By LaMarr Atchison

My personal journey with mentorship started at South Street under Donovan Harris and Shawn Bonner — two men who gave me direction, guidance, and support — which allowed me to grow and contribute to the community. Now I walk alongside brothers and sisters as they prepare to walk alongside others. The reentry journey requires support, and when it is being led properly, mentorship looks like someone standing with you, not above you.

Mentorship in reentry is the key to growth. And while mentors are important in reentry, the mentee is actually the most important person. When a man is willing to accept guidance and direction from another, he’s showing growth. Mentorship within reentry may even be more important than other mentor-mentee programs, because we need to train men and women returning home the importance of leadership, accountability, and responsibility so they can mentor other young people who need examples of making it in life from past convictions.

Our community youth who are returning home from institutions are often a forgotten population. One of the keys to addressing community violence is teaching men and women how to guide those young people as they return to their communities and to creating mentoring support between old and young. Mentoring is what support looks like for us — and it is necessary for a successful reentry to society.

Your prayers and support for South Street Ministries make this possible. God bless you!

By Jocelyn Grant

The most valuable things in life are not usually tangible, and they are very rarely things.

In our third year of #AdjustTheCrown, continued during the pandemic, we shifted gears to keep everyone safe. Our young ladies focused on learning valuable lessons that will help them overcome obstacles in their future.

To take advantage of the unique opportunity and use technology as a way to prompt our program topics, we watched informational and encouraging video messages featuring artists, therapists, faith leaders, and others. The overarching theme of this season was Courage. We discussed the importance of:

• Accepting and processing the criticisms of others appropriately
• Bringing the fullness of self to every experience, as authenticity can breed success and
• fulfillment
• The power of courage
• Laying down the mental burden of racial unrest around us
• Laying down bad habits or coping mechanisms learned during the pandemic and replacing them with healthy life skills

The ladies also planned, prepared, and donated 20 care packages for the residents of Pebble Creek Nursing Home as a way to encourage them during these difficult times. I appreciate each young woman’s family — they have supported the girls and teens throughout their time with #AdjustTheCrown.

And YOUR partnership has been a blessing to this group of girls as well — thank you for it!

By Joe Tucker

Although most of the ministries of South Street began at 130 W. South Street, the Bike Shop is the only program that still runs from that site — from the garage full of donated bicycles, adjacent to the home of Duane and Lisa Crabbs.

Bike Shop runs completely outside, so the program is delayed or cancelled if it rains. And we have seen some rainy Ohio weather! On Monday, June 7th, Bike Shop summer staff, Yvonne Chappell, and I bought the tools and tubes needed to run the shop for the summer. It poured right before our trip. Thankfully, the sun came out (and dried up all the rain), and we were able to begin the 2021 Bike Shop season.

A father was the first to come. He needed two small bikes for his youngest children and had been directed to the Bike Shop through our reentry team as he was going through the restorative work of being a father again.

A truck pulled up with four other neighborhood youth, some with bikes of their own to repair, some looking to sign up for the Learn and Earn aspect of Bike Shop (earning a bike after working a set amount of hours). The small crew began fixing flats, aligning brakes, affixing training wheels, and learning the tools of the trade. Smiles beamed as the proper-sized nut was found or a wheel returned to usefulness by the work and intentionality of a 10-year-old. The Spirit of God moved as plans were made to return to the shop for further work hours and to connect more deeply with church and community.

The Ohio showers returned just as the last tool was stored. And I returned home for a much needed shower too!

There is a community at work at Bike Shop. Adults and youth learn how to complete a task or fix a flat, but also connect in prayer, faith, and place. We are looking forward to a safe and impactful summer season of Bike Shop ministry, right alongside you. I’m grateful for your compassion and generosity.

By Levi Burden

I’ve been involved with South Street Ministries since 2014, although never to the full capacity, unfortunately, that I’ve wanted. I started going to meetings with my girlfriend at the time, Ali Kezman, at the Front Porch Café. I had been struggling with the faith I had been raised in, and Ali kept telling me about this place she thought would help me get some answers.

My first meeting was very uncomfortable, only because I had never been a part of such an open discussion about issues that individuals and the community were having. Those who shared what was heavy on their hearts clearly knew why they were there. It wasn’t to live in an echo chamber and make certain their beliefs and actions were reinforced; they were there for truth, even when that truth hurt sometimes. But the people of South Street were there to care for and love them through it all. That is what stood out the most to me from the first time I stepped across that creaky wooden floor.

I’m not sure there is one single story I could share that describes what drew me in to supporting this ministry. I’ve seen shattered fathers, teen mothers, alcoholics, the unhoused, the abused … and I’ve also seen wealthy people, entrepreneurs, and stable families come together and join hands to achieve one goal. Coming from a fundamentalist Baptist background, it was really a culture shock to witness this, because what they were doing actually helped their community. I hadn’t had the privilege of seeing that in my life until that point.

Every year, my peers and I here at Sam’s Club 4750 have a unique opportunity to help allocate the budget toward donations for community organizations and schools. Our Club Manager, Christopher Keene, has pushed us to make a difference in our community as best we can. This past year and a half has presented many challenges and obstacles for those serving our community, especially when it comes to hosting events and volunteering on the ground.

Knowing what I know about South Street Ministries and the folks who help run it, I know everything I can do to help its cause will be very well placed and utilized. With optimism on the horizon, I look forward to continuing to support South Street in how I’ve managed to so far, but also in driving engagement with Sam’s Club 4750 associates for any future endeavors.

The love I have witnessed at South Street is the foundation of my relationship with my wife and our view of what our family is. It meant so much to us that we were honored to have Duane Crabbs officiate our wedding in 2015. We strive to pursue truth and understanding in everything we do, even if it’s painful to accept. It has only enriched our lives in the long run.

Here is an update on two South Street initiatives in which you may be interested … or know someone who is!

#1 Across the Lake Circles

We are excited to be incorporating “Circles” into our Across the Lake initiative! We will gather neighbors from Kenmore and Summit Lake (10 from each residential community) together to view our video series and center a discussion around it over the course of four weeks. It’s about envisioning and leading our future together as well as reconciling our past.

Each month:

• 1st Tuesday — Relationship First — where neighbors get to know each other and establish deeper connections.
• 2nd Tuesday — View one of the 20-minute videos and do some Circles work.
• 3rd Tuesday — Talk to Action, answering “What are the things we want to move about and move toward?”
• 4th Tuesday — “What can we as residents move toward?”

Keep an eye out for sign-ups — we would love for you to join!

#2 Book Club Cohort — Embodied Cause

Embodied Cause’s second bi-weekly book club will be covering Too Heavy a Yoke by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes. Dr. Barnes examines Black women and the burden of strength, especially in the Christian church!

Our hope in these book clubs is to develop a working theology of ministry in the real world — and in the communities of Summit Lake and South Akron.

Erin Pfanner, South Street Board Member and Treasurer, says of her book club experience thus far: “I was glad to be going through such a heavy text with others who helped me understand the content better. I believe the book will help me think about things differently and opened my eyes to many things that I had not thought about before.”

For more information or to sign up for cohort #2 (it is open to all!), please visit https://southstreetministries.org/embodiedcause/.

By Joe Tucker

I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve as a guest in a special discussion called “Being Allies in the Work for Racial Justice” — A Panel Dialogue on Faith and Racial Solidarity … 

And if you’d like to join us for the Sunday, June 27th event, please do!

We’ll discuss how being an ally in racial reconciliation efforts serves and impacts those facing racism and oppression. You’ll hear the journeys, faith influences, and insights of four allies in their racial justice work … and you’ll be able to reflect on your own journey as well.

It will be held at Holy Family Catholic Church in the Lower Church Hall (3450 Sycamore Dr., Stow, OH 44278) from 1:00-2:30 p.m.

You can join either in person or by Zoom. To receive the Zoom link, RSVP by email to: Jeff Campbell, Catholic Commission of Summit County, jcampbell@ccdocle.org.