Matt Yarder’s family has been making sheet metal in Toledo for four generations. Doug Mallette moved to Toledo for college and decided to stay in Northwest Ohio. Jemma Hostetler has lived in big cities coast to coast but found a home in the Glass City. David Woodward lived in Atlanta for years before returning to his hometown to start a business.

No matter what your story, a local group working to brand and market the Toledo region wants you to connect with the region and make it your own.

The Toledo Region Branding Initiative is a nearly five-year, $800,000 project of the Northwest Ohio Brand Council — representatives from various public and private organizations that came together in 2009 with a common goal to promote the region, said Toledo Region Brand Manager Jeff Schaaf.

On April 4, the group unveiled a new tagline, “It Matters Where You Make It,” along with a new logo, the word “TOLEDO” with a small green arrow pointing forward.

It matters

For the past few years, the group has focused on promoting the area as “the heart of the new manufacturing economy,” citing factors like geographic location, access to transportation channels and availability of a skilled workforce. Six months ago, the group hired Toledo-based North Design to rethink the branding and expand the focus to showcase the region’s quality of life as well.

Enter “It Matters Where You Make It.”

“We did not really have a slogan before and we wanted to put together something people could really adopt and use and make their own,” Schaaf said. “It has a double meaning. That’s intentional. ‘Make it’ could mean you physically make or assemble something in the Toledo region because of the abundant economic assets and/or you could make a life or accomplish goals here because of the inviting culture and lifestyle.”

Woodward, president and creative director of North Design, said he felt “the heart of the new manufacturing economy” was relevant, but too specific.

It ignored lifestyle elements, like culture, art and affordability, Schaaf said.

“Everybody was saying, ‘This is really great but you’re leaving out a huge element of what makes Toledo so great,’” said Schaaf, a Toledo native. “We realized that after you go home at the end of the day, you don’t focus solely on economic assets; you focus on the things that make your life more meaningful.”

New logo

The group dropped its former “TR” logo in favor of the word “TOLEDO.”

“TR was great, but if you didn’t have the actual words with it, people weren’t sure what it was,” Schaaf said. “The new logo is very simple, but it says exactly who we are: Toledo, plain and simple.

“Some people were suggesting it might be too simple, but one of the most iconic brands in the world that’s located right here in our backyard is Jeep. Their logo couldn’t be more simple, but when you see that name you know exactly what they’re talking about and that’s what we want.”

The green arrow signifies forward progress, he said.

“That’s something our community has always been about. When settlers came here in 1795, they were looking to move forward, to make their lives and make them better,” Schaaf said. “The green is energetic, it’s fresh, it’s youthful, it’s very popular right now.”

Region

Despite the prominence of the Toledo name in the new logo, Toledo Region is still very much regionally focused.

“We focus on the word because it’s the largest city within the region and most people, if you’re out of town and someone asks you where you’re from, more often than not you say you’re from Toledo,” Schaaf said.

“The way we balance that is if you look at our images and you look at the messaging we convey, the companies we’re promoting and the assets we’re promoting, we’re not solely in Toledo city limits.”

It was North’s recommendation to simplify the brand and focus on Toledo.

“We think if there is a lack of perception or negative perception of the region, it revolves around the city of Toledo.

“So if we don’t fix the perception of Toledo and what it represents then we’ll never be able to build a brand called the Toledo Region,” Woodward said. “Whether you live in Sylvania or Perrysburg or Sandusky, we’re all impacted in some way by the perception of Toledo being the largest city in the region.

“We’re not throwing away the regional piece and we want to talk about the surrounding region within the context of the story and we will continue to highlight cities like Sylvania, Perrysburg, Maumee and Waterville that add to the quality of life in Toledo. Those communities are a hugely important part of our story.”

The Waterville Economic Development Corporation is on board with the Toledo Region branding, especially the “It Matters Where You Make It” tagline, said board member Phyllis Hyder.

“We in Waterville are very supportive of the regional idea. If we don’t work together we’re all wasting our time,” Hyder said. “Most site selectors know what they are looking at is a region and not a particular city anyway.”

Pat Nowak of the Sylvania Area Chamber of Commerce is cautiously optimistic about Toledo Region’s new direction, but said she would have preferred something broader.

“While I applaud Toledo’s effort in its current rebranding and I am sure that in today’s times it is a necessity, I feel the region as a whole would have got more benefit from an areawide collaboration much like the very successful and widely acclaimed ‘Pure Michigan’ idea,” Nowak said. “In their campaign they have positively meshed regions, towns and cities to highlight and enhance the area.”

Buzz

The effort’s website and marketing materials were also redesigned by North Design. By utilizing photos posted by area residents on social media, the initiative takes on a more genuine feel, said Hostetler, the agency’s art director.

“When you see this, you automatically know it’s not stock photography,” Hostetler said. “To mix some of that in with content that’s curated from the community, it all of a sudden actually feels like Toledo.”

Schaaf said the arts community and many young professionals have embraced the new branding, but the goal is for it to resonate with everyone.

“We’re really excited about the viral buzz we’ve created, but we want this to resonate with everyone,” Schaaf said. “That’s kind of why we left it open-ended with ‘It matters where you make it,’ so you can say what makes it you and why you make it.”

Mallette, chair of EPIC Toledo and product manager at HCR ManorCare, said he likes the “personal ownership” implied by the campaign.

“I’m a person who’s all about ‘If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem,’” Mallette said. “I really like how it’s more than a ‘Hey guys, we’re Toledo, we’re great.’ It’s ‘This is your city, take ownership and move forward with it.’”

Schaaf is unapologetic about focusing on the positive aspects of the region.

“When you go on a job interview, you don’t tell them your faults; you tell them your strengths. We’re trying to promote the good stuff and, as we’re finding the negative stuff, we’re trying to work on that as well,” Schaaf said. “There are plenty of things we could talk about if you want to talk about problems. Those are not unique to Toledo. There are issues in every city. Our organization’s sole purpose is to promote the Toledo region and the positive assets and that’s what our focus is going to continue to be.”

Co-branding

Yarder, vice president of sheet metal fabricators The Yarder Manufacturing Company, is the first company to co-brand its logo with Toledo Region. A new Yarder Manufacturing box truck features the Toledo Region logo and tagline.

“It made a lot of sense,” Yarder said. “To us, it matters where we’ve made it and we’ve been making it in Toledo for more than 100 years.

“Driving around Michigan and Ohio with that truck, spreading the word, will unify the community a little more and people will start to understand what makes us tick here in the Toledo region and why we’re moving in the direction we’re moving and what matters to us,” Yarder said. “I’m not looking for direct results for my company, but rather a strong, bonded community. A community moving in a forward direction together is a better one to have your business in.”

The new message is designed both to attract newcomers as well as inspire pride in residents.

“You get into a room and you start talking about it and it starts to evoke emotion in people,” Schaaf said. “We’ve had people smiling ear to ear. People have said, ‘This makes me feel so proud to live here.’ I’ve had a couple people actually tear up [after reading the group’s positioning statement]. Someone on [our advisory council] said, ‘This is exactly what we were looking for when we started!’

You Will Do Better

In mid-December, as North Design was tweaking the rebranding effort, a grassroots movement centered around the slogan You Will Do Better in Toledo emerged. Rather than worry it would compete with what Toledo Region was doing, Woodward said he sees the two messages as complementary.

“In our mind, anything positive is something we should be able to take and use as part of the conversation that’s happening in the community,” Woodward said. “I love Holy Toledo, too. We think those are all positive messages. They are all phraseology people know and associate with our brand and they are all good things. It doesn’t have to compete. It can all work toward the same goal.”

Branding is important, said Bill Thomas, executive director of the Downtown Toledo Improvement District.

“There are people who think, ‘Oh, it’s a bunch of hogwash and we don’t need to do that,’” Thomas said. “The problem is, we have a lot of people who have lived here all their lives and like to talk negatively about Toledo.

“We need to have good material to talk about who we are in an authentic way because we have a great story to tell here. When people looking to live Downtown or move to Toledo ask, we want to have a great story that’s compelling enough to inspire follow-up questions.”

Ryan Bunch, performing and literary arts coordinator at The Arts Commission, agreed, saying the new logo and tagline is “the right thing at the right time.”

“People who 10-15 years ago would have gone to New York or LA are moving to Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus. And what those cities have in common is they’ve managed to make this kind of tough but welcoming persona for themselves. People are really attracted to that and Toledo is right smack dab in the middle of those three cities.

“The view of the city from inside can be pretty negative and the view of the city from outside can be pretty negative, so I think it’s really important and vital at this moment, with all these things going on in the arts community and with the business and development that’s starting to happen, that the city really emphasizes the positive view of itself and put that out there for people to have something to connect to.”

Cost

As of the end of February, Toledo Region had spent about $800,000 over the nearly five-year effort, Schaaf said, including market research, website development, Web hosting, strategic planning, staff, marketing and more.

The first phase of the initiative was the development of the initial concept and research. The second phase was developing the story and brand position. The third phase was creating the website and launching the brand. Phase four started in the fall when the group hired North Design and charged them with refreshing the brand.

Schaaf, who joined Toledo Region in January 2013, is the only paid full-time staff member. There was also a paid summer intern last year.

The majority of funding has come from private sources, Schaaf said. Although the City of Toledo has supported the initiative, it is not the primary funder, he said. He declined to disclose how much North Design was paid for the rebranding or how much any particular group has contributed, but said costs are reasonable.

“I’m very frugal and very cautious of what I’m spending because I’m working really hard to make sure that our message is getting across in the way that our funders and our community would like them to get across,” Schaaf said.

“It looks like a lot when it’s a lump sum, but if you look at what other cities are doing, like Columbus, Pittsburgh, Des Moines, Iowa, they are spending $1 million a year and we haven’t even spent a million in five years.

“If you break it down, we have about a million and a half people living in the region, so that’s less than a dollar per person over a five-year period.”

Pittsburgh declined to release how much it has spent on its branding initiative. Representatives from Columbus and Des Moines were unable to be reached.

Woodward said Toledo Region needs to spend more to truly compete with other cities.

“So in five years, they’ve spent $150,000 per year promoting the region. What’s the GDP of the region? What percentage does that $800,000 equal? Look at a business and how a business promotes and sells itself. If we were to compare it to a business, what percentage of their revenue do they spend on marketing and sales so they are successful?” Woodward said. “We’re in the same type of environment where we are competing for resources, we’re competing for talent share, we’re competing for attention at the state level and the federal level for dollars.”

Next steps

The next step will be to raise more money to fully roll out the new campaign. Schaaf and Woodward would like to create a promotional video, finish the website, launch an app, ramp up marketing and more.

“We can’t expect and we don’t expect the money to come from the city or the county. It’s going to have to come from people who believe in the community and want to make the community better,” Woodward said. “For this to truly be a success and for us to be able to compete with Cleveland and Columbus or other cities in our region who are doing a good job of building their brands, we’re going to have to fund it. If there are companies out there or individuals out there who believe in this mission then we need their help.”

Woodward said he hopes the Toledo Region brand will attract new residents as well as empower lifelong residents to share why they love Northwest Ohio.

“Toledoans, as you know, we can be our own best ambassador or our own worst ambassador,” Woodward said. “It’s up to us when we’re visiting our friends [in other cities] and they ask, ‘Why do you live in Toledo?’ Well, let’s tell them why. I think too many people shy away from the question. Part of the strength of putting together something we think resonates with the community is that we can start to tell that story in a positive way.”

To learn more, visit the website toledoregion.com.

She prefers to keep her face and real name a secret, but she goes by Streetspun, an apt nickname for someone who twines yarn onto parking meters and street signs and trees.

In the fight against child abuse, Streetspun “yarnbombed” Downtown Toledo in all blue on March 30 in recognition of Lucas County Children Services’ (LCCS) Wear Blue Day. The annual event, set for April 9, raises awareness of child abuse prevention.

Yarnbombs are knitted sleeves that can be fitted around lampposts, parking meters and bike racks. Streetspun installed the blue “bombs” in front of the LCCS offices on Adams Street, where they will remain for April, which is Child Abuse Awareness month.

Streetspun said in an email she learned to crochet just so she could make yarnbombs. She said that people tell her they get a great feeling when they see her yarnbombs and that makes her happy.

“When you can combine street art with a great cause like child abuse awareness, you can’t go wrong,” she said. “Never did I imagine creating international street art right here in Toledo … all for the kids.”

Streetspun posted the yarnbombing event to Facebook “and before I knew it there were yarnbombs coming from everywhere!” Streetspun said. People from France, Great Britain, Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Netherlands, New Zealand, Italy and Australia all contributed yarnbombs for Toledo’s effort this year.

Last year, the first year yarnbombing was incorporated into Toledo’s Wear Blue Day, was also an international event. It was made even more special by the Cosmic Knittas from Sandy Hook in Newtown Conn., where 26 students and adults were killed in a school shooting on Dec. 14, 2012. They sent a yarnbomb with a handwritten card that read: “We know all too well that we need to protect our children and applaud your efforts for Wear Blue Day. We are graffiti knitters from Sandy Hook who are working on our own event but want to support yours too.”

LCCS Public Information Officer Julie Malkin said last year’s yarnbomb went better than what she could have imagined, including the yarnbomb from Sandy Hook that “put everything into perspective.”

“These people were just drowning in grief from such a horrible event but they took the time to notice we were reaching out and trying to prevent child abuse and that just sent us back on our heals,” Malkin said.

Streetspun agreed last year’s response was “overwhelming.”

“I never expected so many yarnbombers from so many places around the world to participate,” she said.

Yarnbombing raises spirits and awareness during a serious time for LCCS, Malkin said.

“This is sort of a drab office building and the colors — the blues – that are wrapping around every tree just make people stop and pay attention and that’s what we need; we need people to stop and pay attention that there is child abuse in our community.

“You’d see people walk around Downtown around lunchtime and they would [see the yarnbombs] and they would just smile and it definitely cheered everybody here (at LCCS),” Malkin said. “Child abuse prevention month is somewhat of a somber time. Last year in particular, we lost 12 children to abuse and neglect.”

So far this year, the social service agency has lost one child to abuse and neglect, Malkin said. Last year, 950 children were abused or neglected, she said.

“[The yarnbombing] really bolstered the spirit of our staff,” Malkin said. “Somebody cares and in the most literal sense, they wrapped their arms around our campaign.”

For this year’s installation, people contributed finished knitted or crocheted pieces in the most basic to advanced styles of all different sizes, Streetspun said. Many pieces have embellishments like flowers, a bow tie and custom tags.
 

Streetspun measured trees and poles, then gathered all the yarnbomb pieces like a giant jigsaw puzzle and sewed them together, she said. The finished products – some made up of 15 or more pieces – were placed around trees and street signs at the LCCS office building.

“It is really a great pleasure to see all of the different styles and creativity when so many different people are involved,” Streetspun said. 

Streetspun began crocheting her own blue yarnbombs in February. She is currently working on pieces for a yarnbombing installation in California in May.

“To have yarnbombs all around the world and all around the country, it shows people care,” Malkin said. “It’s something that is so out of the ordinary that you can’t help but stop and smile.”

Magic show

Also part of Child Abuse Prevention month, LCCS will sponsor a comedy magic performance by Rory Rennick at 2 p.m. April 27 at The Funny Bone, 6140 Levis Commons Blvd.

“I hear his show is spectacular,” Malkin said. “It’s a family-friendly show for kids and families.”

The show benefits Friends of LCCS, the nonprofit auxiliary that supports LCCS activities.

“[ Friends of LCCS] help make life better for the kids and families that we work with,” Malkin said.

Tickets to the show are $7 per person or $20 for a family four-pack. Advance tickets are required. Call (419) 213-3253 or email [email protected]. For more information on Rennick the comedian go to www.roryrennickmagic.com. The show is suitable for kids ages 6 and older.

When her young daughter fell out a second-story window, Lee Campbell was high and afraid of going to jail. Instead of seeking medical attention, she put a bag of frozen peas on the child’s head and smoked some more crack.

“I was high and not caring about anybody but myself,” the Toledo woman said. “I never took her to the ER. I never did nothing. It was only by the grace of God she survived.”

Eventually Campbell came under the scrutiny of Lucas County Children Services (LCCS), who placed her five children in the care of her mother.

Pebbles Spencer regularly left her four kids in the care of family members while she went out drinking. Her nights usually ended in fights that landed her in and out of jail. Eventually she was also reported to LCCS.

“My caseworker told me to look in the mirror and ask ‘Is this what you want to do? Is this you?’ And when I looked in the mirror, I just started crying,” she said.

Campbell and Spencer are no longer the women they once were, who regularly made choices that harmed themselves and their children. Today, they are sober, reunited with their children and among the parent volunteers now helping other local parents navigate LCCS programs.

“Every day, you have a choice to do something different. You do not have to be who you were,” Campbell said. “It makes a difference when you can say, ‘This is my story, but that’s not who I am.'”

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and April 9 is the third annual Wear Blue Day in Lucas County.

“It’s something fairly simple, but it’s something that can be very meaningful,” said LCCS Executive Director Dean Sparks. “This is a time when we want to acknowledge that child abuse and neglect are a problem in our town and we’re going to do what we can. We’re going to commit the resources and unite to say child abuse is 100 percent preventable and we’re going to do everything we can to prevent it. All of us wearing blue shirts that day are standing up and saying, ‘I’m part of that.'”

As many as 1,800 children die in the U.S. from abuse or neglect each year, Sparks said.

Each April, LCCS holds a memorial ceremony for Lucas County children who have died in the past year from abuse, neglect or street violence.

This year’s ceremony will be 11:30 a.m. April 25 at LCCS, 705 Adams St. Twelve children were memorialized at last year’s ceremony, the most since Sparks started the memorial services more than a decade ago. This year, 18-month-old Elaina Steinfurth will be remembered.

The East Toledo toddler was killed in June after being thrown across the room by her mother and suffocated by her mother’s boyfriend. The months-long search for the girl drew national attention until her body was discovered hidden in the garage. Her mother and boyfriend were sentenced to life in prison.

“Whenever a child is senselessly murdered or killed, that takes a bit out of all of us I think,” Sparks said. “We do the memorial services to help our community heal, for our staff to be able to be introspective and understand how important it is what they do, and to say we must continue to fight against child abuse because it still happens, it’s real and the consequences are dire.”

The Lucas County Coroner’s Office is still reviewing records to make sure there are no other children to include in the memorial this year, said LCCS public information officer Julie Malkin.

Sparks said many people don’t report suspected abuse or neglect because they aren’t sure or they feel it’s none of their business. Others are afraid the person they want to report will find out and retaliate.

Reports can be left anonymously, but even if callers leave their name, LCCS never reveals who called, Sparks said. The agency’s hotline, (419) 213-CARE (2273), is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“When there are high-profile cases like Elaina Steinfurth’s, it heightens awareness and people call us because they are afraid the same thing is going to happen to a child they know,” Sparks said. “It strips away those excuses people have and pushes people to make some reports.”

SUBHEAD: Lucas County stats

In 2013, LCCS received 4,840 referrals involving 7,323 children. Investigations determined 952 were abused or neglected, according to the agency’s annual report. Fifty-two percent of investigations were for alleged physical abuse, 33 percent for neglect, 12 percent for sexual abuse and 2 percent for emotional abuse.

Of new cases opened in 2013, 44 percent of families were white, 30 percent were African-American and 24 percent were multiracial, according to LCCS. Two percent were categorized as “other or race unknown.”

About 70 percent of LCCS cases involve substance abuse. Of the drug cases, 80 percent involve heroin or prescription opiates, Sparks said. Human trafficking makes up another growing segment of LCCS cases, with about 15 victims currently in LCCS care, he said.

Sleep-related infant deaths are another category that seems to be on the rise, Sparks said. Lucas County recorded six deaths in 2010, five in 2011 and 16 in 2012, he said. Before 2009, most sleep-related deaths were classified as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Now, investigators consider other unsafe factors, such as cosleeping, particularly with an adult under the influence of alcohol or drugs; stomach sleeping; or sleeping with blankets, stuffed animals or bumper pads.

SUBHEAD: Parent program

The Parent Partnership Program has been used by LCCS for about four years, Sparks said. It is an expansion of LCCS’ Building a Better Future program. Campbell has been volunteering with the program for six years and Spencer for more than two years.

“I started thinking, all this stuff in my past couldn’t have been for nothing,” Campbell said. “God can take anything bad and turn it into good for someone else.”

Spencer agreed.

“When I was in the streets, I was doing more taking than giving,” Spencer said. “I’m a walking testimony to let them know they aren’t alone and if they listen, they don’t have to go as far as I went.”

SUBHEAD: Lee’s story

Life as Campbell knew it ended at age 6. That’s when she moved to Toledo with her mom and her mom’s new boyfriend, who abused her mom and raped and molested Lee until he died when she was 15.

“I remember coming here to Toledo and everything just stopped,” Campbell said. “I prayed to die every day. Somebody told me if you’re in total darkness, God will come to you and talk to you right there and save you, so I used to climb in these big black garbage bags, thinking God will come to me. When he didn’t, I knew there wasn’t a God, that God and the devil were the same person. I believed that for years.

“Nobody ever spoke against it,” Campbell said of her abuse. “I was just that invisible person that no one could see. Nobody wondered, ‘Why does she not talk? Why does she have accidents at school and she’s 12 years old? What’s going on?’ Nobody questioned it. It was just, ‘Oh she’s just dirty, she’s nasty, she’s slow.’ [After he died] I had to figure out a way to kill that little girl off.”

After her abuser died, she started using pills, alcohol and prostitution to dull the pain. She drank and used drugs during all her pregnancies and tried to kill herself twice.

“I didn’t think it was wrong. This was normal,” Campbell said. “My life was broken from the beginning of time.”

A neighbor finally called LCCS after seeing one of Campbell’s daughters enter a neighborhood crack house looking for her, but Campbell managed to avoid the caseworker for months. Finally she was ordered to appear in court. When she didn’t show up, her mother was given custody of the kids. A few days later, Campbell got angry when her mom refused to let her see the kids.

“I said, ‘You’re the reason this is all happening. You’re the reason I’m the way I am. You destroyed my life,'” Campbell said.

In a drug-fueled rage, she threatened to kill her mother, her children and herself and was arrested.

“I just wanted the pain to stop. When you have a lifetime of brokenness and trauma and you’re medicating with drugs and alcohol and not speaking about it, not trying to heal from it, it destroys every bit of proper thinking,” Campbell said. “I just thought it would be easier if they were gone and she was gone and then me gone. It would stop my kids from suffering. That’s where my mind was.”

In jail, she started reading the Bible and decided to get sober. She later regained custody of her children and founded Rahab’s Heart, a local outreach ministry that helps adult women who are street prostitutes and drug addicts.

“God has really worked miracles in my life because I used to be a very ugly person,” Campbell said. “What a blessing it was for somebody to intervene and save my own five kids. I could definitely have lost any of my kids to the streets because of my own ignorance. If it wasn’t for [LCCS], my daughter would be a prostitute. My boys would be dead or drug dealers. My twin daughters would probably be dead. Because I was no kind of mother. I was planting the same seeds in them as were planted in me.

“I just really try to tell [parents] how important it is to move forward, to say, ‘OK, you made some bad choices. I did, too. This is what I did, but you don’t have to live in that today.”

SUBHEAD: Pebbles’ story

Growing up in Toledo, Spencer was something of a wild child — known for fighting in the streets. Her dad, with whom she was close, died when she was 16.

“I was basically a rebel.I wanted to do what I wanted to do,” she said. “I went out in the world to find family and ran into the wrong people.”

While raising her four children, her alcohol use “got out of hand.” She never got violent toward her kids, but picked fights with just about everyone else, she said.

“I used to go from zero to 45 in getting angry. I couldn’t understand how my son had so much anger, but I showed him that,” Spencer said. “I just made wrong decisions. I caused a lot of violence. My therapists say I was reaching out for a lot of attention.”

Spencer’s sister reported her to LCCS the first time, a neighbor a second time. She now calls both instances “a blessing and a wakeup call.”

“Being drunk, you couldn’t know everything that was going on. You couldn’t pay attention to how they feel and what they were going through,” Spencer said of her kids. “I was tired but didn’t know no other way to go. I was just so wrapped up in that mode, I didn’t know how to get out.”

At first, Spencer brushed off LCCS’ attempts to help, but eventually realized she needed to make a change.

“Looking in the mirror made me think, ‘Well hey, I’ve been doing it this way; let’s try another way. Let’s do something different. And follow through this time,'” she said.

Spencer and Campbell both said recovery is an ongoing process, but are confident in their forward progress.

“I don’t think relapse is a part of everybody’s story,” Campbell said. “I’ve been given a beautiful life from the beginning until now. That past has made me the strong woman I am today who can reach out to people and say, ‘Look, you don’t have to be there. I’m going to be the shadow walking with you until you’re ready to change.'”

LCCS is encouraging people wearing blue April 9 to post photos on the agency’s Facebook page, tweet photos to @LucasCoOHKids or email photos to [email protected]. For more information, visit lucaskids.net.