Volunteers needed for parking, goodie bags, refreshments and other tasks

On any given day it’s estimated there are 850 homeless people throughout Akron and Summit County, says Fred Berry, housing services manager with Info Line, a nonprofit dedicated to providing access to human service programs offered to improve life quality for all Northeast Ohioans.

Seated with Berry is Sue Pierson, Info Line’s vice president of services and chair of the Akron/Summit County Continuum of Care (COC). They’re preparing for the Project Homeless Connect 5k and 10k Run/Walk Oct. 13 at 9 a.m.

The Run fundraises for Project Homeless Connect, which began five years ago and is held each spring at The Chapel. Connect is a one-day event that enables those experiencing homelessness, financial strain or loss of income to learn about and get assistance from a multitude of available programs.

A new facility being built in the Summit Lake neighborhood will provide a number of services to all ages, from computer classes and job training to pre-kindergarten programs for children.

Construction recently began on the Summit Lake Family Opportunity Center, which will be built adjacent to the city's recreation center on West Crosier Street and will weave together a "matrix" of family services for those who need it most.

"This will not just be an AMHA facility," said Tony O'Leary, executive director of the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA). "This is geared to serve the entire Summit Lake Community."

The Summit County Children Services "Clothing Center," which provides new and gently worn clothing of all types for client families in need who are served by the agency, is asking area residents who may be cleaning out closets this time of year to make room for new school clothes to consider donating any gently worn school clothes and uniforms to the agency.

In addition to school clothes and uniforms, The Clothing Center is also in desperate need of toddler clothing, and boys and girls clothing sizes 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Regular hours of The Clothing Center are Mondays from 1 to 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Thursdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon. Those interested in making a donation after hours or on weekends can make use of the convenient large blue donation bin recently installed just outside The Clothing Center building on the Summit County Children Services campus.

Summit County Children Services – the coordinating agency of Child & Family Awareness Month – recently announced the names of 29 local students from public, private, independent and charter schools within Summit County who were selected as winners in the 2012 Child & Family Awareness Month© Creative Contests from more than 250 combined entries.

The winners, each of whom was asked to create an artistic piece honoring the all-important concept of ‘family,’ were recognized at an awards reception held at the Akron Art Museum, through the support of the museum, Wendy's and the FirstMerit Foundation.

The work of the grand prize winner -- fifth-grader Brianna Frank, from Erwine Intermediate School in Coventry, will be the basis for all the promotional materials (such as brochures, buttons, etc.), which will be developed for next April's 2013 Child & Family Awareness Month celebration.

What compels a man to move his wife and children into one of the roughest neighborhoods in Akron? For Duane Crabbs, it was a calling to minister to those troubled souls who need it the most.

The founder of South Street Ministries has reached a personal milestone as his organization celebrates 15 years of operation. The group helps a range of people in this Summit Lake neighborhood, from children of broken homes to ex-convicts and the homeless.

A public event honoring the ministry last week at Hoban High School brought out hundreds of people from the community, along with nationally known guest speaker Robert Lupton, from Atlanta.

Fifteen years ago, under the premise "neighbors first, ministers second," Duane and Lisa Crabbs moved to the Summit Lake neighborhood they still call home today, leaving behind their "secure" life to start South Street Ministries in one of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in Akron.

“At South Street, our vision has always been ‘Unlikely Partners Taking Shared Risks to Renew our Community for Christ’s Sake,’” said founder Duane Crabbs. “Our ministry is about bringing people together across racial, economic and social barriers to unite for the cause of Christ.”

What began as a Bible study and small church fellowship has grown into a full-fledged neighborhood ministry. South Street now offers after-school and summer camp programs, a bicycle shop, athletic programs and scholarships, urban gardening, housing development and employment services to the residents of South Akron.

Summit Lake Community Center has reopened this week, a full six to eight weeks ahead of previous estimates.

Summit Lake Community Center was closed for almost two weeks due to a one car hit-skip accident at the corner of Lakeshore and Kenmore boulevards that caused Akron’s transformers to fail, leaving the Community Center with no heat or electricity.

Since the accident occurred, First Energy employees and city of Akron employees have worked to find a replacement transformer to serve the Community Center. The usual lead time for purchasing a large transformer such as the one at serving the Community Center is eight to 10 weeks, but First Energy was able to find a similar sized transformer in their inventory in Cleveland.

A minority health expo this Tuesday will enable residents to get a number of free health screenings.

The Minority Health Roundtable expo takes place April 5, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Open M, 941 Princeton St., in Akron. Along with free admission, door prizes and health information, participants also will receive health screenings for cholesterol, blood pressure. diabetes, HIV/STDs and sickle cell, along with dental services, prostate screenings and free haircuts.

Losing weight usually means looking good. Losing weight as part of the Pound for Pound Challenge, however, means that there’s the possibility of feeling even better. For the third consecutive year, the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank has partnered with "The Biggest Loser" television series and other national organizations in support of the Pound for Pound Challenge Event.

Between now and the season finale of "The Biggest Loser: Couples TV" series later this season, those that live within the eight Ohio counties covered by the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank can visit the official website and pledge to lose weight. Every pound pledged during the challenge equals one pound of food (or 11 cents) donated to the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank.

A strange phenomenon.  A cross appears at sunset on Easter Sunday in 2009 and again in 2010.

 My son was looking out the kitchen window on Easter Sunday 2009, and to his surprise he saw an image of a cross in our back yard.  He called me to come and look out the window.  Certain that he didn’t realize what he was viewing, in utter disbelief, shock and awe, my first reaction was to grab my camera as I rushed out the patio door and began snapping shots hoping the cross wouldn’t disappear before I finished taking its picture.  I’ve never seen anything so remarkable and neither had my family.  Not knowing what else to do I just kept shooting pictures.