Help

2026 has been a challenging and difficult year for a lot of families in Portage County, with many living paycheck to paycheck, barely keeping up with the rising cost of, well, everything. But even in these trying times, it is important – and perhaps necessary – to celebrate some of the good that is happening, too.

It’s a well known journalistic truth: people stop reading when they see numbers. Would they still stop if they realized that each statistic represents a teenager’s daily life?

Nonprofit organizations have to keep their doors open and services running with uncertain revenue, much of it arriving at the end of the year, said Axess Family Services Executive Director Mark Frisone. People feel generous during the holiday season, or maybe they’re looking for a tax break. 

With the help of a Morgan Startup Grant, a grant the Burton D. Morgan Foundation donated to LaunchNET at Kent State University, owner of Sun in Leo Justine Gallo was able to open her upcycled clothing boutique in January 2023.

Community donations helped food pantries in Summit and Portage counties meet rising demand last year, even as government funding declined and a temporary SNAP disruption sent more families seeking help for the first time.

Six-hour bread lines. A person digs through the garbage. A 75-year-old Army veteran wonders aloud: “What the hell am I going to eat?”

The loss of a single employee can make a huge difference. So when a handful of federally subsidized employees returned to their workplaces Oct. 6, their bosses indulged in a collective sigh of relief.

The Aurora VFW Post 2629 and the Knights of Columbus Council 14186 have been purchasing food for the Aurora Food Pantry for several years, donating over $36,000 of perishable food yearly as one of their community projects. But the need for assistance is growing.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on Sept.18 issued a Special Reconnect Order ensuring that people served by PUCO-regulated utilities won’t have their gas or electric service cut from Oct. 13, 2025, through April 15, 2026.

Starting this week, Axess Family Services is resurrecting a hygiene program that was one of many shuttered during the Covid era.

A FEMA program that has provided emergency food and shelter for over four decades has not released funding under the Trump administration, leaving local aid organizations to increasingly rely on local donors — if they can be found.

The Portage Foundation is offering financial resources to the county’s LGBT community through a fund created after a new law forced campuses to close centers devoted to scholarships and emergency assistance.

In the first six months of a new Portage County Jail transportation program, 173 people recently released from the jail have taken advantage of free rides to a PARTA hub, personally accompanied by a social worker offering help with employment and housing.

Kent City Council is poised to increase its contribution to Shepherd’s House by $4,000, bringing the city’s yearly contribution to $12,000.

Portage County’s food pantries and programs are among the first local victims of federal funding cuts, and the state is poised to compound the blow.

Kent Social Services’ usual staff of cooks and servers will make way March 20 for the leadership team of the Kent State University Hotel & Conference Center, aka The Kent Hotel.

Axess Family Services and Children’s Advantage on Feb. 19 announced that the two nonprofits are merging.

The Shepherd’s House warming center will be open until further notice. The shelter opens at 4 p.m. and dinner is served at 5 p.m. People are encouraged to arrive before the shelter’s 8 p.m. curfew.