ Community Chapel’s Micah 6:8 support, the interior of the Front Porch Café was renovated into a fully functioning kitchen. As the Café grew, so did the ministry and impact of the Front Porch space: recovery groups and motorcycle clubs made the café their home. In 2012, the Summit County Reentry Network began weekly peer-to-peer reentry meetings. Also in 2012, 801 Grant Street, the property across from The Front Porch, was generously donated to the organization and became part of The Front Porch Community Hub. 801 Grant Street has served a variety of functions, including men’s reentry housing, South Street Ministries administrative offices, staff housing, placemaking services, and offices for World Relief in Akron. South Street Ministries renovated 801 Grant Street to serve as Restoration House. Restoration House is transitional housing for justice-involved women providing additional programmatic support in their Reentry-Restored-Restoration journey. ReDirections Services’ leadership and volunteers will provide residents with supportive programming, including mental health, substance disorder, art therapy, self-care, etc, in addition to regular Reentry Services. In 2015, Faithful Servants helped with the backroom renovations and opened a health clinic in the community. As second-floor renovations were completed in 2017, the Akron Leadership Foundation moved in to offer leadership development, economic development, and a place of networking to The Front Porch. The Front Porch at 798 Grant Street has operated as a gathering place for recovery, reentry, the arts, health care, social enterprise programs, and community discussion. Since 2018, South Street Ministries has been the home of Summit County Reentry Services and continues to run a weekly Reentry peer-to-peer support meeting, and this grew into working with the Summit County ADM Board to service specific Reentry caseloads (Community Transition Program). After the pandemic, the Front Porch began a new stage in its life. The Front Porch Café closed during the pandemic, and once South Street offices reopened, we were approached by a group of entrepreneurs to open Porchlight Coffee in the old café space. Porchlight continues in that space today, running an amazing coffee shop that provides space for meetings of all types. Also, after the pandemic, the basement at the Front Porch was transformed into Bike Shop’s main shop and storage space. The final program running out of the Crabbs’ home had moved to 798 Grant St. The back room downstairs remains a multi-use room, as Faithful Servants had to truncate their operations during the pandemic. Today, The Front Porch is more than all its individual parts — it is a community hub for recovery, reentry, health, spirituality, and gathering in the South Akron neighborhood.

South Street Ministries continues to build on the faithful legacy of Lisa and Duane Crabbs by bringing life and love into the 798 and 801 locations, and beyond. Even after twenty-nine years and as the organization grows, South Street Ministries’ legacy mission statement still rings true – “Unlikely partners taking shared risks to renew our community for Christ’s sake”.