Neighborhoods

A sea of volunteers clad in neon-yellow shirts gathered alongside a pair of trucks emblazoned with the word “REVITALIZE.” 

They listened as a man with a megaphone called out orders from atop one of the vehicles. When he finished, the volunteers left the area in an improvised convoy, the East Side their destination. The volunteers – approximately 850 – were the workforce behind the United Way’s 20th annual Day of Caring on Friday. Day of Caring – which Youngstown has participated in for the past five years – is the kickoff event to the United Way’s major fundraising campaign, which runs between September and December. This year, the volunteers – organized by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and the Mahoning County chapter of the American Red Cross – were conducting blight cleanup work and beautification on the East Side near the Royal Oaks tavern. Also planned for the day was the construction of a 16-foot-wide sign reading “Welcome to the East Side” at the corner of Oak Street and Garland Avenue. Volunteers with hedge clippers trimmed branches along Oak Street while others dug weeds out of cracks along the thoroughfare’s sidewalk. The superintendent, principal and associate principal of Boardman and its high school – Timothy Saxton, Cindy Fernback and David Kornbau, respectively – volunteered for the event with 30 high school students in tow. “This isn’t a day off for these kids,” Saxton said. “These guys were up at 7 a.m. this morning on what could have been their first vacation day of the school year, so I think it says a lot about the character of these students.” Volunteers with the Red Cross were installing fire alarms in homes and passing out fire-safety tips to homeowners in the area. Joe Corpa and a number of his co-workers at the Rich Center for Autism were among the volunteers with the Red Cross. To read the full story from the Vindicator, click here. 

The 5th annual Youngstown United Way Day of Caring kicked off today at the Covelli Centre.

Approximately 850 volunteers met at the venue and were broken into teams by members of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation. The volunteers will do blight clean up work on the East Side of the city in the area of Oak Street. The event will continue until 3 p.m. today. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here. 

Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, in partnership with Youngstown City Health District, Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., Mercy Health Foundation Mahoning Valley and Youngstown State University Regional Economic Development Initiative, is conducting a survey to assess the ease of access, availability and quality of food in Youngstown.

The survey asks residents about where they prefer to shop, the distance they travel, the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables and what foods they typically keep in their home. The survey has been distributed to local fairs, festivals, markets and community events. There is also an online version and several additional drop-off locations throughout the city. The online site is goo.gl/gPFuH6. The goal of the survey is to improve the understanding of Youngstown’s food environment. Youngstown Invest Health Team, an initiative through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Reinvestment fund, has identified food access as a barrier to optimal health in Youngstown. Understanding why residents shop where they do and why they buy certain foods is key to addressing health disparities related to the food environment. The information collected will inform the creation of a Food Access Action Plan to address barriers. The survey is in English and is for adults age 18 and older. Only one survey per household. Anyone needing additional accommodations should call Kim Trowbridge at 330-325-6178 or ktrowbridge@neomed.edu. Paper copies of the survey are available at the Youngstown City Health District, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and OCCHA. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here. 

It was a busy day for hundreds of volunteers cleaning up the east side of Youngstown. The annual United Way Day of Caring drew in more people than ever before. 

The WKBN 27 First News team was also out working on Friday. There was plenty to do, from cleaning up the sidewalks and vacant houses to landscaping. “When the house next to you is all blighted and overgrown, it’s kind of depressing,” said TJ Rodgers, Second Ward Councilman. “Having everyone come out, chip in, and clean up these blighted houses and clear off the sidewalks, it just helps people take pride in their community.” The 2017 United Way Day of Caring kicked off at 8 a.m. and the almost 800 volunteers hit the ground running with shovels, clippers, and rakes in hand to “Fight the Blight.” 

“Cleaning the sidewalks, making them safe for pedestrians, clearing the vacant lots, cleaning up vacant houses, demolishing vacant houses,” said Ian Beniston, with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation. All so east side residents have a safer way to get around and can be proud of the neighborhood they live in. “It’s amazing to see all these people just pulling together, volunteering their Friday, taking off work or whatever it is they do for a living, and coming out just to clean and beautify the east side,” Rodgers said. A new welcome sign at Oak and Garland streets was installed to greet residents and visitors. “I think the focus of working on a specific area of Youngstown — cleaning up neighborhoods, taking out homes — has really engaged the community,” said Bob Hannon, president of the United Way of the Mahoning Valley. “When you see the neighborhoods we clean up before and after, it’s amazing. I think that is what excites the volunteers, to see what it looks like when they are done.” Last year, the Day of Caring’s focus was along Market Street. Over 800 cubic yards of debris was removed and 500 cubic yards of trash hauled away. To read the full story from WKBN, click here.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. is launching a new community lending program in partnership with the city and Home Savings Bank. 

The program, Revitalize Home Mortgage, is being funded by a $500,000 city grant that will capitalize a loan fund to provide first-mortgage loans to individuals unable to obtain bank financing to buy houses rehabilitated by YNDC. The loans will be serviced by Home Savings, according to an announcement from YNDC. Revitalize Home Mortgage will feature flexible underwriting criteria, explained Tammi Neuscheler, YNDC housing client manager. The program requires a lower minimum credit score than traditional lenders, accepts alternative sources of credit from applicants without a traditional credit score, and does not count deferred federal student loans in borrowers’ debt-to-income ratio calculations. As such, it addresses barriers that typically trigger denials from traditional lenders. To read the full story from the Business Journal, click here.

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Between August 24 and 31, 800 bicycles and helmets were given away at 10 Youngstown City Elementary Schools.

Bicycles were provided by the RedZone and City Kids Care. The William Swanston Charitable Fund and the Western Reserve Health Foundation provided funding for 800 helmets, as part of the Safe Routes to School program, which seeks to encourage safe walking and bicycling to school among students through educational programming, safety demonstrations, and fun activities. Each student who received a bicycle was fitted for and was given a helmet, along with instructions for safe and proper helmet use. 

Thursday, September 7, 2017

On Thursday, September 7, Home Savings presented YNDC with a check for $25,000 to benefit the Community Financial Literacy Initiative.

The grant, awarded in June, will be used to fund both small business and housing counseling services at YNDC. We would like to thank Home Savings for their ongoing support!

Magical things are happening in Youngstown, Ohio, a city recovering from the loss of industry and looking for a fresh start.

It’s a unique city, one with a strong gardening culture. As Farmer Hero Corey Maizel noted, the great location and reasonable real estate costs make it an ideal spot for farmers to start new businesses. To learn more about the exciting agricultural endeavors happening there, we talked with Liberty Avila of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) and Sophia Buggs of Lady Buggs Farm. Both are important champions of the local food movement. YNDC was founded in 2009 to revitalize the community. Not only do they renovate houses to make them available for sale and rent, they also provide business consulting for local entrepreneurs, run a local farmers market, and repurpose vacant land for community use, among other initiatives. With dedication and hard work, they are leading the effort to make Youngstown a thriving, welcoming place. Liberty, YNDC’s Land Reuse Director, was instrumental in the establishment of their urban farm, Iron Roots Farm, and continues to manage their CSA program. About a mile and a half down the road is another inspiring effort. Sophia Buggs started Lady Buggs Farm after inheriting her grandmother’s house on the South Side of Youngstown. Cultivating an urban farm was just an idea until her internship at YNDC’s Iron Roots helped to make it into a reality. Now in its seventh year, Lady Buggs Farm leases additional land from the Mahoning County Land Bank and grows produce and herbs on plots that adjoin Sophia’s house. With her daughter Passion’s help, Sophia is transforming her city. To read the full story from the Farm Aid website, click here. 

The Raymond John Wean Foundation has awarded community investment grants totaling $345,000 to four organizations whose work is representative of its strategic priorities. 

The grants were approved Sept. 7 by the foundation’s board of directors. The foundation, which has distributed more than $100 million in grants to nonprofits, describes its priorities as community revitalization, economic opportunity, educational opportunity and public sector leadership. REVITALIZE Home Mortgage in support of its REVITALIZE Home Mortgage Loan Fund. This investment will leverage community resources to provide a two-county lending model for first-time homebuyers who are unable to access conventional banking products. Loans will be focused on homes identified and rehabilitated by Warren’s Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership and YNDC. To read the full story from the Business Journal, click here. 

REVITALIZE Home Mortgage (RHM) is launching a new community lending program in partnership with the city, Home Savings Bank and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., according to a news release. 

The city provided $500,000 for the loan fund, which will provide first-mortgage loans to individuals unable to obtain bank financing. The loans will be serviced by Home Savings. To begin the process of participating in the program, call Tammi Neuscheler, YNDC housing client manager, at 330-480-0423. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.