By Erin Irwin, Development Director

It may be hard to imagine, but our 7th Annual Trails N Rails happened without trains or bikes … and was still a success! Go team!

THANK YOU first and foremost to every participant, and for each of your donations. South Street’s Youth Outreach, Community Café, Mentorship & Discipleship, Community Pride, and Reentry programs are more effective because of your participation. 

And it means children of all ages, families, and folks returning from incarceration will be blessed by your sacrifice.

We appreciate every Beard-raiser supporter! Your generosity toward Joe’s baby-faced efforts made this a fun new feature. To those who watched and shared our Staff Engagement Videos on Facebook, thank you! Now, more people than ever are connected to South Street Ministries because of your interaction and giving.

Our Trails N Rails event reached thousands on Facebook, and we’re celebrating the fact that we met our financial goal! 

Thank you again for your faithfulness. We cannot do this work without your love and support. 

No matter what hurdles life brings next year, we count on seeing you and celebrating with you in 2021!

During the recession of 2008, South Street Ministries opened a restaurant. 

The Front Porch Café became a hub for recovery, reentry, healthcare, church fellowship, Bible studies, and — of course — a place to gather over food. 

Friends and partners like you made the dreams of the Front Porch a reality through your prayers, visits, and patronage. 

Today, South Street is prayerfully planning the Front Porch’s next chapter. As you can imagine, the restaurant business has changed dynamically due to the pandemic, so our leadership team has paused the Café as a social enterprise and is slowly, safely allowing recovery, reentry, and other service programs to return.

While things may look and feel different at the Café for now, our heart and mission remain: a place of genuine community for the South Akron neighborhood, a venue for restoration for returning citizens, and a vision of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

Psalm 90:17 asks God to “establish the work of our hands.” We continue to seek His hand in our work. Thank you for joining us in praying about what’s next for the Front Porch!

By Bob Irwin

Taste and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him? 

2020 has been a whirlwind of years, to say the least — from a global pandemic to racial inequalities intensifying to the loss of some very influential people. 

But one of the hardest parts for me has been the separation from the kids and families we serve. Here at South Street Ministries, we have changed some of the ways we do things yet maintain the same heart behind it. Our RICH Kids program isn’t about meeting just one need … we try to meet the educational, spiritual, and physical needs of the children we serve.

Over the summer, we alternated between Zoom meetings and outside activities that combined learning with fun! Now in our fall semester, we are back at it, dropping off groceries and school supplies, and conducting extra engagement activities for our Zoom times together — helping one child at a time with the challenges of virtual education. 

No matter what the situation is, let’s keep asking: How do we see God working? 

And always remember to taste and see that He is good!

By Angela Miller

When a community fosters a sense of belonging, it affords so many positives to residents. This goes for ties between neighborhoods as well — the demographics might be different, but their stories and futures are entwined. 

Not being native to Akron, I first learned of Summit Lake from a widowed neighbor who said that in the 1920s her husband courted her on the boardwalk. She also spoke of Kenmore Boulevard’s bustling past as a vibrant business district. 

I lived in Florida to care for my mother from 2008 until I retired in 2013. Upon her death, I considered the many cities I had lived in, and chose Akron. I still owned a home in Kenmore, so I moved in to begin working to revitalize the community. 

I did other volunteer work across the city, collaborating on several projects in South Akron and in North Hill. I hosted dinners once a month for the International Institute and enjoyed the company of guests from all over the world. Everyone I knew I invited to events in Kenmore, and many came. 

To my surprise, my Black friends said they did not feel welcome or safe in my community. It broke my heart. 

As I became more involved in my neighborhood, I met many people who were trying to right this wrong by one-on-one work, inclusive programming, and encouraging more business opportunities for minorities. Intentionality, I now understood, is key. 

By joining forces, activists from both neighborhoods across the lake can encourage honest conversations to foster relationships that have the potential to bridge not only a body of water but the cultural gulf that divides us. 

My greatest hope is that someday soon there will be a great deal of cross-traffic between the two neighborhoods to share resources, attend events, and welcome each other in a common embrace. 

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.

Some recovery groups and a limited reentry meeting have resumed at the Front Porch. Gary Eckenrode has returned to clean and sanitize the building after each use. One lonely Thursday while sweeping outside, a man gave Gary $10. 

He said, “You all helped me get on my feet some time ago, and I wanted to give a little something to say thanks, and to help the next guy out.” No name. No receipt. Just an acknowledgement of past support and a desire to pay it forward. 

Sometimes $10 can feel like $10,000! Sometimes simple stories of support and success can motivate us through the heavy times of ministry and service. 

This has been a challenging year for the Reentry community. The threat and danger of Coronavirus inside prison institutions, the challenge of virtual gatherings, the loss of employment and options … the list goes on. And as Donovan Harris shares honestly, “We have had more losses than wins” over the past months. 

So we celebrate simple victories. We have trained our eyes to see and our ears to hear when God provides that still and simple affirmation of our work. We have also trained up our hearts to recognize simple provision, simple grace, and deep impact in this work. 

Thank you for making it possible. Onward toward restoration, together!

At the heart of #AdjustTheCrown’s purpose is service to the community. 

During Akron Community Foundation’s 2019 On The Table event, the ladies of #AdjustTheCrown drafted an idea to serve area teens experiencing homelessness. The young ladies devised a plan to help 2020 high school graduates celebrate their graduation and their next steps in life. 

Shortly thereafter, #AdjustTheCrown was awarded a $2,000 grant to complete the task! Of course we had to pivot plans, but were able to give the graduates at least “Eight Crazy Gifts” — including some uncommon items that transient teens need and want. 

Partnering with Project Rise, we were able to present seven graduates with large backpacks stuffed full of gifts and necessities. 

It was an honor to serve area high school graduates, and we look forward to another opportunity to be conduits of kindness. A huge thank-you goes to Akron Community Foundation for awarding us with the funds to bless others. 

And thank YOU for supporting the mission of #AdjustTheCrown along the way!

South Street began with a family moving into Summit Lake. Your support and prayers bolstered the Crabbs family through South Street’s first decade.  

Now, our ministry family has grown into a diverse staff — many of whom still live in the South Akron and Summit Lake communities. 

So this year we’ve chosen Embodied Cause as our theme through which to support and discuss Black Lives Matter, because for all of us, racial reconciliation is a cause and effort we embody. For some of our team it’s a daily reality; for others it is a lesson we have garnered from listening and learning. 

We invite your prayers with us and for us as we live and lead communally into the tough conversations and daily realities of racism in our country and communities. 

The prophet Amos, spoke the often quoted: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Please join us in moving toward this biblical work! You can:

1. Pray for South Street as we lead in conversations.
2. Pray for our communities as we work together toward restoration and equity.
3. Pray for resilience and rest in this season.
4. Learn more here: southstreetministries.org/embodiedcause

Save the date for the South Street Christmas Store on December 12! 

We will be making adjustments, of course, in order to adhere to health guidelines for everyone’s safety, but we hope you’ll plan to join us. See below for a list of items you can donate to help with our Christmas Store. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more details, needed gift-items, other donations, and more!

We are accepting NEW TOYS ONLY ranging from infant through grade 8 and other gifts for pre-teens, teens and adults.  Below are suggestions that have worked well in the past.

• Board games, puzzles, Legos, educational books, art sets, card games, action figures, hot wheels, remote control cars, trucks, baby dolls, Barbie, kitchen sets, etc.  (Please consider purchasing dolls that are African-American)
• Sports Items – basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, skate boards, Nerf balls, anything Cavs or Cleveland Browns
• Gifts for infants to preschoolers – diapers and baby wipes, board books, educational toys
• Gifts for 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, headphones, new book bags, clock radio, art supplies or paint set, journals, watches
• Gifts for 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
• Socks, slippers, gloves, mittens, hats, scarves are needed from infants to adults.