Akron mother uses son's digital camera to report vacant homes

AKRON, Ohio - Debbie Blake loves her Akron neighborhood. She grew up there, and now she owns a home on the same street with her parents.

But since 2007, Blake reports the number of vacant homes in her neighborhood have grown exponentially.

"I believe there are now 200 vacant homes within a mile of my house," said Blake. "There are so many foreclosures, and there are simply not enough jobs." 

For the past two years, Blake has been trying to protect the vacant homes near her home and her parents home, even doing maintenance at some of the houses so they look occupied.

"I mow the lawn when they don't mow, I weed when they don't weed, and I shovel the snow so it looks someone is living there," said Blake.

Blake also responded to NewsChannel5's Building Better Neighborhoods initiative.  Last week she borrowed her son's digital camera, and took still pictures of a dozen vacant homes in her neighborhood.

Blake sent the pictures and addresses of the vacant home to newsnet5.com through our 5 On Your Side Building Better Neighborhoods Web page.

NewsChannel5 will now take the information and report the homes to the Akron Building Department, looking for a status report on the houses, hoping to move them toward progress.

"I reported the homes to try and get something done to try and make a better neighborhood," said Blake "We just need to get out and try and take back our neighborhoods."

Blake invites other residents throughout northeast Ohio to do the same, by sending in pictures and information on vacant homes to NewsChannel5's Building Better Neighborhoods initiative.

NewsChannel5 is committed to helping with the growing problems caused by vacant and abandoned homes with the launch of its Building Better Neighborhoods year long initiative.

5 On Your Side invites residents to report vacant/condemned homes in their neighborhood, by sending pictures and information on distressed properties to our Troubleshooter Facebook or Twitter account @joeonyourside .

Report a home by sending us the address and digital pictures of vacant houses to our newsnet5.com Building Better Neighborhoods page , you can send an email to BBN@wews.com , or use your smartphone and our free NewsChannel5 newsnet5.com app .

If you're dealing with a vacant home in your neighborhood, use the Cleveland Housing Court Vacant Home Toolkit , it will guide you through the process of moving a vacant home to progress step-by-step.

NewsChannel5 will bring you a series of reports and updates on the progress made through the Building Better Neighborhoods initiative throughout 2012.