AKRON — They fled refugee camps in Thailand, hoping for a better life.

They thought they’d found 7,000 miles away in Akron, but instead many of the Karen immigrants are living in overcrowded apartments with roach and rodent problems.

Teddy, 20, is one of the few Karen (pronounced: cor-IN) people who speaks English, and he earns money as an interpreter at the schools where the immigrant children attend. He invited Channel 3 News into the immigrants’ apartment building on Tallmadge Avenue to show how his fellow refugees are really living.

“The Burmese military attacked my village and they killed people,” Teddy said. “We move to the border and somebody like a missionary or like some organization helped up get into America.”

Last summer, Teddy and about 200 other Karen were relocated to Akron’s North Hill neighborhood via the International Institute. The non-profit group works with the U.S. State Department to help immigrants start new lives.

“Nobody told me to expect anything (of coming to Akron) because we have a war in our country,” Teddy said. “Our life in here is better than Thailand and when we live in Thailand, we have to live in camp.”

While his life may be better than the refugee camp, the living conditions are anything but home sweet home for Akron.

Many of the apartments are overcrowded and have serious problems with roaches and rats. Eight people, including a newborn live in a two-room apartment on the fourth floor. During the day, two mattresses are stood upright so the family has room to walk around. At night, the mattresses are laid on the floor so the family members and the baby have somewhere to sleep.

Some of the Karen refugees have been placed in houses adjacent to the apartment building. Fifteen immigrants live in one of the homes. The bucket containing all of their toothbrushes highlights on the one shared bathroom.

“It was amazing the number of people living in there and the first time I walked in, I was amazed at the lack of cleanliness, which I was concerned then about health issues,” said Lori Miller, a local church volunteer who spends time teaching the Karen how to cook.

“I would open up the refrigerator and it would not be working,” Miller said. “The ovens, we would find rats in the bottom of the ovens. The cockroaches were just amazing. I would open up a cupboard and there might be 50 of them jumping out at me.”

“They can get some help,” said Danette Peoples, a neighbor who shares a duplex with the Karen. Peoples and her son live on one side; a Karen family of 10 live on the other.

“I mean, sanitation, they need to get these people help really and not be in a two-bedroom apartment with 10 kids,” Peoples said.

Members of the International Institute took great pride in bringing the Karen people to Akron in 2007. News reports of their arrival are still on the organizations website.

Goran Debelnogich, Director of Resettlement for the International Institute, said the immigrants have a responsibility to keep their living areas clean and not to put to crowd too many people into one apartment.

“Well apartments are sized to whatever the family’s sized,” Debelnogich said. “These are legal requirements. It’s hard to prevent this (overcrowding) because these are personal choices of people once they’re here. Initially, definitely, that’s not the case.”

The International Institute?s responsibility to the Karen lasts only for the first six months, Debelnogich said. “(These) people used to live 15-20 people in the same house overseas, so for them to adjust to size of an apartment or a house here, and looking to financial picture may be an issue, it takes a little time for them to realize this isn’t the best solution for them long-term either.”

The immigrants? current woes with roaches, rats, and overcrowding are a landlord issue, Debelnogich said.

“We don’t have social workers for that kind of stuff. There’s no funding simply for that kind of stuff.”

The apartment building and homes are owned and operated by City Management Group. Owner Tom Keith said he’s aware of the rodent and roach concerns, but said he can only respond to those units where the immigrants complain.

“We have an unlimited, an endless budget for pest control,” Keith said. “But the problem is that they (the Karen people) don’t see it as a problem, and they’re finally starting to assimilate and they’re slowly coming down to the office and asking for some help instead of being accepting of it and letting it run rampant.

“We don’t walk around with bugs to put in apartments, but when we walk around, we try hard to get rid of them.”

Housing inspectors from the City of Akron Health Department are expected to inspect the Karen apartments on Monday.

Miller said the immigrants need help if they?re ever going to make Akron their home.

“I hate to think that anybody would not want to help if there’s a need,” Miller said. “But the need once again is greater than I’m capable of or even my group of friends. We need to have the community involved. They are wonderful, wonderful people.”

AKRON — The International Institute has been an area fixture for more than 90 years.

According to the group’s Web site, the International Institute was founded in 1916.

It claims to have served more than 85,000 people since its inception.

The Institute says its professional staff handles 10,000 immigration-related problems and helps to reunite 850 families each year.

It also says the agency’s education programs serve approximately 2,200 individuals each year.

And, since the start of the Refugee Resettlement Program in 1979, the IIA has resettled 2,400 refugees from war-torn countries.

The International Institute is also recognized by the United States Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals to represent the foreign-born.

There are currently 10 full-time and five part-time employees working for the Institute.

In 2000, the last year listed on the Web site, two immigration caseworkers served 3,862 clients, while the refugee department resettled 288 people.