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Akron's new Exchange House, a project of the Better Block Foundation, which won a 2015 Knight Cities Challenge grant, will host an open house in February. Scott Read, Better Block's Akron project manager, is developing programming that will serve North Hill's refugee population as well as other Akron-area groups.

(Jennifer Conn, cleveland.com)

AKRON, Ohio - Akron's new Exchange House will open its doors in February, bringing an international hostel to the city's North Hill neighborhood, while providing a gathering place for refugees and immigrants.

The Exchange House is a project of the Better Block Foundation, which won $155,000 in funding through a 2015 Knight Foundation Knight Cities Challenge. The Knight's Cities Challenge offers $5 million for the best ideas that help attract and retain talent, increase economic opportunity and promote civic engagement in Knight's 28 communities.

Celebrating an international community

Better Block's idea sprung from North Hill's international roots. For more than a century, Italian, Polish, German and Irish immigrants have settled in the neighborhood, creating a rich, diverse culture and establishing North Hill as the city's international hub.

Today, refugees settle in North Hill because the International Institute of Akron headquartered there works with the federal government to provide support for immigrants and refugees.

In the past several years, the majority of refugees have been from Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal. Now, refugees from the Congo and other parts of the world are making North Hill their home.

Tapping the entrepreneurial potential

Better Block's idea was to turn a foreclosed, vacant North Hill home into an AirBnB hostel and cultural hub. The Exchange House is designed to tap the entrepreneurial potential of the neighborhood's growing Bhutanese population. The second-floor hostel will generate revenue, which will support programs on the ground floor.

"This is a vision that's evolving; there's no blueprint," said Better Block's local project manager, Scott Read, an Akron native. "We're hoping this space will remain a kind of canvas."

The Exchange House timeline:

July 2015 - Meetings began with

August 2015 - The team began cataloging potential foreclosed homes

October 2015 - The house at 760 Elma Street was purchased for $28,000

November 2015 - Cleveland-based architect

January 2016 -

February 2016 -

March 2016 -

January 2017 - Interior design work begins

February 2017 - Exchange House to host open house

Showcasing what could be

Another aspect of Better Block's vision for the Exchange House is to show what can happen in declining neighborhoods when diverse groups work together.

Like many inner-city neighborhoods around the Rust Belt, North Hill was hard hit in the Great Recession, leaving many homes vacant. Officials hope the Exchange House serves as an example of how a community can come together to bring vibrancy, and a sense of community, back to such areas.

"This shows you can take a house like this and turn it around," said Better Block Managing Director Krista Nightengale. "It can be part of what pulls a neighborhood together."

All the while construction was taking place, Read was bringing local groups to see the work and discuss programming and meeting space opportunities.

Here's who's interested.

Leadership Akron

AxessPointe Community Health Centers

The Akron chapter of

Officials plan to host events for local artists and retail vendors who lack storefronts to showcase their goods on a rotating basis.

So far, a lot of diversity has been involved with the Exchange House, from the construction team to groups interested in programming, Read said.

"Whether or not these folks would have ever crossed paths I don't know, but we have had so many people donating their time and efforts, I can't wait to see what it all turns out to be," he said.