kristen mimms scavnicky

The North Hill neighborhood in Akron, Northeast (NE) Ohio, is a diverse community, including Nepali, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Black, and Italian individuals. Our project aims to unite two community organizations from NE Ohio and five researchers from three different colleges at the University to engage these communities in creating a Third Place. This Third Place centers on individual, academic, and transgressive discourses and practices, made with, for, and by community members. Through immersive fieldwork, in-depth interviews, and observation, we are gathering rich, contextual insights that will inform our efforts. This qualitative ethnographic methodology will ensure that community members' voices and lived experiences are at the forefront of our planning and implementation phases.

This proposal seeks to visualize a long-term space and partnership for stakeholders committed to justice and equity by reimagining and sustaining long-term community outreach. As a result, our research partnership will document how multicultural hubs in culturally and linguistically diverse communities can function as third places that center joy and agency, improve well-being, promote democracy, and create neighborhood unity (Oldenburg, 2002). These hubs will serve as adaptable physical and figurative spaces that respond to the evolving needs of the community, fostering inclusivity and resilience. Utilizing this grant, the research project partners, supported by undergraduate assistants and community members, would design and build community art installations, gathering spaces, and sensory well-being spaces for diverse age groups in a building that one of the non-profits has recently acquired. This iconic building now stands ready to serve the community in a new way.