We have so much to be thankful for here at South Street Ministries! The connections in our community that you make possible through your support and prayers are manifest ways Kingdom work is enacted here on earth …
Gratitude
A Note From Bob Irwin
As we approach the holidays, I find myself reflecting on where God has brought us and grown us.
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” This is a verse in Colossians that I have always liked. And this verse has been true!
I don’t need to tell you all that the challenges over the past few years are very real. And South Street Ministries has felt them as well. Yet God has been with us, and He has been very much with the kids and families we serve. We have had to rely on Him in new ways, yet we have seen His hands at work!
We are also thankful for Dannika, owner of Sip Savor Soul, who came to teach the children about cooking! She is committed to fostering a love of cooking healthy food in young lives … the video below has more details about it!
So this Thanksgiving (and all the time!) when you think of RICH Kids, I encourage you to thank God for His grace, for His provision, and for the hope for the future He offers! Happy Thanksgiving!
Restoration House — Trauma, Resilience, and Joy
It’s been two months since the ribbon cutting at 801 Grant St., the Restoration House!
Over the months of October and November, the South Street team has worked with Victims Assistance to train in and develop trauma-informed care. We’ve taken a deep dive into hard topics (domestic abuse, assault, childhood trauma, and others) that are often experienced by the participants of Reentry meetings and Restoration House — and topics that hit close to home for our staff and volunteers as well.
After a challenging (and triggering) training, we took some time as a team to reflect, pray, and support each other in the work we are called to. And we reflected on the resilience embodied by many of the survivors on the South Street team.
We also took some time to celebrate and embrace joy! Amidst the challenges of past trauma, beyond the heaviness of past sin and hardship, God is still good and actively working in our lives and ministry!
Restoration House has already welcomed dozens of women for drop-in service, peer-support, and prayerful conversations. Here, Toni and Monica simply and joyfully share about Restoration House and invite you to schedule a visit!
Restoration House — Trauma, Resilience, and Joy
It’s been two months since the ribbon cutting at 801 Grant St., the Restoration House!
Over the months of October and November, the South Street team has worked with Victims Assistance to train in and develop trauma-informed care. We’ve taken a deep dive into hard topics (domestic abuse, assault, childhood trauma, and others) that are often experienced by the participants of Reentry meetings and Restoration House — and topics that hit close to home for our staff and volunteers as well.
After a challenging (and triggering) training, we took some time as a team to reflect, pray, and support each other in the work we are called to. And we reflected on the resilience embodied by many of the survivors on the South Street team.
We also took some time to celebrate and embrace joy! Amidst the challenges of past trauma, beyond the heaviness of past sin and hardship, God is still good and actively working in our lives and ministry!
Restoration House has already welcomed dozens of women for drop-in service, peer-support, and prayerful conversations. Here, Toni and Monica simply and joyfully share about Restoration House and invite you to schedule a visit!
Thank you to all of our supporters and partners that make this ministry possible!
We are so looking forward to celebrating the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons with our youth and Reentry neighbors … and we can’t wait to celebrate with YOU, too!
Join us for a fun-filled day on December 9 at our Christmas Store!
There will be gift-wrapping, cookie-decorating, and the South Street youth shopping for their families in preparation for Christmas Day. We welcome your support, service, and generosity for this event!
Youth involved in our programming as well as neighbors and church members will be shopping for their immediate family. We are anticipating 100+ children and individuals this year.
For donations to our Christmas Store, we are accepting NEW TOYS AND ITEMS ONLY — ranging from infant through grade 8 and other gifts for pre-teens, teens, and adults.
Ideas for suggested gift donations include:
- Infants/Toddlers: Diapers and baby wipes, board books, educational toys
- Kids: Board games, puzzles, Legos, educational books, art or paint sets, card games, action figures*, Hot Wheels, remote control cars, trucks, baby dolls*, Barbie*, kitchen sets
- Sports Gifts: Basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, skateboards, Nerf balls, anything Cavs or Cleveland Browns
- Pre-teens/Teens: Jewelry, nail polish, make-up sets*, scented lotions, hair accessories, fun pillows or brightly colored/patterned throws, cologne/body spray sets, earbuds or headphones, bags, clock radio, journals, watches, art or paint sets
- Parents/Grandparents: Cologne/perfume, small household items, Christmas ornaments or other decorations*, slipper socks, hankies, wallets, candles, throws, decorative baskets, small tool sets, flashlights, picture frames, knick knacks*, calendars umbrellas
- Infant to Adult needs: Socks, slippers, clothing, boots, gloves, mittens hats
*Please keep ethnic and cultural diversity inclusion in mind.
Donations can be dropped off at 798 Grant St. from 12/4 through 12/7.
Or you can donate to our $2,000 #GivingTuesday campaign to help fund our Christmas Store!
Please contact Riley@southstreetministries.org for interest in volunteering or serving at our Christmas Store, or for any further details you may need.
Thank you, in advance, for being part of this joyous holiday occasion that families have come to know and love each year.
Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces and hearing the gratitude from adults who are thankful for and relieved to have this shopping alternative make this an extra-special event for all involved.
Your generosity allows us to provide more resources to those who are in need in our community, especially around the holidays. Thank you!
We’re grateful for and humbled by the turnout … and the Lord blessed us with a gloriously beautiful day to enjoy His creation!
Our heartfelt gratitude goes to everyone — riders, walkers, and co-laborers in Christ — who came out to share in the fun and togetherness. Your presence made the day exceptionally special! And a monumental thank-you to our generous sponsors — your support was the cornerstone of this wonderful event’s success.
God bless you for caring for the South Akron and Summit Lake communities so well.
As you may have read, the Akron Beacon Journal recently covered violence within the City of Akron.
Here, South Street has been working in violence intervention strategies since 2022 — through the Reentry team and the direct intervention and mentorship of Luch Griffin’s Before I Self Destruct program.
Some of the things you see in the headlines hit close to home for the South Street team. For the safety of the team, and the impact they’re currently making, we have consistently chosen not to make overt mentions or highlight the individual work being done among those proximate to violence.
But we would ask your prayers in this work — especially when you read a challenging headline concerning violence in Akron. There is a good chance that, in some way, one of our team members is near or connected to the pain, trauma, and loss highlighted in that story. There is a chance one of our team members has shared, encouraged, texted, or talked with the names listed — or not.
Pray also for the endurance of the South Street team. As we love deeply, we also mourn deeply. And many of the points of hardship trigger past hardships and loss experienced throughout the South Street staff.
THANK YOU for keeping us lifted up — and for interceding for the safety of communities across Greater Akron.
Jesus teaches about money more than anything else in the Scriptures – more than love, more than marriage, more than about Heaven. And we love highlighting those who have seriously followed the teachings of Jesus in regards to money!
This is just how South Street Ministries would describe the Dolan family … friends who have supported our work for some time now.
“As a couple,” Christine Dolan says, “we were encouraged by some mentors to view giving as a privilege and to consider giving opportunities within three circles — first our local church, then our local community, and, finally, beyond our borders, so we could understand how God is moving across the world. When we moved to the west Akron area, we started to explore some of our local church’s partnerships with organizations in Akron, and one of those partnerships was with South Street Ministries.”
Jesse and Christine had been looking for ministry opportunities to get involved with their children — ways to help them learn about their neighbors, neighborhood, and Greater Akron together. Joe Tucker’s love for the Summit Lake community really struck a chord with Jesse.
“When we first started supporting South Street Ministries, The Front Porch space and coffee shop weren’t remodeled yet, and Bike Shop was at the Crabbs’ home. We have watched God’s faithfulness over the Summit Lake community as The Front Porch expanded to include the Porch Light Coffee Co. and as Restoration House opened across the street.”
Being part of the growing community they found at South Street encouraged them spiritually as well. “We’ve met more of the South Street team who started themselves at Reentry and are now helping others believe that their story could also be a restoration story. That’s discipleship!”
The Dolans continue to support South Street’s efforts “because lives at all ages are being restored and transformed, and we see the team stewarding its resources well, Christine explains.
“In the times when we have been able to be around the South Street team, whether at Bike Shop, helping with a Thanksgiving meal, or at Open Gym, we’ve left encouraged by the spirit of community, respect, and love that is embedded in the South Street team. This life isn’t easy, and the South Street team acknowledges that truth with humility and authenticity encourages hurting people to believe that they can heal — and that there’s opportunity for a better future.”
We are beyond grateful for the Dolan family and their partnership … and we thank God for your generosity and prayers as well! Together, we’re pointing people to the love of Jesus and the transformation He longs to make in their lives!
Your support for South Street Ministries helps transform lives through small acts done with great love.
This year, we embrace the wisdom of Mother Teresa, who said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
Through our “Small Things with Great Love” campaign, we are focusing on two programs:
Expansion of Bike Shop
Strategic development of RICH Kids
Please join us in this transformative journey. Your financial support brings about a change in the South Akron and Summit Lake communities and draws hearts closer to Jesus Christ.
Your donation today will empower our Bike Shop and RICH Kids initiatives, helping us reach our collective fundraising goal of $150,000. And you’ll have the joy of knowing that every dollar will transform lives and uplift communities!
“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18).
Thanks for living this out through your generous partnership with South Street!
Your prayerful support of South Street Ministries makes caring, compassionate Kingdom work possible.
It is your generous giving that keeps us walking alongside children, families, and neighbors who need hope. Together, we’re making an impact alongside you to renew our community for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Thank you, and God bless you!