Submitted by Mitchell Curtis

Bio: I am a typical 16-year-old boy. I love to play football, rugby, hockey and many other sports. I go to Hillcrest High school in Thunder Bay, Ontario, a sleepy town in Northwestern Ontario of about 110,000 people. I am very interested in helping my community become the greatest I can make it. I participate in groups like Opportunity Thunder Bay to get information out about projects in our city. I am employed in refereeing little kids at rinks around the city.

My take: Despite these times of despair, it's possible for an entire city to come together and push towards success. This has happened in Thunder Bay, a city of over 100,000 people who have been hit by the crisis in forestry.

Before the auto sector collapse and the mortgage crisis, our main product was pulp, paper and lumber being sent to the United States to build houses and print newspapers. The housing market in the U.S. slowed down and we felt the impact right away as mill after mill closed down. There were over 6,000 good paying jobs lost in our region, with a population of about 250,000. The future looked very bleak and for a while it was, people were leaving and the city was losing money in the millions.

We had a ray of hope when the TTC decided to build its cars here in Thunder Bay. The promise meant good-paying jobs that would keep the plants going. Unfortunately, the TTC decided to reverse its decision.

During Christmas, a plant closure cost the city 1,100 jobs. A number of residents were left in financially dire straits during the Christmas break. As a city we came together to help, and we brought in over $120,000 for the food drive, far surpassing the goal of $40,000. We fed the hungry and have always helped the unfortunate.

Throughout all of these ups and downs, the city has learned not to depend on a single industry and be more diverse. Knowledge came to our city in the form of laboratories and new jobs. These labs have opened up in brand new buildings or at our university and have helped to bring money into the city.

Slowly, but surely we've worked to get a new high school, a new mall (to be built) and a waterfront plan that will change our lakefront views.

This city may have been left for dead but I have to say that we have enjoyed much success over the past and will continue to do so.

I hope to see more success stories like these featured on the CBC.

Do you have a success story to share? What's inspiring you in these hard financial times?

Share your story.