At Canton’s Stark Area Regional Transit Authority headquarters, nonprofit leaders and SARTA executives meet around a table. Outside, visible through a window, is a large bus, adorned with “Forever R Children” on the side.
SARTA interim executive director and CEO Ralph Lee is discussing donating decommissioned SARTA buses to Forever R Children, a nonprofit that retrofits the vehicles to include shower facilities for those in need. The Akron area is already being served by one finished bus, complete with two showers. Now, the city of Canton and SARTA are helping create two more.
“I love the concept of what it gives to a person,” Lee says. “It gives them back a sense of hope and a sense of pride.”
Forever R Children’s founder, Robert P. Ford Jr., witnessed the unmet needs of children at a high school football game in November 2018. Upon talking to the school’s principal, Ford realized the need for a food pantry. By 2019, Ford began a food pantry and distribution center, a mobile food pantry and more. Currently, food distributions are on third Saturdays at House of Prayer and Studio WNYH, both in Akron.
“During our mobile food pantry … a lady says … Me and my kid, we sleep in that van. My kid goes to the middle school, but we can’t go because we haven’t had a shower,” Ford recounts. “A bus rolled by, and something just clicked.”
In the late 1980s, Ford was without housing — and the experience shaped his understanding of the necessity of access to hygiene tools. “I was homeless, so I know how it was. If you’re not clean, if you don’t have sanitation, you don’t feel human,” he says.
Ford took his idea to Akron’s METRO Regional Transit Authority and was eventually given a bus. The retrofitting process was completed in 2024.
During most stops, the bus brings a “Caravan of Love” — the Salvation Army accompanies it, and showers, hygiene packs, clothing, counseling and food are offered — as well as haircut services. The nonprofit has also partnered with AmeriHealth, which sends its medical vehicle on select dates. Upcoming bus appearances include Common Threads in Barberton Nov. 6 and Dec. 4 and Metro Transit Station in Akron Nov. 10.
“We’re offering everything you need, right where the need is,” Ford says. “They want to get clean. … You feel good about yourself, and you get yourself back in the work force.”
The second person to ever take a shower in the bus was a young woman who was covered in mosquito and raccoon bites. She hadn’t showered in about a week.
“She got a shower, got her hair done, got cleaned up, got something to eat and got new clothes,” Ford says. “The following week, she came back. We said, Ready for a shower? She said, No, I just want to get something to eat. I got a job. Just that fast, once she got clean, she ran out, because she felt human.”
Ford’s giving nature is the thing that drew in many of Forever R Children’s volunteers, partners and board members — including Dr. Fannie Brown.
“It’s a commitment to helping people — he has no limits,” she says. “No matter what people need, he’ll find a way to make sure that people are served.”
Jason Saunders has his certified peer recovery support license in recovery and mental health issues, as well as his chemical dependency counselor assistant license.
“I can do case management, helping people get their SNAP benefits, Medicaid, anything like that,” Saunders says. “How passionate he is about it — it kind of draws you in.”
Ford has received calls for his services from other cities, including Atlanta. Forever R Children is set to meet with the city in November to discuss plans to expand.
“Just to get inside that shower and let that warm water hit you, just gives you a moment of respite. You sit back, and you just relax, and say, Someone does care about me. Someone does love me,” says Ford. “Once you have hope, and you get your dignity back … you want to maybe go back to school. Just chase your dreams again. It’s because that one little shower changed your life.” //CG
Donate or volunteer: 330-957-0068, foreverrchildren.org
Mal McCrea
Mal McCrea
Mal McCrea
Mal McCrea
Mal McCrea
