COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A local program that helps people enter high-demand, well-paying career fields could soon go away.
Resiliency Bridge is a public-private partnership between Aspyr Workforce Innovations and Home for Families, with the original program design facilitated by the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio.
“When you think that no one cares and that there’s nowhere to turn to, a program like this with the caliber of people that work here is second to none,” former program participant Fred Thomas said.
Resiliency Bridge combines affordable housing, workforce development and support services to help students like Thomas enter career fields with strong earning potential. But Home for Families President and CEO Beth Fetzer-Rice said that without additional funding, the program could be forced to shut down at the end of September.
“On June 30 of ‘23, I was in a car accident, nearly life-ending,” Thomas said.
That car accident left Thomas with a traumatic brain injury and without a job, so he turned to Goodwill of central Ohio.
“I was about to lose everything,” Thomas said. “And I told the lady at the front desk, and she says, well, ‘Here’s the number.’ I said, ‘What’s it for?’ She says, ‘Home for Families. Call them.’ I called them. My life was saved.”
Through Resiliency Bridge, Home for Families paid Thomas’ rent and bills so he could focus on getting a certificate in IT without the burden of financial stress.
“Columbus, Ohio, is the IT center,” Thomas said. “You know, we’re growing and we’re growing. This organization helped me to focus on my studies, to be able to get it done, get through the program no matter the obstacles.”
Fetzer-Rice said the program has been very successful since the pilot launched in October 2021.
“It connects families who are kind of stuck in that low-wage cycle and they’re paying too much of their wages toward their housing,” Fetzer-Rice said. “It connects them with a workforce program that’s going to help them increase their income and put them into a field that has kind of high wages and high demand.”
But now, the nonprofit needs the community’s help. Fetzer-Rice said as funds dwindle, new sources are needed for Resiliency Bridge to continue beyond the end of September.
“It’s going to take multiple sources for us to continue to operate at the same level because we want to be able to have, you know, high impact and have good return on investment,” Fetzer-Rice said.
Fetzer-Rice said they’d love to keep going at their current pace but are ready to scale down or up depending on the level of support they get.
“If the funds go away, it’s just going to kind of take us back a step,” Fetzer-Rice said. “We’ve been working so long to kind of get this program launched. We’ve had great success. A huge majority of the families have said, you know, ‘Without this program, I’m not sure I would have made it through to the end.’”
Though another 100 students enrolled in the program’s second cohort are expected to graduate by the end of the year, a third cohort won’t move forward unless new funding is secured.
“For them to go away would be such a travesty to the community, our community, to the city of Columbus,” Thomas said.
Fetzer-Rice said it’s going to take a village to keep Resiliency Bridge afloat.
“We know the community will come through for us,” Fetzer-Rice said. “We believe it.”
Anyone interested in supporting the program can reach out to Home for Families by clicking here.
