Vernon L. Odom Fund awards more than $11,000 in grants

Two grants will support reentry services for justice-involved individuals

On Friday, March 7, the Vernon L. Odom Fund of Akron Community Foundation awarded $11,400 in grants to programs dedicated to enriching the quality of life among local communities of color. South Street Ministries and Williams Challenge each received a $1,000 grant to support reentry services.

Michael Parisher, South Street Ministries' development director, shared that there has been a shift in Akron's reentry community over the past few years. "Through the efforts of South Street's leaders and others within the reentry world, there has been momentum to organize justice-involved individuals to advocate for systematic changes to better support the restoration of the community. This is the most paramount change within the community because it motivates people not just to stay out of prison, but to commit fully to their purpose as fathers, mothers, workers, leaders and restored citizens," he said.

The following is a complete list of the 12 organizations that received a grant from the Vernon L. Odom Fund in 2025:

Akron Inner City Soccer Club, to support an after-school soccer program for under-served and low-income families in Akron, $1,000
Akron Youth Mentorship, to support a series of fine art summer day camps for Akron youth, promoting healthy decision-making, work habits and collaboration with peers, $1,000
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Zeta Theta Omega Chapter, to support Perfecting Our Pearls, a one-day youth leadership program that provides girls from diverse backgrounds with education and mentorship, while improving their self-esteem, $1,000
Centenary United Methodist Church, to support a three-week drama camp for youth in the Sherbondy Hill neighborhood, $1,000
Citizens Akron Church (The Vincent House), to provide boxing lesson scholarships through Popeye's Boxing Gym for children in the Middlebury neighborhood, $1,000
Dancing Classrooms Northeast Ohio, to support social-emotional learning for Akron Public Schools students through a ballroom dance residency program, $400
Fair Housing Contact Service, to reduce housing discrimination by providing mobile educational services through the Fair Housing Bus, $1,000
Girls on the Run Northeast Ohio, to provide financial assistance to Akron-area girls for a program that combines physical activity with discussions about self-confidence, stress management and healthy relationships, $1,000
Limitless Ambition, to support community engagement events designed to strengthen relationships between parents and their daughters, $1,000
South Street Ministries, to provide reentry services and peer-to-peer support groups for returning citizens, $1,000
Summit Artspace, to support an exhibition by emerging local artist Janoi Daley and to provide art supplies, $1,000
Williams Challenge, to support a free fatherhood training program for justice-involved fathers, $1,000

About the Vernon L. Odom Fund
The Vernon L. Odom Fund was established in 1993 in honor of the late Vernon L. Odom Sr., a respected longtime leader of the Akron Urban League. Since its inception, the fund has grown to more than $260,000 while awarding more than $245,000 in grants to innovative programs that promote ethnic and racial harmony and improve the quality of life within Greater Akron's communities of color. For more information about the Vernon L. Odom Fund or to contribute, visit akroncf.org/Odom or call 330-376-8522.

About Akron Community Foundation
For 69 years, Akron Community Foundation has been our community's champion and generator of enduring philanthropy. In 1955, a $1 million bequest from the estate of Edwin Shaw established the community foundation. It is a philanthropic endowment of more than $305 million with a growing family of more than 900 funds established by charitable people and organizations from all walks of life. The community foundation and its funds welcome gifts of all kinds, including cash, bequests, stock, real estate, life insurance and retirement assets, just to name a few. To date, the community foundation's funds have awarded nearly $259 million in grants to qualified nonprofit organizations. For more information about Akron Community Foundation or to learn more about creating your own charitable fund, call 330-376-8522 or visit akroncf.org.