Akron Life May 2023

How does House Three Thirty help employees overcome barriers? Michele Campbell: Five of our I Promise School teachers train after work. Not having time to eat, we’ve made sure we’ve done that here. You would say, I’ve got to go take a child to practice. Well, take the child to prac tice, come here, and we’ll catch you up on what you miss. What I found is a lot of jobs aren’t flexible to allow people to be their best at work and be their best at home. That’s what I think is really important to us. It’s under standing that if you take public trans portation, maybe it’s not on time. It’s beyond your control. So how do we allow that not to be a barrier for you? How does it help employees develop their dreams? MC: Every morning when I come in, you hear different stories. I love it here. I’m so excited to be at work. I made my first Starbucks drink. I learned about myself today. I tasted caviar for the first time today. Sometimes everyday life gets so busy that you forget to dream because it’s about get up, go to work, get kids to school, whatever it might be. I feel like what this training model has done is allowed people to experience and pause for a moment and dream. … Everyone has a tal ent. Having someone that believes in you and gives you opportunities to find that — I think that’s lost. There’s something that makes you and every single child tick. Let’s find that together. What does House Three Thirty mean for the community as a whole? MC: Revitalizing Akron is important to us. We really, truly believe that we’ve worked hard to have something in here for everyone. We want our community to be proud of this so when you have out-of-town guests, you can come here. Making it a des tination was really important and investing in our community. facebook.com/housethreethirty To read more and view more photos, go to akronlife.com.

Clockwise: The Taco Shop, the Sweet Shop, Starbucks Community Store and bathroom

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akronlife.com | MAY 2023