Success is a sweet inspiration. Failure can be bitter medicine; when refused because of its taste, recovery is delayed.
Sweet inspiration can be found at the intersection of Bissell Avenue and Bryson Street on Youngstown’s north side, where Flying High Inc. offers antidotes to personal struggles, workforce shortages, educational gaps and property abandonment.
Flying High’s Professional Development Center houses an integrated workforce development program, where adults receive free, accelerated training for jobs that employers need to fill. Flying High also operates a licensed alcohol and drug treatment facility and provides mental health support so that all participants retain jobs and achieve self-sufficiency.
“No matter how severe your barriers are, we can see them through,” says Jeff Magada, executive director.
In describing the priorities of Flying High, Magada cites what he calls the Big Five of employers’ questions. Do you have a valid driver’s license? What about reliable transportation? Can you pass a drug screening? What is your recent work history? Do you possess skill credentials?
“Those five things encompass everything about you,” including an ability to solve problems, he said.
Magada is a licensed social worker with a degree in criminal justice. Thirty years ago, when he supervised the Austintown Police Department’s juvenile diversion program, he launched a nonprofit organization to help teens develop life skills and build character through organized sports activities. He left the force in 2001 to focus on the nonprofit, which was renamed Flying High.
“I took a step of faith knowing that there was something greater for me to accomplish and more people who needed help beyond Austintown,” he said.
While Flying High was expanding, Magada started a security company and worked additional jobs to provide for his family. Money was tight, he recalled. He made only essential purchases and learned to enjoy simple pleasures.
“I now understand that this was the process required of me to genuinely serve people and relate to being desperate in need,” he said. “I believe the people who come to Flying High know we are real and understand the struggle they are going through. It has been a ‘good fight’ because we have overcome struggles and now help others do the same.”
Funding was an organizational challenge. After 15 unsuccessful requests, Flying High caught a break in 2007: a mini capacity building grant of $7,500 from the Ohio Governor’s Office of Faith and Community Based Initiatives. A consultant helped Magada write a three-year strategic plan. “It was a godsend,” he said. “It really gave vision to the passion.” Goals were to empower urban youth for employment and civic engagement, connect people to alcohol and drug treatment/recovery services and teach technical and professional skills required for entry level positions.
Flying High’s “coming out party,” as Magada calls it, was in 2016. It was one of 39 organizations nationwide to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Labor. That $4 million award enabled Flying High to train underserved participants for better-paying jobs in advanced manufacturing and health care.
Welding, machining, pre-apprentice carpentry, blueprint reading and fitting, chemical dependency counseling, peer support training and certified nursing assistant are among the courses. Carpentry and blueprint programs are housed in the new PDC Molina Training Facility, built on long-vacant land that Flying High acquired from Mahoning County Land Bank.
Whether a student graduates in six months or 18 months depends on their answers to the Big Five questions. Those who lack work histories because of addiction or incarceration will start at Flying High’s GROW Urban Farm, where they acclimate “while doing something to benefit the community,” Magada said. GROW is a source of fresh produce for the Action Mobile Market that travels to Mahoning and Trumbull county neighborhoods.
Those with addictions can receive treatment at Flying High, which also has two transitional recovery houses. A participant with a suspended driver’s license will work his way to paying off fines; another without a car will earn her way toward purchasing one, Magada said.
As for certifications, Flying High responds to the needs of 10 priority employers. On the construction side, products made at Flying High now are what students will make as employees later, Magada stressed.
Since 2017, Magada said, Flying High has completed 1,000 job placements, had clients earn 550 skilled credentials, and helped clients to overcome 750 employment barriers. A second center now operates in Warren; a third will open in February in Salem.
Magada believes Flying High can fulfill yet another community need. He envisions carpentry students building houses that they may live in one day, on vacant land in and around Youngstown.
Sweet inspiration, indeed.
Debora Flora is the executive director of the Mahoning County Land Bank.