Investing in Our Region’s Future Workforce
The question facing thousands of young adults across northwest Ohio isn’t whether they have potential— it’s whether they’ll have the chance to discover it. For many ages 18-24, the gap between education and meaningful employment feels impossible to bridge. Traditional pathways don’t fit everyone’s circumstances. And for too many young people, economic barriers prevent them from exploring careers that could change their trajectory.
That’s why The Community Foundation is investing in a different approach: paid work experience that builds skills, confidence and economic stability simultaneously. At Junior Achievement, President and CEO Jim Pollock recognized a critical blind spot in how we measure high school success. “High schools are scored in three categories: whether their graduates are enrolled in university, enlisted in the military or employed. I want to give high school seniors an explore option.”
The Fifth Year Program is providing high school seniors with a much-needed explore option. Recent graduates unsure of their next step move onto campus for a structured year of discovery — attending a 40-hour-per-week program that demystifies personal finance and professional skills while working three-day-per-week paid internships with local businesses. Each week brings exposure to a new company, a new industry, a new possibility. "It’s a win-win for parents, young adults and businesses. They are really retaining incredible talent that would’ve otherwise been lost to other areas," says Pollock.
Heading into it’s third year, the program continues to grow and impact the lives of young people in Northwest Ohio.
When the city of Toledo’s Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) invited Goodwill of Northwest Ohio to help address workforce development as part of its anti-gun violence response, the organization drew on 91 years of connecting people to jobs.
The result: Mow-Bility, a program modeled after the City’s Snow Angels initiative that pairs older residents and residents with disabilities with nearby neighbors who volunteer to assist them with snow removal on their sidewalks and driveways.
In the summer of 2025, two cohorts of eight young people exposed to gun violence mowed lawns for 48 older residents and people with disabilities every other week. Homeowners, who previously faced blight citations and potential court appearances, maintained compliance. The program also dedicated two hours weekly to anger management and addressing behavioral and personal issues in new and novel ways. “It was important to provide the resources that they needed, meeting them where they were, not where we thought they should be,” said David Takats, Chief Mission Officer at Goodwill. With 100 percent participation across both cohorts, Goodwill plans to expand to 60 lawns in 2026.
"We believe in the transformative power of work and what it can offer in terms of pride, dignity and purpose, especially in young people," says Amy Wachob President and CEO, Goodwill
Investment that Multiplies
What connects these programs is recognition that opportunity alone isn’t enough. Young people need income while building skills, real-world experience that translates to credentials employers value, and guidance that meets them where they are.
Since 2020, The Community Foundation invested more than $1.7 million in community investments supporting paid training and employment programs across the region and helped leverage over $3.6 million. Each young adult who builds skills, earns income and envisions a future here strengthens the economic and social fabric of northwest Ohio. This is the multiplier effect of strategic investment: one generation’s opportunity becomes the next generation’s foundation.