Our Locations

The Front Porch: 798 Grant Street

The Front Porch is a vision of South Street Ministries. Originally a Croatian-American social club, the building was donated to South Street Ministries in 2008.

From there, after various dreaming sessions, a vibrant space was born, and after years of renovations (with community support), the Front Porch is the new home of South Street, allowing much-deserved retirement for the Crabbs.

Today, The Front Porch at 798 Grant St. serves many in the South Akron and Greater Akron community with Porchlight Coffee, reentry support services, a bike shop, recovery meetings, and community building. Together, it’s our vision to embody a reality of hope for the community through authentic relationships.

Restoration House: 801 Grant Street

Historically, 801 Grant Street 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, in partnership with Nazareth Housing, renovated 801 Grant Street to serve as Restoration House. Restoration House is a drop-in service center for justice-involved women providing additional programmatic support in their Reentry-Restored-Restoration journey. ReDirections Services’ leadership and volunteers provide women with supportive programming, including mental health, substance disorder, art therapy, self-care, etc, in addition to regular ReDirection Services. Part of the vision of the house is to support women “without diagnosis”. Many services in Akron require a diagnosed mental health or addiction diagnosis. We want to serve and support women where they are, whether they have an official diagnosis or not.

The Front Porch Fellowship Church: 1095 Edison Ave.

Originally the Miller Avenue United Church of Christ, this church and parsonage have served the Summit Lake community for decades as a gathering place for many.

Presently, the Miller Avenue church is the home to South Street Ministries’ Firehouse Youth programming, the Front Porch Fellowship, and an annual block party.

Located around the church are a few community houses where South Street staff, friends, and volunteers live intentionally as neighbors.

The Founders Home: 130 W. South St.

The birthplace of South Street Ministries, 130 W. South Street, is the home of co-founders Duane and Lisa Crabbs.

Over the years, 130 W. South has been the home of after-school, garden programming, Bike Shop, and Bible studies, and has been a place of peace and gathering for youth in the neighborhood as the Crabb’s served those around them.

Today, youth programming has moved to The Front Porch Fellowship, Bike Shop has moved to 798 Grant Street, 9 Plato Lane in Summit Lake, 915 North Main Street in North Hill, and 222 South Main Street in Downtown Akron, and all other South Street operations have moved to 798 Grant Street.