Community Focus with Jaden Jefferson

Mar 16 2025 176 ep. 9 mins
Community Focus with Jaden Jefferson Podcast artwork

The weekly Northwest Ohio public affairs show that brings nonprofit leaders, candidates, public officials, policy experts, and headlines into focus — the community focus. New episodes every Sunday at 11 a.m.

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Community Focus: Dr. Brittany Jones, At-Large Member of Toledo City Council

Mar 16 2025 10 mins  
On this week's Community Focus, my guest is Dr. Brittany Jones, an at-large member of Toledo City Council. We're discussing her series of listening sessions, the issues residents are telling her need to be solved, and priorities she already has.

Community Focus: State Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson, (D) OH-11

Mar 02 2025 10 mins  
On this week's Community Focus, I'm joined by State Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson (D) OH-11. I'm asking her about the party-line disagreements surrounding Senate Bill 56, which would amend the recreational cannabis law that voters approved.

Community Focus: Alona Matchenko, Toledo Helps Ukraine

Feb 24 2025 8 mins  
Today marks year three of Russia's war in Ukraine. And on last week's Community Focus, to discuss her organization's humanitarian aid efforts, Alona Matchenko of Toledo Helps Ukraine joined me.

Community Focus | Baldemar Velasquez: President, Farm Labor Organizing Committee

Feb 09 2025 13 mins  
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has conducted raids across the country, creating concern for undocumented workers. Baldemar Velasquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, offers Northwest Ohio insight on this week's Community Focus.

Community Focus: Dr. Ewart Skinner, Former Africana Studies Professor

Feb 02 2025 16 mins  
Dating back to the early 90's, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda have been engaged in a complicated power struggle. I'm discussing it with BGSU communications professor Dr. Ewart Skinner, who formerly taught an Africana Studies course.

Community Focus | Julie Embree: Executive Director, Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board

Jan 26 2025 14 mins  
On this week's Community Focus, Julie Embree — executive director of the Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board — discusses the local trend regarding homelessness, need for affordable housing, and youth most-at-risk for becoming unhoused.

Community Focus: Lucas County Health Commissioner Karim Baroudi

Jan 19 2025 10 mins  
It's a trifecta: the flu, COVID, and norovirus. To provide a regional look at what's most concerning out of the three, Lucas County Health Commissioner Karim Baroudi joins me on Community Focus.

Community Focus | Burma Stewart: Interim Director, Lucas County Department of Workforce Development

Jan 05 2025 7 mins  
Lucas County currently has the highest unemployment rate in Ohio. However, the full story is a little more complex than that. Burma Stewart, interim director at the Lucas County Department of Workforce Development, offers clarity on this week's Community Focus.

Community Focus | Mac Driscoll: At-Large Member, Toledo City Council

Dec 22 2024 10 mins  
Toledo City Council At-Large Member Mac Driscoll, on this week's Community Focus, chimes in on the mayor's proposed budget for 2025 — and discusses what he's heard from residents.

Community Focus: Lucas County Commissioner Lisa Sobecki

Dec 15 2024 12 mins  
The Board of Lucas County Commissioners has passed the county's 2025 budget, though it wasn't without challenges. Commissioner Lisa Sobecki is my guest on this week's Community Focus, to discuss how the process played out.