Fifth Third Bank grant moves Toledo urban agriculture initiative from study to groundwork

Support will fund preparation of the initiative's first urban farm site

The urban agriculture initiative launched in 2024 by the United Way of Greater Toledo has received a grant from Fifth Third Bank to begin preparing its first urban farm site.

The grant funds the work every farm starts with and no one photographs: site assessment, soil testing, cleanup, and land preparation at Cultivate Toledo's pilot farm on Huron Street in the Vistula neighborhood. Preparing ground through the winter positions the initiative to launch its first working farm in spring 2026.

“Fifth Third's support is what moved this from a committee with findings to a shovel in the ground,” said Andrew Newby, who leads the initiative. “Come spring, the first farm stops being an idea.”

The grant is the initiative's first support from a financial institution — an early signal that urban farms planned as businesses, not projects, can attract the capital that businesses attract.