Tasha Tucker

Cascade Village resident Tasha Tucker says, "If you have faith…if you believe in faith…it only takes something the size of a mustard seed to build success." Add in patience, hard work, a positive attitude and determination and that's Tasha's recipe for succeeding at doubling her income by age 30.

Tasha was an original Elizabeth Park resident. When it became a HOPE VI project, Tasha was relocated to another community for about a year during construction, before moving in with her sister for a period of time. In June 2008, Tasha returned to the revitalized community we now refer to as Cascade Village.

Tasha is the youngest of 10 children and one of three children her mother and father adopted when they were in their late 40's. In her teens, Tasha attended Kenmore High School but dropped out prior to graduating. She says she struggled with school and needed more one-on-one attention than the school could provide. Meanwhile, she was busy taking care of her mother who was blind, had suffered two strokes, and was coping with the death of her son, Tasha's brother, who was killed in a tragic accident while working on his car.

Tasha's mother passed away in 1996 and when Tasha was 21 or 22 years old she decided to return to school. She attended Life Skills Learning Center where she was able to receive the one-on-one attention she needed, and earned her high school diploma in 2004.

During the time Tasha was an Elizabeth Park resident, she worked at Quiznos for a year and a half before taking on a landscaping job offered by the new Cascade Village community. Upon completion of the landscaping project, Tasha returned to Quiznos where she worked until November 2009, when she became a staff member at Cascade Village. Tasha is now part of the maintenance team and is in charge of the new mid-rise building referred to as "West". In addition, she works for Quota Cleaning and is part of the crew that cleans the First Energy building in downtown Akron. She works at Cascade Village during the day and for Quota Cleaning at night from 5:30 to 9:30 PM. As a result of these two new jobs, Tasha has literally doubled her income.

Tasha has a passion for construction and one day hopes to learn how to build a house. She enjoys reading, helping others in need, video games, computers, and even work itself!

Tasha dedicates her success to Cascade Village, her friends and family, and God. She is especially thankful to Lynette Rankin, Cascade Village's property manager, for always looking out for her and giving her this great job opportunity.

For those of us at Cascade Village who have the pleasure of working with Tasha, we are enlightened by her positive spirit, her caring heart, and inspired by her dedication and hard work.