Neighborhoods

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

On
Tuesday August 8th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National
Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced the award of $498,880 to
YNDC from the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) program, to encourage
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants in Youngstown,
Ohio to purchase healthy foods.

The grant will fund the Eating for Health in
the Mahoning Valley project, which will increase food access by helping SNAP
customers purchase fresh produce at 6 farmers markets and local food outlets in
Youngstown and Warren, and will also expand the Mercy Health Fruit and
Vegetable Prescription Program, which provides vouchers to Mercy Health
patients to purchase fruits and vegetables in order to increase healthy eating.

A grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will help encourage participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan has announced. 

The $498,880 grant stems from a proposal by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., “Eating for Health in the Mahoning Valley.” The funds will expand the Mercy Health Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program and help SNAP customers buy food at local farmers markets as part of a four-year program. "I was proud that the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. was awarded this important funding to help bring nutritious and healthy food to Youngstown families in need,” Ryan, D-13 Ohio, said in a release. “SNAP is a program that works, and is deserving of more support. This funding will provide incentives for people to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and help provide farmers with a local market to sell their products. Healthy foods should be available to every one of our children, and I promise to continue to use my position to fight to ensure that we are not leaving anyone behind.” To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here.

Congressman Tim Ryan today announces the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) announcement of $498,880 to encourage Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants in Youngstown, Ohio to
purchase healthy foods.

In December of 2016, Ryan urged the USDA National
Institutes of Food and Agriculture to approve Youngstown Neighborhood
Development Corporation’s proposal. Read more here.

“I was proud that the Youngstown Neighborhood Development
Corporation was awarded this important funding to help bring nutritious and
healthy food to Youngstown families in need. SNAP is a program that works, and
is deserving of more support. This funding will provide incentives for people
to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and help provide farmers with a local market
to sell their products. Healthy  foods
should be available to every one of our children, and I promise to continue to
use my position to fight to ensure that we are not leaving anyone behind,” said
Congressman Tim Ryan.

"This project, entitled Eating for Health in the
Mahoning Valley, will increase food access in the Mahoning Valley by broadening
funding to help SNAP/EBT customers purchase fresh produce at 6 farmers markets
and local food outlets and will also expand the Mercy Health Fruit and
Vegetable Prescription Program. The 4 year project is being significantly
supported by Mercy Health Foundation and includes over 15 project partners
working together to support families while increasing revenues to local
farmers," said Liberty Avila, Land Reuse Director at Youngstown Neighborhood
Development Corporation.

This money was awarded as a part of a larger $16.8 million
investment by the USDA to be distributed through 32 grants to help SNAP
participants increase their purchases of fruits and vegetables.  The program is operated by the USDA National
Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). 
The funding comes from the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI)
program, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. The awards represent a wide variety
of projects, including small pilot projects, multi-year community-based projects, and larger-scale multi-year projects. Last year, SNAP helped put
healthy food on the tables of at least 44 million Americans, including 19
million children. To read the full press release from Congressman Tim Ryan's website, click here.

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

On Friday, August 4, forty volunteers from Cohen & Company CPA’s, Hope for Renewal, and YNDC helped clean out a historic 4-unit building at 2906 Glenwood Avenue as part of Cohen & Company's annual Cohen Cares community service day.

Volunteers removed 45 cubic yards of debris from the building and prepared the units for revitalization by YNDC partner organization Hope for Renewal. Thank you to all of our volunteers for their hard work!

The Know Your Neighbor Block Watch on the North Side is
celebrating its 20th anniversary Saturday with an event at the Judge William
Rayen Stadium.

Called the Rayen Neighborhood Homecoming, the event from 1 to 7
p.m. will feature games for children and adults, line dancing, native American
dancers, karaoke, vendors, free hot dogs, a kickball game, a bicycle giveaway
and bicycle-safety information. The stadium is at Benita and Cordova avenues. “We
wanted to do something special for our 20th year so we’re inviting everyone,
but particularly Rayen alumni and current and former North Side residents, to
join us,” said Joyce Davidson, block-watch director. “It will be a day of fun
and seeing old neighbors and old friends.” The program will include recognition
of iconic broadcaster and activist Frankie “Mr. Lucky” Halfacre, a former North
Side resident who died in 2006; Richard Atkinson, a former 3rd Ward councilman
and city school board member who helped Know Your Neighbor get started; and
Benjamin Davidson, Joyce’s husband who co-founded the block watch with his
wife. Its main focus has been on working with neighborhood kids, Joyce Davidson
said. The group received grants from the Youngstown Neighborhood Development
Corp. for youths to clean up vacant property at Ohio and Dennick avenues to
create a garden for birds, bees and butterflies and to learn the value of
teamwork and relationship building, she said. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

On Saturday, August 19, twenty-one volunteers helped clean out the historic four-unit building at 2906 Glenwood Avenue.

Volunteers from Hope for Renewal/Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church, YNDC, YSU Honors College, and YSUscape removed a total of 60 cubic yards of debris from inside and outside the building. 2906 Glenwood Avenue will be revitalized by YNDC partner organization Hope for Renewal. Thank you to all the volunteers for their hard work, and special thanks to Hope for Renewal/Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church for providing snacks and Gary Koerth for providing lunch. 

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Year-To-Date REVITALIZATION RECAP

8,406 unique cuts by Grass Cutting Team

653 volunteers at 17 community workdays

2,977 cubic yards of debris removed

153 new clients enrolled in HUD-Approved Housing Counseling

14 completed house rehabs

483 students at 20 Safe Routes to School events

Wednesday, August
23, 2017

On Tuesday,
August 22, neighborhood leaders from across the city attended the 2^nd
Citywide Action Team Meeting at YNDC.

Participants were split up into two
groups to discuss both housing problems and infrastructure problems, the two
main areas of concern identified in the first Citywide Action Team Meeting that
took place last month. Residents informally discussed some specific concerns
and worked through possible ways to address issues in order to benefit all city
residents. 

Friday, August 25, 2017

Cameron and Elizabeth Crosby moved into their new home at 1936 Wakefield Avenue in the Brownlee Woods Neighborhood in August.

The updated 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom home includes a formal dining room, eat-in kitchen, and a spacious living room. Cameron and Elizabeth sat down with us to talk about their homebuying experience and moving to Youngstown. “We found out about YNDC from Cameron’s grandma,” said Elizabeth. “We looked at about 25 or 30 houses but we loved the size of this house, the price, and the fact that it was completely redone.” The house is located close to work for both Cameron and Elizabeth and they are very happy with the neighborhood. “Brownlee Woods is a really cute, tight-knit community,” says Elizabeth. “We’re super thankful that we found out about YNDC,” says Cameron. Congratulations, Cameron and Elizabeth!

Those who drive in and through central Youngstown during the
next few weeks should notice the new public art projects workers are installing
in and near the downtown.

This art, funded by a $100,000 grant from the
National Endowment for the Arts, is the latest chapter in the recent growth of
public art within the city.

Youngstown was the recipient of one of the largest awards of
the 64 cities and towns that received an NEA Our Town grant in 2016. The
$100,000 grant is the largest the city has received from the NEA.

The “Mahoning Avenue Archway” project will also light up at
night, says artist David Tamulonis. He and his team will light an abandoned
railway arch above Mahoning Avenue. “The top lights are going to wash down on
the sides of the wall,” Tamulonis says. “And there’s an LED strip that goes
around the arch on the outside of both sides, going downtown and to the West
Side.”

The lights will highlight what he calls a forgotten
structure, and their orange glow will aim to duplicate the colors of an old
steel furnace. The Mahoning County Building Department’s review of the project
begins Sept. 8 and could run four weeks. The fixtures are scheduled to arrive
the third week of September.

Project member Ian Beniston, executive director of the
Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., sees the archway project as the
perfect example of place-making, a term borrowed from the vocabulary of urban
planning. “That’s why this concept attracted me,” Beniston says.

“For me, it just means making somewhere unique or special,”
he says of the term. “In a lot of cases in Youngstown, these are things that
are already there, but people might not see it that way. Part of what we’re
doing is calling attention to something that’s already there – highlighting
it.” To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here.