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Sage Frederick Lewis
BornSeptember 28, 1971
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Activist, author, businessman

Sage Frederick Lewis (born September 28, 1971) is an American homelessness activist, author, and small business owner. He is known for allowing a homeless encampment of 50 people on his private property in Akron, Ohio.[1][2]

Career

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Lewis founded SageRock Inc., a digital marketing company with his wife, Rocky Lewis, in 1999. It grew to 25 people with annual earnings of up to $1.5 million at its peak. In 2009, the Great Recession left the business with only three employees.[2][3]

Lewis also hosted the daily web series Web Marketing Watch,[4] and wrote the digital marketing book Link Building is Dead. Long Live Link Building![5] Lewis is also an auctioneer[6] and owner of Rubber City Auctions.[2]

With no previous political experience, Lewis ran for Akron mayor as an Independent in 2015.[7][8] He initially filed a petition to run as a Democrat, but his petition was not certified[8][9] and he was not included on the final ballot.[10] During his campaign, Lewis made connections with members of the homeless community.[6][11]

Homeless tent village

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In January 2017, Summit Metro Parks closed a tent community to make way for a new trail called Freedom Trail.[12] Lewis allowed some of the homeless displaced by Freedom Trail construction to camp on his property;[13] some of them ran a thrift store on Lewis's property.[12][14][15] It later became a 50-person tent village initially named Second Chance Village, later known as the Homeless Charity & Village.[14][15] Lewis helped establish rules for the village,[15] shared resources with its residents,[14][16][conflicted source] and helped pay for the village’s property tax and bills.[17] He and the village were the topics of a documentary series that was shown at the Cleveland International Film Festival.[18] In 2018, the Lewises published a book about some of the village’s residents, titled Out of the Shadows: An American Homeless Story.[19]

In 2018, Akron officials expressed concerns about the village breaking city zoning restrictions, and Lewis filed a petition requesting a zoning exception.[1][20] The ACLU of Ohio, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, several other nonprofits, and local academics sent a letter to the city of Akron urging them to keep the village.[21]

The homeless-run tent village was forced to close by Akron City Council in an 8-4 vote in September 2018.[22][1] Akron officials ordered the village's inhabitants to vacate in early December 2018.[23] Lewis announced plans to sue the city over the decision.[24]

After the forced closure of the tent village, Lewis began renovating houses to use as transitional shelter for homeless people.[25][26] The charity Lewis runs has two houses in operation.[2][26]

[edit]

After the closure of the tent village, the Libertarian law firm Institute for Justice represented Lewis pro-bono to appeal his case in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. They filed a separate but related complaint against the city on the basis that the government infringed on Lewis’ constitutional right to shelter the homeless on his private property.[27][28][29]

Lewis appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court to intervene after an appellate court ruled that he had improperly filed suit with the city’s law director instead of the city council.[30][31] In April 2020, the Ohio Supreme Court decided not to consider his appeal.[32]

Akron mayor Dan Horrigan wrote an op-ed attacking Lewis. "For all the posturing, loud impassioned speeches, blog posts, public requests for donations and edgy movie posters depicting him as some type of savior, Sage Lewis has made little progress on actually moving the needle on homelessness."[33]

Bibliography

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  • Lewis, Sage. (2013). Link Building is Dead. Long Live Link Building! Akron, Ohio: SageRock Publishing. ISBN 9780615829630
  • Lewis, Rocky; Lewis, Sage. (2018). Out of the Shadows: An American Homeless Story. Akron, Ohio: Homeless Charity. ISBN 9780578414171
  • Lewis, Sage. (2021). The Homeless Activist. Akron, Ohio: SageRock Publishing. ISBN 9781732977426

References

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  1. ^ a b c Smith, Mitch (October 16, 2018). "Why a Private Landowner Is Fighting to Keep the Homeless on His Property". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Bigley II, James. "Remember Tent City". clevelandmagazine.com. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  3. ^ "27 Sep 2019, A6 - The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  4. ^ Jarboe, Greg (August 14, 2009). YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-57782-0.
  5. ^ "Everything You Know About SEO Is Wrong, Sage Lewis". Janet Dodrill's Blog. April 28, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "When Akron failed the homeless, he took matters into his own hands". Washington Examiner. October 17, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  7. ^ "Unlikely candidate makes case to be Akron mayor". wkyc.com. June 15, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "8 Sep 2015, Page A003 - The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  9. ^ "Only 4 Dems make cut for Sept. 8 Akron mayoral primary". wkyc.com. June 22, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  10. ^ "Nearly $540,000 already spent in Akron mayoral primary". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  11. ^ Livingston, Doug. "Clown panhandles his way to homeownership". Observer-Reporter. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Homeless People In Akron Have Some Ideas After Being Asked to Leave the Freedom Trail". WKSU. January 9, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  13. ^ Rowes, Jeff; Simpson, Diana. "Jeff Rowes and Diana Simpson: Sage Lewis and the freedom to help those most in need". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  14. ^ a b c Livingston, Doug. "Akron's homeless build new lives at Second Chance Village". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  15. ^ a b c Livingston, Doug. "Origins of homeless tent city told in fallout with founders". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  16. ^ Lewis, Rocky. "The Homeless Charity and Village in Akron, OH". Reader's Digest. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  17. ^ "19 Sep 2017, A004 - The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  18. ^ "Inside Akron's Tent City - Episode 1 - A Different Kind of Shelter - Cleveland International Film Festival :: April 7 - 20, 2021". www.clevelandfilm.org. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  19. ^ Livingston, Doug. "Property that once housed homeless camp in Akron is up for sale". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  20. ^ "An Akron Tent City Lobbies For 'Second Chance' At Life". WOSU News. June 19, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  21. ^ Grzegorek, Vince. "ACLU of Ohio, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and Others Implore Akron Planning Commission to Protect 'Second Chance Village" Homeless Camp". Cleveland Scene. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  22. ^ "Homeless people forced to clear out of Ohio tent city". AP NEWS. January 5, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  23. ^ "Homeless people forced to clear out of Ohio tent city". The News-Herald. Associated Press. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  24. ^ Bivins, Brittany (October 16, 2018). "Akron homeless advocates fight for 'Tent City'". www.cleveland19.com. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  25. ^ "Second Chance Village Founder Has a New Plan to Help the Homeless". WKSU. September 24, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  26. ^ a b Livingston, Doug. "Boarding homes may be answer for homeless tent city residents". Akron Beacon Journal. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  27. ^ Livingston, Doug. "A final loss at City Hall sends Akron's homeless tent city to the courts". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  28. ^ Simpson, Jeff Rowes and Diana. "Jeff Rowes and Diana Simpson: Sage Lewis and the freedom to help those most in need". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  29. ^ "Landowner of Akron's Tent City will appeal city's decision to shut down homeless community". WEWS. January 25, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  30. ^ Zuckerman, Jake (February 11, 2020). "Homeless advocate takes Akron's 'tent city' rejection to Ohio Supreme Court". Ohio Capital Journal. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  31. ^ "Homeless Advocate Wants Ohio Supreme Court to Hear Appeal". U.S. News. February 11, 2020.
  32. ^ "Ohio Supreme Court declines to hear appeal on homeless-run campground in Akron". The Independent. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  33. ^ Horrigan, Dan. "Dan Horrigan: Let's clean up the picture on the Homeless Charity". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
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