Workforce Activation & Skills Development
Connecting residents to paid, hands-on work and practical training in fields with regional demand.
Northern Ohio • Great Lakes Region
Lake Erie Mutual Aid & Community Development Foundation
“Striving to achieve Ihsan through Khidmah”
LEMA is a regional development foundation working to strengthen communities across Northern Ohio through workforce activation, land and water stewardship, and durable public-benefit infrastructure.
Erie County, Ohio — Lake Erie shoreline
Who we are
A regional foundation grounded in service
LEMA is a community development foundation based in Sandusky and serving Erie County and the wider Northern Ohio region. We pair practical, on-the-ground work with long-term stewardship — putting residents to work, caring for land and water, and rebuilding the everyday infrastructure communities depend on.
Our approach is deliberately concrete. We focus on projects that create real participation, measurable benefit, and lasting capacity for the region.
More about LEMA →What we do
View all initiatives →Core initiative areas
Drainage Clearing & Land Stewardship
Maintaining waterways, easements, and parcels to reduce flooding and restore healthy land.
Transportation & Logistics Coordination
Moving people, equipment, and materials reliably so projects and workers can get where they're needed.
Infrastructure Revitalization
Repairing and upgrading the practical systems that keep communities functioning.
Community Mutual Aid & Public Benefit
Direct, neighbor-to-neighbor support that meets real needs as they arise.
Future Agrivoltaic & Productive Land Initiatives
Exploring combined solar and agricultural use of land for long-term regional resilience.
Phase 1 — field operations
Underway now
The Phase 1 Pilot
Phase 1 is where the foundation's work begins in earnest: a focused pilot in Erie County that stands up our first paid participation cohort, begins priority drainage and land stewardship, and builds the operational backbone for everything that follows.
Workforce & participation
Stand up the first paid participation cohort with clear intake, training, and supervision.
Drainage & land work
Begin priority drainage clearing and stewardship on identified parcels and corridors.
Logistics backbone
Establish reliable transportation and equipment coordination for active sites.
Operational capacity
Build the equipment, processes, and partnerships needed to deliver work at scale.
An invitation
This work is built through partnership
Public agencies, philanthropic organizations, nonprofits, and government partners each bring something essential. We welcome conversations about funding, projects, land, and shared goals.
Our footing
Community impact, measured in real terms
- Phase 1
- Pilot underway in Erie County
- 6
- Core initiative areas
- 501(c)(3)
- Recognized nonprofit foundation
- Regional
- Northern Ohio & Great Lakes focus
Build something durable with us
Agencies, nonprofits, funders, and community members are all part of this work. Reach out to explore how we can partner.