Shower, laundry program restarting at Axess Family Services

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

Water at the Rock will serve people without ready access to shower and laundry facilities. Located in the basement of Axess Family Services (formerly Family & Community Services), the facilities are open from 3-6 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Soap and towels will be provided, and a monitor will be on hand to ensure the facility runs smoothly.

AFS is located at 705 Oakwood St. For those without transportation, there is a PARTA bus stop right outside the building. Guests are asked to use the front door—the one facing the railroad tracks—then the door on the left to access the basement, and follow signs directing the way.

Community navigator Frank Hairston said AFS Executive Director Mark Frisone floated the idea of re-starting the hygiene program when the pair were discussing other community concerns in late August.

Knowing that AFS is known to some people as ‘The Rock,’ the pair are retaining Portage Community Chapel member Jamin Lattimer’s name for the original hygiene program: Water at the Rock.

“It [AFS] is a community rock,” Hairston said. “It’s a place where people can come for all kinds of services and help.”

To pull the program together, Hairston worked with Frisone, My Brother’s Keeper Director Gene Brown, Aaron Mitchell of Beloved Community and Debbie Stewart of First United Methodist Church of Ravenna; each organization is filling a weekly monitoring shift.

Hairston hopes to extend Water at the Rock’s days and hours of operation. Current and extended operations, though, depend on volunteers willing to donate their time, dollars and supplies. To be a facility monitor or donate money and/or supplies (shampoo, laundry and body soap, washcloths, towels, conditioner, fabric softener sheets), contact AFS at (330) 297-7027, ext. 300.