Six nonprofit and county organizations have formally partnered to build upon the existing revitalization in the Old South End.

On Thursday, leaders from Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation Toledo, Historic South Initiative, LadderUp Housing, Lucas County Land Bank, and the John Henry Elred Jr. Foundation announced a $1 million pilot program to share data and resources for projects in the historic neighborhood.

“It’s about collaborating efforts,” said Mike Deetsch, executive director of the John Henry Eldred Jr. Foundation. “Data sharing will be part of it. We’re going to be in active communication to make sure that residents are getting the full suite of services that they deserve, that we’re not duplicating efforts.”

The organizations make up the newly formed Old South End Partnership. The agreement was announced at a news conference at the Sofia Quintero Art & Cultural Center.

Executives from each organization signed a memorandum of understanding to commemorate the partnership. 

The project will focus on strengthening neighborhood-level data collection and analysis, coordinating home repair and construction projects, providing developer gap project funding, and sharing metrics to measure impact and guide future investment.

It’ll prioritize Broadway Street, Courtland Avenue, South Avenue, and Western Avenue, Mr. Deetsch said.

David Mann, president and chief executive officer of the Lucas County Land Bank, said the Old South End has been designated as a Rebuild, Invest, Stabilize, and Engage, or RISE, neighborhood.

Neighborhoods in the program are prioritized for targeted investment, property stabilization, and strategic redevelopment, Mr. Mann said.

He described the collaborative effort as “a partnership on steroids.”

“Our community is really coming together with funders, people who are going to provide financial resources and partners who each have their own way, lots of tools and resources to really help people who might be living on a block, a couple of blocks from here, and be wondering, ‘When is someone going to help me fix my roof,’” Mr. Mann said.

Erin McPartland, executive director of Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity, said she is ready to “turn up” the home preservation work the nonprofit does through the partnership.

“We have been in this neighborhood for a long time,” she said. “We have been supporting this neighborhood through home preservation work and also we’ve been working with these partners for a long time on different initiatives.”

“For us to come together and bring our planning together, to be able to work in coordination with each other just means that we’re all going to be able to just turn it up a little bit and do a little more in the community,” Ms. McPartland continued.

Though there were many smiling faces at the news conference, Sue Terrill said she wasn’t that thrilled. She said her brother lives in the Old South End and feels more areas should be covered by the pilot program.

“I think it’s a good thing for the area but it’s not involving residents from the total area,” Ms.Terrill said. “What about the rest of us?”

Mr. Deetsch and Mr. Mann, however, said the focus areas are the beginning of a larger effort in the future.

“This is a very big moment,” Mr. Mann said. “The only way we’re going to make progress and build trust with residents is if we take one step at a time. … This is the start of a process. Folks who would say, ‘Oh gosh, what about my block’ … it’s going to take time because every problem in this neighborhood didn’t happen yesterday.”

First Published March 19, 2026, 3:23 p.m.

https://www.toledoblade.com/local/city/2026/03/19/organizations-announce-1-million-old-south-end-pilot-program/stories/20260319092