INSIDE AKRON: Akron Documenters are fanning out across the city’s 24 neighborhoods to elevate places, faces, voices and vibes — as shared by the people who live there. Expect a new profile every day through October.
Correction: NIHF Stem High School at Robinson Community Learning Center is located in East Akron. A previous version of this story omitted this information.
Akron is a working class city with a deep undercurrent of the do-it-yourself ethos — a stroll through East Akron puts that mindset on display. Whether it’s the food pantry at New Exodus Christian Fellowship Church or the community events held at Joy Park Community Center, neighbors helping neighbors is the vibe.
Flanked by South Akron and Firestone Park to the west and Akron’s Ellet neighborhood to the east, residents in East Akron say there’s a lack of small businesses and accessible grocery stores. The economics of the neighborhood also mean there’s plenty of foot traffic on area streets, though residents say the lack of investment by the city in basic infrastructure such as street lights and intact sidewalks can make these walks difficult, especially at night.
Akron Documenter Bishop Cameron Nelson is the primary contributor for this story. He is from East Akron and lives in Cuyahoga Falls. He has been a Documenter since December of 2023. Learn more about Documenters, including how to join.
But there is hope, and certainly resiliency, throughout the neighborhood. The residents you’ll meet below have taken it upon themselves to make sure their neighbors are taken care of, despite what they say is a lack of investment in their community.
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE: KL Hamilton, known as “Ms. Kim” in the neighborhood
Ms. Kim has lived in East Akron for 31 years and works at Joy Park Community Center.
What is the most interesting thing about East Akron?
Ms. Kim said the resilience of the people in the community is the most interesting thing. She said that, despite a lack of resources allocated to East Akron, residents and the families who live in the neighborhood find ways to improve their quality of life.
What is missing from your neighborhood?
Programs, jobs and small businesses are missing, Ms. Kim said. She’d also like to see more mentoring and leadership training available in the community. Courses about financial literacy and proper parenting would be helpful as well. She wants to see more positive and healthy outlets for children.
How has East Akron changed over the time you’ve lived here?
Ms. Kim said there used to be many more programs to help young people. The crime rate has increased, she said. And lack of homeownership has affected community pride. The feeling of East Akron as a “village” is gone, she said.
What’s the biggest challenge facing your neighborhood, and how do you think it can be solved?
Ms. Kim reiterated that programs and jobs for young people are the biggest challenges. She also said that there is a lack of trust in the police. If East Akron had more resources, she said, there would be more jobs and options for young people instead of dealing drugs and possessing guns.
Where is the East Akron neighborhood in Akron?
East Akron is located directly south of Middlebury. This neighborhood is home to the Goodyear headquarters and the East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation, known for its commitment to providing affordable housing.
What else do you want people to know about your neighborhood?
Every Black neighborhood is not infested with crime, Ms. Kim stressed. East Akron is a beautiful place with a lot of promise. She said that with vision, courage and leadership, there could be positive outcomes for the neighborhood that help improve the lives of residents.
Ms. Kim said that peoples’ lives are very valuable and important. Even though there may be challenges and difficulties in life, hope is very powerful and should not be given up.
Nonprofit perspective
New Exodus Christian Fellowship Church, 1063 S. Arlington St.
Antonia Partridge, the church’s food coordinator, and her husband, Pastor Greg Partridge, both grew up in East Akron and lived 10 houses apart, but they didn’t meet until 1990. Both have lived and worked in the neighborhood their entire lives. Antonia worked for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for 30 years.
What is the purpose of your organization? What do you do every day?
Besides worship services at the church, the couple provides hot meals to the community every Tuesday and distributes food boxes to those who can’t get out. The church started at Joy Park Community Center in 2007 and has been at its current location on South Arlington Street for the past 13 years.
“We grew up here as little kids,” Greg said, “in the early ‘60s and ‘50s. So this is near and dear to us. That’s why it was on our heart to open the church right here in the neighborhood where we grew up,” he said. “We know the environment, and most of the people around here know us.”
How does your organization fit into or support East Akron?
They help fight food insecurity among their neighbors through the food pantry they offer every Tuesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. They serve hot meals to all who show up as well as distribute food boxes to many who can’t come out. While those they serve are mostly neighborhood residents, they are open to all Summit County residents, Antonia said.
“If this brings a little comfort to be able to help out a family [to] get enough food here to last a week, maybe two weeks,” he said. “So they don’t have to struggle so hard.”
“That’s really what our purpose is, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but here on Arlington Street in East Akron,” he said.
What’s the most important or interesting thing about your neighborhood?
“I like it today because I know a lot of the people,” Antonia said. A lot of people they serve through the church food pantry she knows “because we even went to school together, or worked together, or were in East Akron Community House together.”
“East Akron has been neglected for so long,” Greg said, noting there is “development all over town, but nothing ever really happens in East Akron.”
“I always wonder why I can’t get any answers about why [East] Akron is always on the back burner,” he said.
What’s missing from the neighborhood, or what’s the biggest need in the neighborhood?
Antonia was quick to note the lack of grocery stores, drugstores and places to meet residents’ basic needs. “We got plenty of gas stations and smoke shops and car dealerships, but none of the other, none of those basic needs.”
Greg said that many people in the neighborhood walk to places for basic necessities, but “there’s no place where you can go get fresh food or milk … unless you hitch a ride up to go to the gas station.”
How has East Akron changed over the time you’ve lived here?
Antonia said the decline in property upkeep and an increase in abandoned properties has increased. “We walked the area doing the survey for another organization and a lot of houses were vacant.”
Greg added that sidewalks are uneven and broken in many places. He also said the streetlights are often dark or out, making it hard to walk around the neighborhood. “It’s so dark, you can’t see — the lights are real dark on some of the streets around here.”
They both said there used to be stores everywhere up and down Arlington Street and now there is “nothing” there. For this reason, they set up their food pantry to help neighbors deal with food insecurity and access to food. They said the need is only increasing. “Every year, every week, we get more people [seeking food],” Greg said.
What’s the biggest challenge facing your neighborhood, and how do you think it can be solved?
Antonia said that a lack of jobs, gun violence and drug use are the biggest challenges facing the neighborhood.
Greg agreed with his wife and said the way to fix these issues is for the city to invest in the neighborhood, including in housing and medical facilities. “We don’t have an urgent care,” he said, and have to travel all the way to Waterloo Road in order to receive medical care.
What else do you want to say about your organization and or East Akron?
“It’s a neighborhood of great people and culture,” Greg said.
Antonia agreed with Greg and added that East Akron is a diverse community. “A lot of the houses that are abandoned can be fixed up instead of tearing them down,” she said. “Some houses can be fixed up. just like they did downtown, how they fixed up some of those buildings, and they are renting them.”
What does your church need to make a bigger impact on food insecurity?
People can help by giving more donations to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, Antonia said. The church could also use more volunteers to help distribute the food, she added.
Public space shoutout
Joy Park Community Center
Editor’s note: The following is from the perspective of Akron Documenter Bishop Cameron Nelson who grew up going to Joy Park Community Center.
The Joy Park Community Center has been a very special and important place in East Akron for many years. I personally witnessed the center’s transformation over time. Basketball was one of the main reasons I went to Joy Park growing up. But during a recent visit I saw the renovations that were completed in 2019 and I felt inspired.
Community centers are places where residents go for an annual Easter event, a free concert, back-to-school backpack giveaways or trunk-or-treat candy giveaways. The center’s Thanksgiving Food Basket Giveaway and Christmas Toy Giveaway have affected the lives of local residents too.
A young man I know used to practice ball at Joy Park starting when he was 10 years old. He went on to play basketball at East High School and later enrolled in college. His purpose was to leave a legacy for others to be inspired, to allow some of the lessons from sports to encourage others to respect their community, maintain hope and accomplish their dreams and goals. That is the power of Joy Park.
