Over the past decade, more than 3,200 refugees have fled war or persecution for Akron, Ohio.

Their influence is most strongly felt in North Hill, where immigrants from more than a dozen different nations work and live.

Journalism students from Kent State University visited that neighborhood in the spring of 2022. Here are some of the stories they found there.

… and on why they left home.

Fazal Baryalai was a public official in Afghanistan. In Akron, he is starting over as a student and gas station worker.

Volunteers, immigration workers and others in the resettlement community work to …

… refugees as they find a new home in Akron, Ohio.