James’ school makes housing a must
AKRON — The Lebron James Family Foundation has welcomed its first group of I Promise School students and families to a renovated apartment building that provides rent-free transitional housing for families experiencing homelessness, domestic violence or other unforeseen circumstances.
The I Promise Village is in the Westmont apartment building on Rhodes Avenue near West Market Street, about a half-mile from the I Promise School — an Akron public school for about 450 of the city’s most at-risk third- through sixthgraders. The school offers year-round social services and resources from the Lebron James Family Foundation.
The Lebron James Family Foundation operates the facility, which can house up to 16 families, with two units reserved for emergencies, such as a house fire or home invasion. Several parts of the four-story building, which is secured by hotel-style key cards, have been remodeled. The first-floor is a community space that includes homework and computer stations, an arts-and-crafts room and community rooms.
Michele Campbell, executive director of the foundation, told reporters during a recent tour of the I Promise Village that the idea for the transitional housing came from Victoria “Ms. Vic” Mcgee.
Mcgee, the director of the school’s Family Resource Center — which provides support for students and families, including a food pantry, GED classes and job services — noticed that some students weren’t excelling like their peers.
“As Ms. Vic dug deeper, she learned that some students lacked stable housing,” Campbell said. “Whether they’re in shelters, living in a family member’s living room on a couch, moving every other night — the stability of housing was affecting their ability to learn.”
About half of the Westmont apartments had tenants leading up to the start of renovations in February, and the Lebron James Family Foundation provided them with relocation services and two months’ rent, Campbell said.
I Promise Village families don’t pay for rent or utilities to live in a studio, one- or two-bedroom unit that comes with Wi-fi, linens, silverware and storage space.
“Everything is paid for them, but they’re doing something that is much harder than writing a check for rent,” Campbell said. “They’re committing to change whatever’s happening in their life, whatever’s causing their homelessness or whatever trauma they’re experiencing. They’re committing to being open to that, and they’re committing to allowing us into that so we can walk alongside them on this journey to better their family unit.”
How long each family stays at the I Promise Village will depend on individual circumstances and the plan the family has agreed to with the foundation.
“We’ve taken care of the worry that a parent has about taking care of their child and making sure they’re safe, so now they can focus on — whether it’s their GED, counseling — whatever it might be that has caused them to be in this situation,” Campbell said.
Campbell said no families wished to be interviewed. But she told the story of Donna Henry, a mother of a fifth-grader at the I Promise School who has moved into the I Promise Village after years of sleeping on a couch or the floor so her children could sleep in a bed.
Through attending classes at the school’s family resource center, Henry earned her GED earlier this year. But she did not tell her family that she was even studying for the exam, in part because she was afraid of failing.
So how did Henry announce to her family that she got her GED? Lebron James shared the news with his Twitter following of more than 45 million.
“You know, my older children are just most definitely not going to believe it at all. They’re going to think I’m lying,” Henry said in a video James shared on social media in May. “I got my GED thanks to the I Promise School.”
Campbell said that when Henry toured her unit at the I Promise Village, she pointed to a desk and asked if it came with the apartment. The foundation staff said yes — and it became Henry’s first desk in years. That night, according to Campbell, Henry went home and applied to enroll at the University of Akron, where she will take classes this fall, as a result of earning her GED and living in a secure home with a place to complete coursework.
“We believe this is transformational for our families,” Campbell said.