A big, sincere “thank you!” — from our hearts to yours — for supporting the work of South Street Ministries during this pandemic.  

You have helped us open our hearts and hands to Summit Lake families through our Giving Days!

Giving Days are simple: South Street staff deliver items to those in need of support. Groceries, first aid, over-the-counter medicine, and miscellaneous household items — all purchased or donated and delivered right to our neighbors’ front doors.

Thanks to the donations and in-kind gifts of friends like you, South Street has been empowered to deliver these groceries and goods bi-weekly in the Summit Lake area. 

And it’s no small thing … your prayers, kindness, and generosity have helped with the many needs during Ohio’s stay-at-home order. You’ve also helped sustain our staff, who continue to minister to adults, children, and families in need of help. 

As we continue navigating these times, we are preparing and poised for things to come. The pandemic has certainly changed life here in Ohio, but the mission of South Street Ministries to serve the community will not change.

Thank you for investing in us as we invest in our neighbors!

#AdjustTheCrown is South Street’s girls’ empowerment group for teen and pre-teen girls — 5th grade through 12th grade — in Akron. 

We give them a space to voice their thoughts and ideas and pour truth into their lives with each meeting. We’re all about supporting them as they pursue health for their hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits.

Because high school graduation for everyone looks so different this year, we brainstormed ways we could make things special for some of the seniors we know in the most need …

So #AdjustTheCrown focused on serving the underserved in Akron by celebrating homeless graduating teens.

Our #AdjustTheCrown leaders are making sure homeless teens who have recently graduated will receive gifts and goodies delivered with care and compassion … along with encouragement as they enroll in college or join the workforce in the weeks and months ahead.

If you know a teen or pre-teen who could benefit from the truth-filled, love-rich efforts of our girls’ empowerment program, there is absolutely room for more young ladies to join! 

Contact Jocelyn Grant if you would like more information!

We are so thankful for Joe Tucker’s heart and passion for the Bike Shop. Keep reading as he shares his personal experience with the Bike Shop and his plans for it this summer…

My first experience with South Street Ministries was at 130 W. South Street. 

My Scout troop was volunteering to help restructure the large two-story garage adjacent to Duane and Lisa Crabbs’ home into an activity center for ministry. A few years later, I would return to that site for my Eagle Scout project: renovating the Bike Shop.  

The Bike Shop has had a special place in my heart and our ministry ever since. 

Every summer, hundreds of youth attend Bike Shop to earn a bicycle. Bikes are not given out for free — rather, through repair, education, and time, young people earn their own bikes. This allows caring adult volunteers to work alongside them, learning together how to fix a flat tire or thread a brake-line correctly. In addition, Christian fruit like patience, grace, and kindness result as you work together through challenging repairs!

But this summer will be different. There will be no large gatherings of youth and volunteers at 130 W. South Street. Like so many other activities and plans for 2020, we have had to pivot — and will continue. 

So … we are taking Bike Shop on the road! 

Our ministry plan will consist of:

1. Assembling bike repair kits for families and households …
2. Getting families to sign up for specific repair nights …
3. And bringing Bike Shop to them!  

With safety precautions in place and repair stations set apart from each other, we will empower the families in our community to repair the bikes South Street receives. 

We will also couple our bicycle drop-off with books and Bibles as well! As Bike Shop takes to the road, we are pivoting not just in location but also in ministry — impacting whole families and households, empowering them with recreational and spiritual tools to weather this season together. 

Join us! We are looking for books, Bibles, bikes, and volunteers! As families sign up, we will better know the scope of needed items. So please do not send anything yet … but instead, sign up to help. Contact Joe Tucker for more information and to volunteer contact Jocelynn Grant. 

South Street’s Youth and Education Director, Jocelyn Grant, grew up knowing the importance of serving her community with the gifts God had given her. “Effective, humble, and loving service has always been at the center of every initiative I have started or joined,” she says …

Here at South Street, I’ve been able to funnel my passion into several programs:

1. Re-constructing and re-branding our girls’ empowerment program — now called #AdjustTheCrown; 
2. Co-leading, re-naming, and strengthening the existing framework of what is now known as RICH Kids EnRICHment Program; 
3. Recruiting and providing an on-boarding process for new volunteers and student participants for all our youth programs; 
4. Offering practical training and mentoring for South Street interns; 
5. Implementing evidence-based learning structure for students participating in RICH Kids and #AdjustTheCrown.

Honestly, I did not choose South Street Ministries. It is my firm belief that God chose South Street for me. In my early twenties, I asked God to allow ministry to be my vocation. As life often happens, though, I eventually forgot about my request. I worked in the non-profit world and education for some time.

In 2018, I applied at South Street Ministries when a friend sent me the posted job description. And while I had no knowledge of the ministry prior to applying, God put people in my path who would support my journey into service with South Street.

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned is that while you’re working and serving, children (people, for that matter) are always watching. When I feel like what I am doing is ineffective, or I feel out-matched by a new opportunity, something or someone comes to remind me that I am on the right track. 

I received a simple phone call a few days ago from two RICH Kids students — siblings. They had moved, and I had not heard from them for a while. They called to check in, and to tell me they miss me. I was reduced to a small puddle of tears! To be a blessing is the blessing; and it’s nice when someone reminds you that you are.

We are grateful for Jocelyn’s heart for her work, for the people she serves so well, and for the spirit with which she connects young people to God’s love!

Over the last two months, we have all become more aware of our “place.” 

Through sheltering in place, our homes have become schools, work sites, gardens, restaurants — and even church! Places matter. 

Summit Lake is a place, a neighborhood, that’s at the heart of South Street Ministries. A central part of our mission as an organization and ministry is the renewal of the Summit Lake community.  

There are many stories and narratives one can use to describe a place (and the people who live, work, play, and worship there). And over our next few email newsletters, we will share with you WHY Summit Lake is so core to our mission and work. It’s a place with a collection of community stories: 

• It is the 1920s history of America’s Playground with a ferris wheel and a giant pool. 
• It is a story of community decline as freeways cut the neighborhood apart and residents left the community for other locations. 
• It is the story of the Towpath Trail and a floating bridge to connect it.
• It is the statistical story of crime and poverty rates.
• It is the resilient story of individuals who served and brought value to their community. 
• It is a tragedy of loss — as buildings, businesses, and schools were torn down and left vacant. 
• But it is also a vision of hope — as families remain, individuals return, and places and community are restored. 

The newly created Summit Lake Loop Trail has connected the east and west sides of the lake. South Street Ministries has been privileged to be part of the conversations and connections as surrounding communities have shared their stories — past, present, and future.

ACROSS THE LAKE is a new initiative of South Street Ministries to connect the east and west sides of Summit Lake … to explore the social and racial histories in our communities … and to renew a future vision for our neighborhoods. 

South Street was founded on the notion of bringing people together to foster community renewal for the sake of Christ! ACROSS THE LAKE will continue that mission, and we are excited to tell that tale!

In or out of crisis, kids still need love, connection, and community.

There is inherent strength and rich dignity in all of our young people, and we want to impact our community through educational enrichment like our RICH Kids program. 

Here’s a great video of why RICH Kids is needed more than ever. It’s been a hard season — everyone has weathered loss, transition, grief, and depression in some form. But for South Street Ministries, connecting with our neighbors brings hope and light every day!

We believe everyone is made in God’s image. And we believe RICH Kids provides education, dignity, and value to all children in our community through enrichment programs ranging from emotional wellness to practical life-skills.

Your support and generosity to South Street Ministries continues the life-changing work of crucial programs like RICH Kids … and many more Thank you!

Since one of South Street’s core initiatives is the Reentry program, we thought it appropriate to launch a consistent column by South Street’s Reentry leaders to better help friends and partners like you understand the many facets of the journey from reentry — to redirection — to restoration.

We are so thankful for Donovan Harris, our Reentry Director as he shares and educates us on Reentry.

So many things have been said and written concerning the needs of a person returning to society following a period of incarceration. 

There are over 650,000 people in the United States being released from some form of incarceration on a yearly basis. These men, women, and young adults are returning to a world of new institutions, advanced technology, new ways of thinking, and belief systems — making it easy to feel both overwhelmed and unprepared for the realities that restored citizenship actually present.

Assumed experts and reentry specialists utilize statistics to hypothesize what the professional segment thinks are the necessary amenities to facilitate a person’s successful transition back into the community. 

The prevailing notion? If you supply an individual with some form of employment and a place to stay (a halfway house, sober house, or something of the sort), and you make this individual aware of basic resources and programming available, then there should be absolutely no reason this individual should reoffend. 

But this “expert” view is mistaken. And many people working in different areas of the Reentry field tend to accept such data without having a true point of reference to explore whether or not the standing data is relevant to recidivism prevention.

In other words, assuming that all persons returning to society from incarceration need the exact same treatment, options, and opportunities is the same as saying every person walking down Main Street can fit in the exact same shoe size. 

Although it’s possible that the majority of these individuals could indeed fit a foot in the same shoe, sooner or later someone will need a smaller or larger size so that the shoe fits properly. 

Reentry goes far beyond a one-size-fits-all mentality …

Stay tuned for our next Reentry installment — as we continue the conversation about this valuable program at South Street and a topic that’s unquestionably worth talking about!