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About the LoCo Gap Year Program
If you’re like most 17-20 year olds, you are still trying to figure out what you want to do in life! LoCo Gap Year (short for Logan County Gap Year) is designed to provide you an alternative pathway to your future instead of heading straight to college after high school. This may be the next step you’ve been waiting for!
LoCo Gap Year is a 12-month faith, character, and career development program for recent high school graduates. Up to 10 program participants will be welcomed into the growing and vibrant Logan County, Ohio community located one hour northwest of Columbus. The program year runs August 5, 2023 - August 3, 2024. You will live together in the LoCo Gap Year house, gain valuable career experience by working a full-time job in the community, and be invested in spiritually by church and local faith leaders. |
Check out these videos for a short program overview and to hear about the faith aspect of our program!
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Why Logan County Gap Year? There are many gap year opportunities, but LoCo Gap Year is intentionally designed to prepare you for the next step in life.
Holistic approach: Live, learn, and work all in a cultivating community. Discover what you love to do and have the funds after the program to seek it out. In the final months of the program our program team will work closely with you to figure out your next steps – continued employment at your local workplace, choosing a new career locally, heading home for employment, or preparing to go to college or the military. We’ll help you achieve your desired future.
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Real World Experience: By working fulltime at our local partners businesses you will receive on the job training in a career field of your choosing. You will also earn money to use for your next step in life and ministry. Depending on your personal spending habits, this program allows for the average individual to leave the program with $15,000-$18,000 in pocket for their next endeavor. Now that sounds nice compared to the average college student loan debt of $31,100. Logan County employers are excited to welcome you into their workplace. They want you! Check out this video to hear about some of the opportunities our community offers for your future career!
Leadership Development: Every month during the program you will actively be developing leadership skills by helping plan and run service projects to shape community direction and share the gospel. These will include things such as a downtown Christmas event, annual “Night Market” missions fundraiser, and vacation bible school. Additionally, you will have regular access to the leaders of Logan County to see, hear, and engage with them on the issues the community is facing. Monthly meals in the homes of community and faith leaders will further offer a unique opportunity to directly learn from the experience of those who have been around the block.
Spiritual Formation: You will be immersed in a local biblical community at Bellefontaine Grace Church (BGC) for purposes of helping shape you by God’s Word. Individual faith leaders at BGC will intentionally pour into you through one-on-one discipleship and small group study. You will be challenged to not only grow in your knowledge of God’s Word, but also how to live this out in your workplace, relationships, and the community as a whole.
Intentional Community: Living with other recent graduates in the same stage of life as you provides college like community that allows you to build meaningful and lasting relationships. You will share the joys and struggles of fulltime employment, having roommates, cooking your own food, and living away from home. You will make memories as you play hard, share meals, and laugh often!
Spiritual Formation: You will be immersed in a local biblical community at Bellefontaine Grace Church (BGC) for purposes of helping shape you by God’s Word. Individual faith leaders at BGC will intentionally pour into you through one-on-one discipleship and small group study. You will be challenged to not only grow in your knowledge of God’s Word, but also how to live this out in your workplace, relationships, and the community as a whole.
Intentional Community: Living with other recent graduates in the same stage of life as you provides college like community that allows you to build meaningful and lasting relationships. You will share the joys and struggles of fulltime employment, having roommates, cooking your own food, and living away from home. You will make memories as you play hard, share meals, and laugh often!
Incredible Place to Live: Bellefontaine and Logan County provide all the natural beauty, entertainment, and diverse food options that you LOVE.
You will be living in the LoCo Gap Year house located ½ mile south of vibrant downtown Bellefontaine. A short walk or bike ride downtown will give you access to local coffee shops, delicious bakeries, ice cream, barbeque, Mexican, burgers, smoothies, pizza, Chinese food and more! On the entertainment side you will enjoy axe throwing, laser tag, indoor mini-golf, and nationally acclaimed musical performances at the Historic Holland Theatre. Check out this video from our local Visitors Bureau to hear more about the community. |
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