Announcer: Welcome to Business Life 360 with Christie Kay, where we cover trends and impact in the world of business.

We get to know CEO leaders and innovators, and we see firsthand how business and life connect.

(Music) Business like 360 with Christie Kay is made possible in par by KeyBank National Association trustee for the Walter E Cahoon Memorial Fun and ProMedica Toledo Hospital, celebrating 150 years of serving our community.

Also by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Kristi: Welcome to Business Live 360.

I'm your host, Christie Kay.

On this episode, we're diving into the minds of leaders who run some of the most impactful organizations in our region, whether it's our impressiv Metro Park system or the largest 24/7 domestic violence shelter, or the housing organization that helps homeless seniors as well as young adults age out of the foster care system, find a home.

We live in a world where the impacts of running and sustaining a mission driven organization is more essential than ever, and these organization are truly making a difference to thousands in our region.

From navigating funding challenges to creating sustainable social change.

Let's take a look at these mission driven leader and the organizations they lead.

The Metro Park system in this region is one of the top park systems in the country.

It is award winnin and successful by many accounts.

Well, let's head out to talk a little history and a lot about the exciting plans in store for this Regent' Park system with CEO Dave Zink.

So, Dave, welcome.

Dave Zenk: Thanks for being here.

Kristi: So great to be with you.

All right.

So first of all, we need an overview of this park system that i incredible here in our region.

Give us some examples of som statistics of the park system.

Dave Zenk: Yeah.

So Metro Parks today has actually grown to steward 13,000 acres of property.

Part of that growt really started from the ambition to create a bit more o an equitable portfolio of parks.

So we're nearly 100 years old as an institution, but most of that time was actually spent working in western, rural, suburban Lucas County.

And around 2012 or so, we made the intentional goal to pivot and make sur that we were serving everyone.

So we created a goal to place a park within five mile of every resident in the county.

And in 2020, actually in the midst of the global pandemic, we opened Manhattan Marsh in North Toledo to accomplish that goal.

We also have about 200 miles of trails, and we're working on connecting each one of those parks to each other.

Kristi: I'm always thinking about the consumer and the user of the parks.

Dave Zenk: Part of our work is really centered on connecting parks to parks and parks, to.

Kristi: People I know from doing so many business stories on business life through 60 that as businesses look at the regio and they think about moving here or moving their families here.

One of the big, really significant pieces of that is the park system that really plays a role.

Tell us more about that.

Dave Zenk: Yeah.

You know, one of the things that we've really started focusing on is the quality of life of our region.

And I think as a community, the greater Toledo area has really done a much better job over the last few years of marketing ourselves.

The way we talk about ourselves has become much more sophisticated.

The notion of quality of lif is not a nice to have anymore, as we think about attracting new businesses and talent.

People want to live to work where they live and ultimately quality of life is i the fundamental characteristic.

And so as we continue to invest in our downtown and we grow our parks and we create these new experiences, that's all part of the stor of the greater northwest Ohio.

And I think the great thing is our work has expanded.

If you look at the narrative and the headlines that that surprised Toledo, starting just going back 2014 or so, we have now changed the narrative and gotten on virtually every best of every quality of life list and are really out competing most of the peer cities that we aspired to be just a few years ago, we were really fortunate.

In 2020, we were we were named the top park district in the entire country and really outcompete in cities that, frankly, we can't compete with in very many other ways.

Kristi: And as we look at the past, the present, let's talk a little bit about the future and what we have that's really exciting in the Riverwalk.

Dave Zenk: Yeah, we're really excited about this.

It's certainly the largest project that we've ever taken on.

And in many ways, it's als analogous to our past as well, because the community, again, came together to launch this.

And the truth of the matter is the Riverwalk and the recreation, frankly, of our downtow was not really Metro Parks idea.

It was a group of business leaders that came together and really wanted to answer the question of what had to happe to make Toledo more competitive.

And the obvious conclusion that we drew was we were using our greatest public asset, which was our riverfront, in some of the worst ways possible.

We were storing our bulk road salt here.

The property was littered wit abandoned warehouses and vacant property from former industry, which had long since left.

And so the idea emerged to really recreate and invent all of this, creating over 300 acres of new, renovated, open space with vibrant experiences that would help activate it.

We're connecting into six individual neighborhood downtown now, some of our oldest and most impoverished neighborhoods.

So the project is really propping them up and supporting them.

It's connecting both sides of the river.

I mean, we're here in East Toledo today, and the type of energ and investment that we're seeing is, is a big part of the story as well, because one of the things that we saw as we benchmark other communities was this multiplying effect.

And empirically, it plays out every every other community that's done this.

You see a public organizatio invest in the private commercial industry response and often multiplies by 7 to $10.

And we saw that play out here in East Toledo, where we invested $5 million in an out of town developer, came and built a mixed use commercial development for $50 million next door.

And that would have been a big investment anyplace but to have it happen at that point in time in East Toledo, that was unheard of.

And so we're really excited because we're only 25% of the way into this project, and we've seen almost $500 million in private investment around the periphery of it.

Kristi: The fact that you've pulled together public and private and individua and corporate and construction partnerships as you have, is really phenomenal.

It truly is.

What year do you see thi actually coming to full fruition and completion?

Dave Zenk: Well, we're at a great moment in time because we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

If you will.

And as we benchmark those communities, I talked about, almost every one of them took between 22 and 24 years to complete the type of project that we're talking about.

I mean, at the end of the day.

This investment that we're piecing together represents about a quarter of $1 billion worth of work.

So it's a really large initiative.

We're on track to complet this project in about 12 years.

And like I said, we're glad City Metropark represents 25% of this project.

The next 25% is well underwa and be complete about this time next year.

So 2025 represents a real another real milestone for us and leads us to complete the Vistula Corridor and the rest of International Park.

So around 2030, 2031, we'll we'll be cutting the final ribbon.

Kristi: An we're even talking pickleball.

Pickleball, one of the fastes growing sports in the country.

Yeah, that's going to be here.

Tell us more about what we're going to see as we stand on one side of the river and look to the other side, and then sort of back the other way.

Dave Zenk: Well, one of the thing that we started to realize is, as a community, we launched the ambition to create the country's best river walk, and we're well on our way to do that.

What that required for Metroparks, frankly, is to act as a bit of a convener.

We're doing a lot of things down here, and you're seeing a lot of new amenities like the family entertainment Center, which will have a pickleball facility, new restaurants and outdoor dining.

We've got the skating ribbon but what we're doing is actually convening partners and joint ventures to do all of this.

So when you see things lik that, well, Metro is a partner and we will ultimately benefit financially.

We're not actually operating those things.

And so we're folding in funding it, funding partners and business partners to really activate this whole riverfront in new ways, but also keeping us true to our mission and focused on what we do.

Kristi: And what a model for success.

I mean, you did your homework ahead of time to look at some of the othe park systems across the country.

But now what we're doing here in northwest Ohio and in this region is truly just going to be amazing for other park systems looking to really see a prototype of success.

Dave Zenk: You're startin to see a lot of other portions of our country actually look to what's happening here.

Last year, as a for instance, we had a travel writer from Forbes come in and document this project and talk about how it fundamentally is a model that can be replicated in other communities across the country.

So we're we are starting to get a lot of phone calls about how we're doing this.

It wasn't that long ago we wer a small, sleepy park district, and to pull something like thi off would have been unheard of.

So it really is exciting.

Kristi And that's what the Metroparks is all about, impacting their lives for the best.

So Dave, thanks so much for being with us on Businesslive 360.

This has been great to learn more about the Metroparks.

Dave Zenk: Yeah, thanks for having me.

Kristi: You bet.

And now let's head back to the studio.

Domestic violence is a growing issue across the country, and this region is no exception.

Let's head out on location and see how the groundbreaking work at the YWCA is reshaping the way we think about dignity and safety for those women and familie in domestic violence situations.

Let's meet CEO Lisa McDuffie.

Lisa, welcome to Business Live.

Lisa McDuffy: Thank you so much for having me, Kristi.

Kristi: So great to be here i the domestic violence shelter.

Much just happening.

We have a construction site today.

We also have so many things happening with the programs and services.

So tell us more about what this YWCA does for the community, for the region and beyond in terms of programing an some of the operational pieces?

Lisa McDuffy: Absolutely.

It's my pleasure.

So the YWCA has actually been in this community for 154 years, if you can believe that.

I mean, we are so proud.

And really, our rich legacy of every single thing we do, our mission is to work toward the elimination of racism and the empowerment of women.

The YWCA is the largest and the oldest provider of domestic violence services, not only in this region, but also in our country.

It is very, very, important for individuals to know that we really are experts said what we do here, and we know that, making sur that women and families are safe from all types of violence in particular, intimate partner violenc is really where we hone in on.

So it's really important for us to make sure that one, our services are available for any and all that are in need.

It is true that we operate in emergency domestic violence shelter, but in addition to that, we have a crisis lin where individuals can call us.

We can help them with the safety plan if they choose not to come in to shelter.

Or at some point, maybe the shelter is not for them right now.

You know, we let them make that choice, but providing them with the right resources is really what's important.

Kristi: So tell us about some of the other programs that the YWCA offers in addition to rape crisis and domestic violence.

Lisa McDuffy: Absolutely.

So we do a variety of other programs.

We have a youth development program that really serves as the health education component in Toledo Public Schools.

And it's all under the umbrella of teen pregnancy prevention.

That allows us to really help young folks understand the importance of conflict resolution, communication skills, identifying a trusted adult that they can go to at any times.

But most importantly, you know this whole notion of, you know, we're growing up, what is social responsibility look like?

So there are service learning opportunities.

And, you know, even helping young folks decide if college is their path or trade.

That's our youth development program.

Kristi: A wonderful programs for young men.

Lisa McDuffy: Absolutely.

And for young men, they can be a part of that development program.

But in addition to that, there is a separate program called Mend.

And it's all about helping young men understand the importance of healthy relationships.

We have childcare resource and referral.

We have a breast cancer education program.

We provide long term, housing.

So we have a permanent supportive housing program for formerly homeless women.

These women, you know are able to live with us forever if they choose to.

65.

Studi one and two bedroom apartments.

And then last but not least, in addition to that, we operate a racial justice department.

And it really is all about making sure everyone understand the importance of race, equity and what we can do to really level the playing field all the way across.

Kristi: Something that we've talked a bit about today is the $18 million capital campaign, and the construction that is happening in the building in which we stand.

Tell us about how the project is impacting our region and will be going forward.

And, well, I look at the project and I think, wow, that is incredible and wonderful.

I also think the need is so great that the YWCA needs all thes new rooms in this extra space, because the need for domestic violence is going up.

Tell us about that.

Lisa McDuffy: I first want to acknowledge our donors and the fact that we wouldn't be in the midst of renovation if it wasn't for them.

It will allow us to more than double the rooms we have currently i our domestic violence shelter.

It will, give us a training room so that we can bring our daycare, providers in to, you know, have the state of the art, lecture and education right here on our premises.

It's going to give us a computer room to help the children that live in this facility.

You know, not only hon in on their skills, but also do homework or you know, even build a resume, if that's the case.

Lending library, lots of other really important space that, quite frankly, currently, our footprint does not allow us to have, we're goin to have a children's play area so that they can exercise those large and small motor motor skills.

It gives us a better opportunity to provide a better service to individuals that come to us regardless of for what reason.

Kristi: Now, so many programs.

How are these programs funded?

What is the the nature of your funding?

Lisa McDuffy: Yeah.

So as a 501 C3, mor than the majority of our funds come from grants.

And our grants may be federal, state, some local.

We are very, very fortunate and that we are pretty successful in securing funds from these grants.

But the fact of the matter is, the secret that's out is most nonprofits need really unrestricted funds to really help their organization, manage the operations.

And behold, we are alway looking for donations to help us pay 100% for all the programs and services that we need to provide.

Kristi: Thank you for offering everyone in this community the safe space.

The YWCA is doing amazing things.

We appreciate you being here and Business life 360.

Lisa McDuffy: Lisa, thank you so much, Christy, for having.

Kristi: Me.

Well, let's go take a look at the former 11ft deep pool and see what that space looks like now.

Love to you.

Okay.

Let's go.

Lisa.

We are here now on th construction site, and I'm here with Brant Gray, who is leading the construction team with Program Solutions.

And Brant, we recognize this poo at least what used to be a pool.

Tell us more about what is happening here at the YWCA and how much has occurre with this 11ft pool at one time?

Brent Gray: Yeah, sure.

So it's obviously it looks like a bunch of stone at this point in time.

There's a 1200 ton of stone went in to fill this pool up.

So the basement level is what we're looking at here.

Brent Gray: This would be administrative space.

The first floor will be administrative space as well.

Kristi: Got it.

Okay.

And then upstairs will have more rooms for the domestic violenc families.

Brent Gray: Correct.

Which was the old gym.

And that is being built.

Out right now as we speak.

Kristi: I sa also talk about the third floor.

Brent Gray: The third floor will house more rooms for victims, as well as the second floor.

So it'll be basement floor, first floor, administrative secon and third floor will be victim.

Kristi: Shelter when all is said and done.

Brant, what will this look like?

Brent Gray: Drywall finishes ceiling grids so you won't se the structural steel here that.

We have now.

Floor coverings, but.

It'll be beautiful.

It'll be quite an asset for the community.

Kristi: 100%.

Thanks so much, Brant.

You're welcome.

And now I welcome Singler Mans the CEO and president of Lucas Metropolitan Housing and a veteran in the world o public and affordable housing.

Welcome to Business Live 360.

It's really great to have you here.

Senghor Manns: Pleasure to be here, Kristi.

Thank you.

Kristi The homeless population is dire.

The need for housing is dire.

Tell us mor about some of the numbers that you are seeing in our region and who you are able to impact.

Senghor Manns: Lucas Metropolitan Housing historically has served the low income community, and we have done it very proficiently.

We we serve over 17,000 individuals.

And in doing so, over 70,000 individuals probably about, rounding, of course, about 7500 families are served.

And so in that 7500 families, you have kids, you have, elderly, you have folks that have had, previously been homeless, you've had folk that have been nearly homeless.

And so, with the community the size of Toledo and the size of Lucas County, as you might imagine, the need for affordable housing is, is important.

So the need is great.

We have waiting lists, for example, with our public housing that we provide.

These are the communities to which we own.

And, that's 4600 apartments that we provide, roughly.

But then we also have th Housing Choice voucher program.

That's about 2600 and up.

Both of those waitlists are closed.

We open that that waitlist up just for three days.

We would probably end up getting about 4000, 3500 to 4000 applications in those three days.

Kristi: I mean, you are just doing wonderful mission based work.

And, you know, I look at this and I think you really are one of the largest landlords in the state of Ohio.

Where do you get your funding?

Senghor Manns: Primarily, from the federal government.

Right.

And I'd say that kind of that way, because we don't want it to necessarily be like that.

And what I mean is, you don't want to put all of your eggs in one basket, right?

You want to make sure that you have a diverse portfolio, at least on the portfolio.

And, and so the traditional model has been with housing authorities is you receive your funding from HUD, then you use that funding to provide public housing in section eight.

Which is a great it works.

Most housing authorities that's how they, they operate.

But when we want to look at some other kinds of projects, for example, how do we serve populations that are well above 30% area median income?

Or you have to look at other potential, resources.

And so you look at the tax credit program, for example, that the state has and, you look at the Federal Home Loan bank, programs that have affordable housing dollars.

And so, so we're actually going to diversify.

That's part of my task.

My job, they brought me on to create a little bit more of a diverse funding, stream for us.

Kristi Tell us more about some of the future initiatives that you're working on.

Senghor Manns: Yeah.

So we have a number of different initiatives.

So it's really attractive to to me.

Was this, this not not only the willingness or desire, but also the capacity that this organization has, for thinking outside the box and really trying to tackle other, for lack of a better way of putting in special needs populations.

Right.

For example, yout aging out of foster care.

Right.

That's actually a population that's at risk of becoming homeless.

And, and then if they're homeless, what does that mean for the community?

Right.

They're they're they're using other services that, not very efficiently.

You want to make sure that they're actually in a safe environment and actually have to concentrate on other things, such as school or maybe the trad benefit, if you will, to make them more self-sufficient as, as a citizen.

And so, so we look at that now and that's what we're working on.

We have as an example, I think you might have hear about the Park Hotel Apartments that we're working on that project, which, you know, when it's done in September, we'll provide 45 units, 45 apartments for, youth aging out of foster car or youth that are on the verge of being homeless.

That's a program that not very many housing authorities in the state are trying to develop.

That kind of, complex or community.

You mentioned seniors.

We have a senior sit that we're developing right now.

So there'll be services that will be very specific to helping that that particular community, we're looking at for 2025 how we can actually generate a, a concept, for veterans.

But you also mentioned th homelessness population we have.

We have to figure out how to address this homelessness crisis and housing authorities now.

And Lucas is no exception.

Has been tasked with now trying to figure out what we can do.

So we're going to use our we're going to use our intellectual capacit and use them as much as we can to actually build some very, very, health programs to the, to the community.

Kristi: You are making a tremendous impact on our community and on our region.

And we thank you so much for being a part of business life.

360.

Senghor Manns: Thank, thank you for having me.

I look forward to the future and this this particular, location, Toledo, Lucas County.

We're going to be doin some fabulous things for this.

Kristi: I know you are.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

And now with me here in studio is Terry Alles, who is the director of Lucas Housing Services Corporation.

Terry, welcome to Business Life.

Terry Awls Thank you so much for having me.

Happy new.

Kristi: Year.

Happy new year.

It's great to have you her on set with me.

Appreciate it.

You do so much good work in the community, and I'd love to know mor about your role and what you do within your organization.

We just talked with Sing Mance, and he kind of gave us a preview of the, the the big picture of the organization.

Terry Awls: He's a he's a brilliant man.

He's going to take the organization to a different level.

So I oversee the nonprofit division, which is LHC, which is Lucas Housing Services Corporation.

And we right now we're i the process of building homes.

So we renovate homes in blighted areas, to help people become homeowners, credit courses, make sure they're financially stable.

They can pair with the bank.

They can pair with a realtor.

They don't have to buy from us.

But we want to make sure that they're, we're we're doing our part to help them succeed.

As far as homeownership.

Kristi You really building their dreams and allowing them to have a lifestyle that they really wan going forward for their futures?

Terry Awls: I think that's you couldn't have said a better, growing up in the projects, I I've wanted to be a homeowner.

And that's the thing that, you know, it's it's something that, you know, it was, as pride, you know, being able to cut my grass for the first time, I cried.

Kristi: We talked with Simmons, and we talked about some of the projects that you are all working on.

Tell us about your top project, or one that you particularly would like to emphasize.

Terry Awls The one I'd like to emphasize, I guess, would be the Parks Hotel.

It's for transient youth, youth or aging or foster care.

We're going to have complete wraparound services.

It's going to be a 24 hour, guard, I guess at the door where people can come in, you know, if they, you know, if they're coming in, if they have a job or something like that, or, we're going to help them with interview skills to help them with life skills.

We're going to help them kind of be productive so they can get back ou and kind of make a difference.

Kristi: Now, how many, young adults are we talking about?

Who in our region are agin out of the foster care system?

Terry Awls: That's probably thousands.

When I heard the homeless population number, you know, in the, you know, 5 to 10,000, I mean, i that number is just astonishing.

From the parks project to Cherry Street mission to, to Collingwood five.

We're we're able to be able to, to help our community.

And it takes all of us.

It really takes a village, you know, to to kind of do what we do.

Kristi: Terry.

Alice, thanks for being on Business Life three.

Terry Awls: Thank you so much for having me.

Appreciate it.

Kristi: As we've learned, there are highs and lows, challenges and there is powerful leadership impact when it comes to running mission based organizations.

We truly can all be inspire by those who make a difference, meet a need, and deliver mission driven success.

And that's a wrap on this episode of Business Life 360, a show where we learn, live, and explore the depths of business and innovation in our region and beyond.

I'm your host, Christy Kay, and I'll see you on the next business life 360.

Announcer: Connect with Christie Kaye on LinkedIn at Christie Kay Hoffman.

And here are the Business Live 360 with Christie Kaye.

Conversation on FM 91 on Thursday mornings.

To watch previous episode and more, visit our website at Morgan Bell 360 and listen to Christie Kay's podcast, Business Life After Hours.

Wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Business like 360 with Christie Kaye is made possible in par by KeyBank National Association trustee for the Walter E Hoon Memorial Fun and ProMedica Toledo Hospital, celebrating 150 years of serving our community.

Also by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(Music)