“What’s your name, bruh?”
Luch Griffin smiled as he introduced himself to a semicircle of Buchtel Community Learning Center students after school on Monday afternoon.
Griffin and Trey Marshall struck up conversations as they stood near the intersection of Moreley Avenue and Orrin Street. They learned that two of the teenagers were wrestlers on the high school team. Later, in exchange for a $10 gift card, students filled out a survey organizers hope will help them understand neighborhood safety concerns.
One of the questions: Do you feel safe at or near the bus stop?
Marcel McDaniel, the executive director of Non Stop Growth, which is implementing a program called Safe Passages, said the surveys are a first step in meeting students where they are and showing that adults beyond school grounds also care. He wants students who live within walking distance of Buchtel to feel safe not just at school, but during the walk there and back.
“A lot of these situations start in the spring, carry over to the summer,” he said.
McDaniel is a grassroots leader with lived experience — he served 19 years in prison. It’s positioned him to mentor youth, de-escalate conflicts and connect them to resources. And his organization’s work in Akron spans the city’s Street Team, also known as Curbside Counselors, to Pathway to Purpose, a collaboration with the Black Chamber of Commerce — Summit County and Summa Health.
These efforts continue in a city where juvenile crime is a chronic issue. In 2024, the Summit County Juvenile Court handled more than 5,000 cases, including a substantial number involving delinquency, or criminal behavior. That same year, participants in an Akron Public Schools survey cited potential crime as a deterrent preventing their children from walking or biking to school.
Buchtel principal: If students know you care, they ‘open up to you’
Safe Passages, a pilot program, aims to:
- Deploy trusted community members as Safe Passage workers in areas near an Akron public school.
- Build rapport with students through daily visibility and positive engagement.
- Monitor routes for potential safety concerns — and escalate issues when needed.
- Track interactions, including incidents, to support potential expansion.
McDaniel said his research into violence intervention efforts in other U.S. cities showed communities that reduced youth crime invested in Safe Passages-style programs.
In Akron, Safe Passages operates outside of the Akron Police Department and Akron Public Schools. In general, the program moves in spaces Buchtel officials don’t typically navigate — the surrounding neighborhoods — and police officers, even with the best intentions, don’t always have the full trust of communities.
Funding sources for the program include an Emergent Needs grant from the GAR Foundation.
McDaniel hopes to cultivate relationships with school district leaders. Buchtel Principal LaCresia Denson said Monday evening she’s open to some level of collaboration, but reiterated that youth mentoring only works with consistent effort.
“Just from the years I’ve been there,” Denson said, “that’s been the consensus. If they know that you care, they’re willing to open up to you.”
Ward 4 council representative ‘encouraged’ by Safe Passages pilot program
The first day of Safe Passages started Monday at 7 a.m. as McDaniel and five adults, also experienced with mentoring local youth, met at Minority Behavioral Health Group before setting out on foot to walk five blocks to Buchtel. Snow flurries made it harder for them to locate students on the way to school, but the effort marked the start of a long process of consistency.
In the afternoon, the group of mentors returned. Akron City Council Member Jan Davis, who represents parts of West Akron, including Copley Road, joined them in the parking lot of a Family Dollar located two blocks from Buchtel. The space was previously identified as one of several youth hotspots.
“I believe in Marcel and this program,” Davis said later. “I’m encouraged. There’s a lot of things happening on the Copley Road corridor.”
McDaniel said the program is a feeder point for contact with the kids. Some students may request mental health services; others job training or mentorship.
“Let’s be present in all these spaces,” he said. “I don’t want to stop right here. I want this … let’s go to East [CLC]; let’s go to North [High School].”
