Bi-Okoto Cultural Center

"Wonderful place and time!"

"Awesome programs, some very kind people, but management is horribly dishonest. Details: They rent out 3 apartments on the side of their cultural center building next to the gas station. I lived in one of these for over a year. They fraudulently hooked up the electricity so that I would pay for part of the electricity for the rest of the building. (I'm an electrician) I caught them once, and they agreed to recompense for some of the bills I had to foot (although they resisted on this too and only did so to save face in front of their colleagues). Then a few months later, they hooked it right back up the old way. The building was old and the ceiling leaked, they refused to fix it. It leaked on my laptop and cost me $500 to fix which they refused to pay. Eventually so much water leaked into the walls that mold developed. They refused to fix it sufficiently, they sent in someone who didn't know what they were doing who worked for an hour then quit. I ended up patching the holes in the roof myself and removing parts of the moldy wall myself. I should've left, but I couldn't afford anything more than the $300/mo they charged for the studio. I did this work and more, in part, because I had a handshake agreement with the landlord that in exchange for all this work, I could have access to the rooftop area. He went back on his word when it was convenient for him. There were other horrible problems with their property management where I ended up fixing multiple issues for my fellow tenants; fixing the door to the outside, rewiring dangerous outlets, fixing plumbing, and fixing apartment doors that would not close properly, all for free. The landlord, Adebola Olowe, employed one of his buddies as the maintenance man; he was horribly incompetent and could not and would not even attempt to fix anything, he lived on site and I ended up fixing his apartment door for him. I had a connection to one of the board members for the organization, Bernard Young, (we were facebook friends as his daughter was a grad-student professor of mine while at the University of Cincinnati) and I tried to tell him about the fraud and nepotism occurring, he completely ignored it. I give them 2 stars (not 1) because there were some very kind people who worked there who treated me well regardless. Joy, the secretary, always did her best to be very kind to me regardless of any issues I'd raised, along with Adebola's wife who oozed genuine kindness. In short: don't live here. The drum/dance programs may be nice, but I would not be okay with giving money to such a horrible organization."

"They are fantastic and work hard on programs that improve the community."

"My family decided to celebrate my sister's birthday with an African dance class. We met at Bi-Okoto Cultural Center for a Saturday morning introductory class. There were six of us from age 16 to 69 and we had a great time. I particularly enjoyed the way the dance instructor taught each move. As she showed us a movement, she explained the meaning of it in African culture. A group of drummers played throughout the class to help us keep the rhythm. The cost for the class was surprisingly economical and it was a wonderful workout. Our schedules are pretty hectic, but we intend to go back."

"Helping all of us to connect with and appreciate with our African Culture and Heritage"