Veterans Help Keep Kent's Downtown Clean

Ray Morgan is no stranger to treatment centers.

In most cases, when it was time for him to leave, he was put out on the street. However, when he moved out of the Kent Freedom House six months ago, Morgan already had a job, had received his driver's license and a truck, and he had found a place to live.

"I've been through quite a bit, and this is the best place I've ever been," Morgan said. "They care about you, and they want to see you make it, and they help you."

One way the Freedom House, which offers shelter to homeless veterans, accomplishes this is by offering its residents employment opportunities. As a member of Freedom Lawn Care Services, operated through the Freedom House, Morgan has painted the city council building in Ravenna, removed snow, landscaped, mowed and mulched.

"It's really job training," said Brian White, director of Freedom Lawn Care Services. "We're trying to get them back on their feet. We want them to succeed."

While the Freedom House employment projects officially started last year with commercial mowing, its newest jobs are sweeping sidewalks and maintaining and watering flowerbeds in downtown Kent in conjunction with Main Street Kent.

"It’s really a win-win for us because we've got somebody we can hire to do this work, but we can also hire veterans to do this work," said Mary Gilbert, executive director of Main Street Kent.

Veterans from the Freedom House are scheduled to sweep from Franklin Avenue past the Water Street construction and up toward the fraternity and sorority houses two or three times a week until it snows. Flowerbed work will continue until mid-October.

The workers have received high marks from the community, and the partnership is saving the city money, White said.

But it’s the members of the Freedom House who reap the ultimate reward.

"The vets come home from the war and they don't have a resume ... so it's difficult for them to find a job," Gilbert said. "They can actually get some training and be able to put that on a resume."

White agreed. "The goal is for them to be self-sufficient," he said. "We want to do that as soon as possible and want to do it the right way."