Jump to content

Sage Frederick Lewis

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by AviationFreak (talk | contribs) at 20:56, 20 July 2021 (Restructure sections). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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

Career

Digital marketing

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]

As President of SageRock, Lewis has spoken at events on topics such as SEO[4][5] and social media marketing.[6]Lewis also hosted the daily web series Web Marketing Watch.[7]He also wrote the digital marketing book, Link Building is Dead. Long Live Link Building![5]Lewis  is also an auctioneer[8]and owner of Rubber City Auctions.[2]He is also a realtor[9]and licensed gun dealer.[10]

Akron mayoral bid

With no previous political experience, Lewis  chose to run for Akron mayor as an Independent in 2015.[11][12]He initially filed a petition to run as a Democrat, but his petition was not certified.[12][13]He was not included on the final ballot.[14]During his campaign, Lewis made connections with members of the homeless community.[8][15]

Homeless tent village

In January 2017, Summit County Metro Parks closed a tent community to make way for a new trail called Freedom Trail.[16]Lewis allowed some of the homeless displaced by Freedom Trail construction to camp on his property.[17]A few homeless individuals  had also been  running a thrift store on  Lewis's property.[16][18][19]These developments  were the beginning of what would become a 50-person tent village initially named Second Chance Village, later known as the Homeless Charity & Village.[18][19]Lewis helped establish rules for the village,[19]shared resources with its residents,[18][20]and helped pay for the village’s property tax and bills.[21]He and the village were  the topic of a documentary series that was shown at the Cleveland International Film Festival.[22]In 2018, Lewis and his wife also published a book about some of the village’s residents, titled Out of the Shadows: An American Homeless Story.[23]

In 2018, Akron officials expressed concerns about the village breaking city zoning restrictions. Lewis filed a petition requesting a zoning exception.[1][24]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.[25]

The homeless-run tent village was ultimately forced to close by Akron City Council in an 8-4 vote in September 2018.[26][1]Akron officials ordered the village's inhabitants to vacate in early December 2018[27]Lewis announced plans to sue the city over the decision.[28]

After the forced closure of the tent village, Lewis  began renovating houses to use as transitional shelter for homeless people.[29][30]The charity Sage runs currently has two houses in operation.[2][30]

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.[31][32][33]

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.[34][35] In April 2020, the Ohio Supreme Court decided not to consider his appeal.[36]

The mayor of Akron, Dan Horrigan, notably wrote an op-ed slamming Sage. "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."[37]

Bibliography

  • 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

References

  1. ^ a b c Smith, Mitch (2018-10-16). "Why a Private Landowner Is Fighting to Keep the Homeless on His Property". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  2. ^ a b c d II, James Bigley. "Remember Tent City". clevelandmagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  3. ^ "27 Sep 2019, A6 - The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  4. ^ "7 Jul 2013, Page D002 - The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  5. ^ a b "Everything You Know About SEO Is Wrong, Sage Lewis". Janet Dodrill's Blog. 2016-04-28. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  6. ^ "10 Sep 2011, Page D002 - The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  7. ^ Jarboe, Greg (2009-08-14). YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-57782-0.
  8. ^ a b "When Akron failed the homeless, he took matters into his own hands". Washington Examiner. 2018-10-17. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  9. ^ "Second Chance Village Founder Has a New Plan to Help the Homeless". WKSU. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  10. ^ "Vagrants are gathering in Middlebury to solve homelessness". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  11. ^ "Unlikely candidate makes case to be Akron mayor". wkyc.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  12. ^ a b "8 Sep 2015, Page A003 - The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  13. ^ "Only 4 Dems make cut for Sept. 8 Akron mayoral primary". wkyc.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  14. ^ "Nearly $540,000 already spent in Akron mayoral primary". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  15. ^ Journal, Doug Livingston The Akron Beacon. "Clown panhandles his way to homeownership". Observer-Reporter. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  16. ^ a b "Homeless People In Akron Have Some Ideas After Being Asked to Leave the Freedom Trail". WKSU. 2017-01-09. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  17. ^ 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 2021-03-31.
  18. ^ a b c Livingston, Doug. "Akron's homeless build new lives at Second Chance Village". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  19. ^ a b c Livingston, Doug. "Origins of homeless tent city told in fallout with founders". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  20. ^ Lewis, Rocky. "The Homeless Charity and Village in Akron, OH". Reader's Digest. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  21. ^ "19 Sep 2017, A004 - The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  22. ^ "Inside Akron's Tent City - Episode 1 - A Different Kind of Shelter - Cleveland International Film Festival :: April 7 - 20, 2021". www.clevelandfilm.org. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  23. ^ Livingston, Doug. "Property that once housed homeless camp in Akron is up for sale". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  24. ^ "An Akron Tent City Lobbies For 'Second Chance' At Life". WOSU News. 2018-06-19. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  25. ^ 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 2021-03-31.
  26. ^ "Homeless people forced to clear out of Ohio tent city". AP NEWS. 2019-01-05. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  27. ^ Press, The Associated. "Homeless people forced to clear out of Ohio tent city". The News-Herald. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  28. ^ Bivins, Brittany. "Akron homeless advocates fight for 'Tent City'". https://www.cleveland19.com. Retrieved 2021-04-01. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  29. ^ "Second Chance Village Founder Has a New Plan to Help the Homeless". WKSU. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  30. ^ a b Livingston, Doug. "Boarding homes may be answer for homeless tent city residents". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  31. ^ Livingston, Doug. "A final loss at City Hall sends Akron's homeless tent city to the courts". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  32. ^ 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 2021-04-01.
  33. ^ "Landowner of Akron's Tent City will appeal city's decision to shut down homeless community". WEWS. 2019-01-25. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  34. ^ Zuckerman, Jake; February 11, Ohio Capital Journal; 2020 (2020-02-11). "Homeless advocate takes Akron's 'tent city' rejection to Ohio Supreme Court". Ohio Capital Journal. Retrieved 2021-04-01. {{cite web}}: |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ "Homeless Advocate Wants Ohio Supreme Court to Hear Appeal". U.S. News. February 11, 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  36. ^ "Ohio Supreme Court declines to hear appeal on homeless-run campground in Akron". The Independent. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  37. ^ Horrigan, Dan. "Dan Horrigan: Let's clean up the picture on the Homeless Charity". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sage_Frederick_Lewis&oldid=1034601734"