Every Legacies of Success house has a story.

Most of the homes we acquire are vacant--visible signs of the challenges that North Hill has faced in recent times. However, with each vacant and forgotten house that we restore, we see the beauty of transformation that is at the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And just like many of us, some houses require more work than others.

Legacies of Success received a phone call one late December afternoon with the offer of a free house that a local investor was trying to donate before the end of the year. Overjoyed at the prospect of receiving a house for free, we readily accepted the gift. However, what we didn’t realize is that the house was scheduled for demolition less than three weeks later. After receiving the notice from the City of Akron, our team headed over to the house to survey the condition of the house. We soon found that although the house had been vacated by the previous owners, it had continued to be occupied by over 30 neighborhood cats. As you could imagine, the smell alone was enough to make us start to rethink the decision to accept this house.

However, after the air cleared we began to contact our loyal volunteers to see if anyone was up for the task. As an answer to prayer, a group of volunteers from Redemption Chapel in Stow committed the next three Saturdays to clear out the house in hopes of having the demolition order rescinded. Seven full-sized dumpsters later, the house was taken off the demolition list--now the real work began. It took over 10 months of steady work by Legacies of Success and our awesome volunteers to make the house livable once again. Since completing the work on this house, we have affectionately called it the “Redemption House”. We feel this house in particular represents our mission in North Hill - to redeem abandoned properties to provide opportunity for home ownership.

Today, the legacy of redemption continues in this house with the family that currently lives there. The “Redemption House” is now home to Oh Lweh, Htee Kae, and their two children who fled their home country of Myanmar as refugees.

Seeking to make North Hill their new home, Oh Lweh and Htee Kae enrolled in Legacies of Success' “Future Homeowner” program and began working towards achieving their dream of homeownership. After working with Legacies of Success to save for their down payment and repairing their credit, Oh Lweh and Htee Kae are now proud North Hill homeowners.