AKRON, Ohio – Each night, ACCESS Shelter, an emergency facility that serves women and children in the Greater Akron area, has a waiting list of more than 100 households who need a place to stay, according to its executive director, Jackie Hemsworth.
Though the number of households that need emergency shelter beyond the existing supply may seem surprising to some, it’s a daily reality for social services workers in Akron, Hemsworth told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
But a recent $1.25 million grant the shelter received from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund (a charity started by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and wife Lauren Sánchez Bezos) is already making a difference. The funding has allowed ACCESS to be able to add two additional bedrooms to its existing 15-bedroom shelter, according to Hemsworth…