THE LEARNING CENTER
IBC’s Learning Center is open afternoons and evenings Monday through Friday at no charge to youth who live in the greater Toledo area. Teenagers must agree to follow the rules and put forth their best efforts to succeed in all areas of life. Volunteer mentors and tutors and IBC staff offer homework assistance, subject-specific tutoring, reading clubs, and specialized training projects. Youth learn how to stay on the cutting edge of technology. We guide youth through hands-on learning activities. They take photos and videos, create books and calendars, and create the Institute for Building Careers’ podcasts, blogs, and webinars.
 
VOCATIONAL TRAINING
Vocational training is one of the smartest gifts we can give underprivileged teenagers. Our Vocational Training Center gives 20 young men and women at a time the chance to gain new, marketable skills in several vocations, including carpentry, electrical installation and plumbing. Adult mentors skilled in a variety of industries work side-by-side with the teenagers, teaching them to build walls, lay floors, install drywall, plumb pipes and systems, install electrical systems and frame a model “home.” We emphasize skills as well as leadership. We champion their every success and encourage them to become leaders as well as doers. We know teenagers often relate best to young adults. The Institute for Building Careers provides young peer mentors and life skills coaches to help bridge the work of the adults and youth in our programs.
 
GLOVES WITH LOVE
At the Institute for Building Careers, we teach youth to “pay it forward.” Gloves with Love teaches youth how important it is to give back to our community. They get the concept. Mentors, tutors, and youth leaders have selflessly volunteered hundreds of hours to make sure success is a now a bigger part of their lives than failure. They understand that strong academics and solid grades make them true champions.So now it’s their turn. Each month, they help cook and serve meals to the homeless at St. Paul’s Community Center. They volunteer for the Special Olympics, Big Brother-Big Sisters and The Victory Center. For three years, our youth helped build the infrastructure of an impoverished rural community (San Pierre, Indiana). We reach out globally as well. Our teenagers, who often have little themselves, build and sell crafts to help pay for tuition and school supplies for young boys in Eburru, Kenya, a food and water insecure African village. Along the way, they learn what charitable giving really means, why social services are crucial in Toledo, Ohio and Eburru, Kenya, and why the smallest donation makes a difference.