By Duane & Lisa Crabbs

DUANE: Everyone told me I should write a book … about South Street Ministries, about moving into Summit Lake and leaving the Fire Department, about faith lived out in the real world around us.

Years ago, I actually went away for a month to Notre Dame and stayed with the Brothers of the Holy Cross to write the South Street story. I discovered that I am not a very good writer — but it was therapeutic. Thankfully, my friend, neighbor, and the architect of The Front Porch, Mary O’Connor, and I participated in a writers group. When I saw her gift for writing, I invited her to tell our story. Mary accepted the challenge. 

She wrote as a participant observer, and eight years later we have an incredible book: “Free Rose Light” — a mix of stories from the ministry. Mary writes with insight, vulnerability and poetically. Her love for Akron and our people shines through. Get a copy of “Free Rose Light” from the University of Akron Press, Amazon, or listen to it on Audible. It is worth it! 

I am grateful to have these stories told, but I am more grateful to see the South Street story expand. As the Pastor of The Front Porch Fellowship, I am able to serve the neighborhood in my own way. Joe, Lisa, and Elizabeth run the day-to-day operations for South Street Ministries. Donovan, LaMarr, Shawn, and Mr. Johnson lead the work of Reentry, while Bob, Jocelyn, and David care for the kids in the neighborhood. With your help and support, many more stories are being written with hope and love. Thank you. 

LISA: Having a book written about your life is exciting and a little unsettling. Over the years we have made so many relationships in and out of the neighborhood. It has been an honor to hear the stories and share coffee — listen to the hopes and heartaches of friends and partners who have journeyed with South Street for almost 25 years. I am, of course, grateful for my family — that our faithful decision to follow God’s call years ago has shaped our children to make choices to serve others. 

We are also grateful for leaders like Stephanie, Terri, Charles and Elizabeth, David, Freddie, Paige, and Mary who live in the neighborhood and are following in our ministry steps. It is no longer just Duane and I on the front lines — along with our neighbors is our team of Reentry leaders, youth ministers, and co-workers that ‘get-it.’ They get loving their neighbors. They get serving the least of these. They get the heart of our ministry. I am grateful for the present reality of South Street Ministries. 

DUANE & LISA: And we are grateful for you — for so many of you who have supported us for so long, and for the many of you who pray and check in. This November we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, from the Crabbs Family and all of South Street Ministries. 

South Street Ministries is so thankful for our partners — friends like you — who helped us gather and donate goods so we can distribute 150 Thanksgiving baskets to families in South Akron and Summit Lake! 

This year the men from South Street Reentry services are flexing their muscles to help share these baskets with neighbors!

What a celebration 150 families will be able to have and sit down to share in a Thanksgiving meal together. We are truly thankful for you and your generosity of spirit! 

South Street’s Christmas Store is right around the corner … and this #GivingTuesday is your chance to make a tangible difference in the lives of children and families in our community at Christmas time!

#GivingTuesday is a wonderful opportunity for each one of us to support the causes we love most before the hustle and bustle of Christmas prep and shopping moves into full swing. It’s a time set aside to focus on generosity!

Current board member and former intern Jasmine Jones knows firsthand the impact you can make this Christmas:

“Christmas Store is more than a program. It’s more than an opportunity to give back to those who are less fortunate. Christmas Store is an opportunity for a community to give to a family, a mother to give to her children, a child to feel special, and a family an opportunity to appreciate each other’s love and create memories that will last a lifetime.”

So on 11/30, thisThis #GivingTuesday, please consider generously donating toward our annual Christmas Store. Each year we provide items so members in the community can come and shop to help make Christmas for their family special — things like:

• General winter necessities: socks, slippers, gloves, mittens, hats, scarves, and such — of all sizes!
• Board games, card games, puzzles, Legos, books, art sets, and the like …
• Toys like action figures, Hot Wheels, remote control cars, dolls, and kitchen sets …
• Basketballs, footballs, skateboards, Nerf balls, soccer balls, and anything Cavs- or Browns-related …
• Supplies for infants and toddlers like diapers, wipes, board books, and educational toys …
• Gifts for pre-teens and teenagers like nail polish, scented lotions, hair accessories, earbuds, headphones, book bags, art supplies, journals, and jewelry …
• Gifts for parents or grandparents like small household items, Christmas decorations, wallets, candles, calendars, knick-knacks, picture frames, and more!

Please pray about how you can help, then be as generous this #GivingTuesday as God leads you. Thank you!

By Elizabeth Kargbo

A group of college students joined us to volunteer as part of the University of Akron’s recent “Make a Difference Day” on Saturday, October 23. All 13 young women who participated are students in the School of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. 

Additionally, Nazareth Housing Development Corporation was onsite, providing support and serving alongside these college students, including Project Director Keith Harris Executive Director Nanci Self. Every “Make a Difference Day” volunteer had a praiseworthy positive attitude and served with great effort and diligence! 

Divided into three teams, we worked together on the property of 801 Grant Street, directly across from The Front Porch, to clear out old drywall and wood in the basement, fix up the yard (no easy task!), and demo the kitchen and its cabinetry.

South Street’s vision for this site? A Reentry home for women returning to the community — we’re calling it the “Restoration House”!

All three teams put forth great effort to complete a significant amount of work in one day’s time! I appreciated each volunteer for their big heart, hard work, and desire to make a difference in the community. 

As improvement of the property continues, it will be completed in three phases: 

• Demolition and cleanout.  
• Renovation.  
• Furnishing and beautification. 

We are excited to share some of the coming ways you can support and get engaged with the next chapter of this South Street Ministries initiative! Stay tuned!

As South Street looks forward to celebrating 25 years in 2022, perhaps it is divinely timed that we spotlight a volunteer for whom we are deeply grateful and wonderfully indebted:

Mary O’Connor.

Not only has Mary authored the book Free Rose Light: Stories Around South Street, but she’s also been part of this ministry for many years. In fact, here’s a little insight into Mary’s heart for others and her passion for the community:

One of my favorite spaces in The Front Porch Café is just to the left at the top of the second floor stairs — The Dream Lab. The room had once been an outdoor porch along the back of the building. It was rough but intriguing before the renovation.   

After the renovation, the slender room with three sides of windows and a sweeping view, the Leadership Foundation fitted it out with happy furniture. It became what it was called, The Dream Lab.    

Bryson Davis and Amber Cullen invited people to create activities for the room. That beckoning coincided with an idea I had, something in formation that took a big leap forward with the offer of the space. My dream was to lead a writing workshop for women. This notion first presented itself through my weekly recovery meeting inside the Community-Based Correction Facility, just down the street from the Café.  

At the time, there was a woman who often shared her poetry with me. I myself was writing a book. It seemed like a natural link because many of the women already came to the Café for the Reentry program. When I suggested it, several women were immediately interested — they loved the idea.   

I thought it best, since I had no experience or qualifications in the field, to start with a small group of women I knew. For over eight months, every other week, I worked just enough ahead of the five women to keep their interest. The room itself helped our work, setting a tone of intimacy and grace. Facing west, we were often bathed in the light of the setting sun. I once used the history of the room as a theme for a writing assignment.

Just as I was thinking I was ready to start the writing group for CBCF, Covid came into our lives. It was the end of our writing workshop. CBCF closed its doors to outside volunteers for over a year. It is my hope that a new set of dreamers will spin new stories in that beautiful room, that Dream Lab just to the left at the top of the stairs. 

We are so grateful for Mary’s servant heart, her creative spirit, and all she does in our community. 

As we near South Street’s 25th anniversary, we can’t wait to celebrate with you as well — looking into the future of what God is calling us to do here in South Akron and Summit Lake!

*Mary’s new book makes a great gift this Christmas! Click here to purchase a copy today!

By Joe Tucker

When I attended college, I minored in Economics. I learned about the economic principle of scarcity — that the demand for a good or service is greater than the availability of the good or service.   

As a person of faith, I bristled at that concept, and over the years I have embraced a different belief — a theology of enough. 

We believe in a God who provides enough or more than the needs before us. It doesn’t always look this way — we can see needs and limitations in so many places — but faith compels the work to ‘be seen’ differently. To believe that there is enough to go around, that a few fish and loaves can feed the masses. 

One of my favorite skills to teach and develop in interns, staff, and neighbors is grant writing, the process of requesting funds from foundations and government agencies. In that world, a mindset of scarcity and competition can seem to be the common language. 

But at South Street, we believe differently. We work together with other churches and nonprofits to support one another in the neighborhood work we embody. We believe there is enough to go around. 

And, in that spirit, we are grateful. We are grateful for the many foundations and organizations that help make our work possible. So our gratitude goes to:

• The GAR Foundation 
• Akron Community Foundation 
• United Way Summit Medina
• In His Steps Foundation 
• Knight Foundation
• The Welty Family Foundation 
• The Maynard Family Foundation
• H.E. Graves Family Foundation 
• St. Hillary Parish 
• The Babcock Family Foundation 
• And the many other family foundations and donor-advised funds that support South Street Ministries!

I am also grateful for South Street Ministries’ Board of Directors and our Administrative team. They keep our work professional, ethical, and transparent.  

At South Street we maintain an honest accounting and a theology of enough — and God provides!