AKRON, Ohio — Money is still available to help Akron residents facing hardships brought on by the pandemic.


What You Need To Know

  • Akron City Council recently rejected implementing a water shutoff moratorium because money is available to help through Akron Cares

  • City Council members also say they fear residents will get further in debt as the moratorium goes on

  • Akron Cares provides Akron families up to $750 toward their water bills, which includes sewer service and trash removal

  • Anyone who applies for an Akron Cares grant can also get access to assistance from Akron’s Financial Empowerment Centers, which offers free one-on-one financial counseling based on a families’ individual needs

The Akron City Council this week rejected a proposed moratorium until March 1 on water shutoffs, pointing to the availability of money the city said is languishing in the Akron Cares fund.

Akron Cares, established last summer when job losses were mounting, provides Akron families up to $500 toward their water bills, including sewer service and trash removal.  

The fund comprises federal CARES Act money as well as donations by city employees and Akron Businesses and residents.

Summit County Cares was also established by the county to help families through the pandemic.

Also, the council supported allocating $250,000 of federal CARES Act money to the Akron Cares program, which officials estimate brings the account to more than $500,000.

But they said few Akronites are taking advantage of the help. 

Ward 8 Councilman Shammas Malik authored the legislation requesting the water-shutoff moratorium.

“I believe what we’re seeing is that program availability doesn’t exactly equal program accessibility,” Malik told the city council public utility committee this week.

The city resumed water disconnections in August following a moratorium by the state that halted water disconnection through most of the summer.

About 2,300 accounts for Akron residents were shut off, he said. 

“This represents likely thousands of people who at some point have been shut off from water during this COVID crisis,” he said. “Particularly, we’re seeing now rates much higher from COVID, especially November and December.”

Malik acknowledged that most of the Akron accounts were quickly turned back on.

The city halts water disconnections every year from about the second week of December through the Christmas holiday.

However, Malik said he is concerned that people are being forced to forgo critical needs to keep their water on.

But officials said past moratoriums on water-service disconnection do more harm than good.

He said people often stop paying bills that continue to pile up, which leaves them in greater debt when the moratorium is lifted.

“We see people get into a cycle of delinquency that it takes them months to get out of,” Shelley Goodrich, Akron’s deputy director of finance, told the public utility committee of the city council this week.

Akron isn’t the only city that has struggled to get available funding into the hands of residents, Goodrich said.

Columbus officials told Goodwich their city’s water utility had trouble handing out the $2.5 million it received through the CARES Act.

To remedy that, Akronites can expect a big push soon from the Akron Water Department, Goodrich said.  

Along with the targeted robocalls and letters already deployed before disconnecting water service, the city will send customers text messages and bring door hangers to the residences the provide information on how to apply for Akron Cares funds, she said.  

Payment terms for utility bills have also been relaxed, with more people on payment plans now than ever before, she said.

She also said residents could be eligible for money from the Akron Cares program more than once.

“So we're really looking at a holistic approach to driving these customers to the available funding and making sure that they know we are here to help them and help them keep their water on,” she said. “Or if it's been disconnected, to get it turned back on.”

Anyone who applies for a grant through Akron Cares also has easy access to assistance from professionals at Akron’s Financial Empowerment Centers, Goodrich said.

The centers offer residents free one-on-one financial counseling based on their individual needs.

Nearly 1,000 Akron Cares applicants have already taken advantage of the Financial Empowerment Centers’ free services, according to Goodrich.