Hattie Larlham will add a vital community service to its garden-to-work training programs, a much needed oasis in the food desert that exists at Akron’s Douglas Street, near the Akron Zoo.
Walk any neighborhood in North Hill these days and you’re bound to take note of a distinctive culture of new immigrants frequenting the residential sidewalks, business districts, school playgrounds and city parks. They wear colorful shawls, saris and robes of homespun wool accessorized with decorative gold and coral headpieces, bangles, rounded wool caps and turbans. Most talk in a funny dialect called Nepali (similar to Hindi or Punjabi) accompanied with a written alphabet resembling “chicken scratch.”
These distinctive and striking people have also created a new crop of Asian markets piled floor to ceiling with rice-filled burlap sacks, shelves of dried mango powder, cardamom pods, fermented millet wine and in back, goat meat and pig’s feet. New cafes feature the popular cuisine of momo (dumplings) and thukpa (noodle soup). The many who are non-Christian, congregate in temples practicing Hindu and Buddhism. The youth form their own soccer clubs and also play cricket. These tight-knit families can also be seen on warm, sunny days fishing, frogging, berrying and ‘shrooming all along the city’s nature trails.
On July 29th, Project RISE took a group of 30 mothers and children experiencing homelessness on a special field trip to the Akron Art Museum. The attendees were residents of the Safe Landing Shelter for teen girls, Catholic Worker and ACCESS, Inc. Project RISE (Realizing Individual Strength through Education), is a federally funded program that aims to remove educational barriers to homeless children. The program offers supplemental educational services and other programs to students and families experiencing homelessness.
Participants started off the field trip with a guided tour of several areas in the art museum, showcasing many different styles and types of artwork.
Commerce Center Park, which offers a small break of nature in the middle of downtown Akron, received a much-needed facelift Thursday, thanks to a group of community volunteers. Located just south of the United One Building and next to the Main Library — with two regal columns, a small gate and courtyard — this park likely goes unnoticed by motorists every day, but is an important element of the downtown Akron landscape.
Good Place Akron 