Source: cleveland19.com 2/18/25
AKRON, Ohio (WOIO) – More than 60 people are without a home on one of the coldest days of the year.
According to the city of Akron, the façade of the Parkside Apartments on S. Main, St. came crumbling down on Feb. 9.
On Feb. 13, the Summit County Division of Building Standards deemed the building to be an imminent danger to residents and the surrounding community.
During their inspection, they also found a fire panel wasn’t working and issued an immediate evacuation.
On Feb. 14, the city they loaded the residents onto a bus by Metro RTA and took those who didn’t have a place to stay to an overnight shelter.
“They came with a dozen police officers knocking on everyone’s door pretty much saying grab what you can, grab your pets, your medicine, and hurry up and get out of here,” said resident William Williams.
The residents tell 19 News they haven’t heard from the city since, saying living in shelters is not feasible and someone should be helping them find permanent housing.
They even tried to go to the mayor’s office but were told they needed an appointment.
“We contacted Red Cross, United Way, and everybody they turned us all down,” said maintenance worker, Jimmy Reeves. “The government puts all this money into these programs to help people like us and these kinds of needs and we’re not getting nothing”.
Many residents told 19 News they believe it’s because of their past actions and their landlords that they are not receiving help.
“Everybody has a past of some sort what they did is what they did it’s not who they are.”
“We got people here that are on probation trying to restart their life after prison,” said Reeves. “That’s the way they look at us they look at us like scum”.
Our team did reach out to the city of Akron about the residents’ concerns. We were told anyone needing help should call 2-1-1 for resources.