Neighborhoods

On certain occasions, neighborhood-stabilization and blight-remediation efforts, along with efforts to improve overall quality of life, feature a 15-foot rectangular hole filled with a large load of stones.

"It badly needs to be done," Mary Krupa, 70, said.

Krupa was referring in part to a new Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. home that will be built at 3318 Sheridan Road in the city's Powerstown neighborhood, which is part of the 7th Ward.

To read the full article from The Vindicator, click here.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation and leaders in the city of Youngstown celebrated three groundbreakings in July.

To read the full article from Mahoning Matters, click here.

Tuesday, August 5, 2026

For a few years, Ernestine had to carefully navigate her front porch as she entered and left her home. Her porch was made of bricks and concrete but it had started to deteriorate. The combination of loose stones, dirt, and a missing handrail created a daily safety hazard for Ernestine and her guests. She had tried repairing the porch herself, “For over 10 years, we had reapplied the bricks and what have you. The last year and a half or two years, it kind of just fell apart. It wasn't doing it anymore.”

Living just a street over, Ernestine has been aware of Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation for as long as she has lived in her home. She said she visited the office about 10 years ago to learn what YNDC does and how it could support her. Her familiarity with YNDC is how she learned about the Owner-Occupied Home Repair Program, which has helped her before. “A couple of years ago, they did my roof and they did a really good job on that.”

After her experience with her roof replacement, she wanted to see if YNDC could assist her with her safety concerns. Ernestine said she was able to maintain good contact with YNDC’s employees and is working with them on additional concerns regarding her home. “I contacted YNDC to see whether or not I could get some help, and they said I could. There was a little bit of a waiting list and I called just to stay updated on where I was and to stay in contact. One of the representatives had been very nice and considerate to me.”

Now, Ernestine has a brand-new wooden porch at the front of her home. The wooden porch is around the same size as her old one, allowing her to keep a chair outside and enjoy the space comfortably. She’s also no longer concerned about walking down her stairs and potentially slipping on loose rocks.

Ernestine says she does recommend YNDC’s Owner-Occupied Home Repair Program to others. She said when her roof was done, not too many people asked about the repairs, but the porch has caught people’s eye. “Every time people pass here, it's a little obvious it's new. They’ll stop and ask who did it, and I tell them YNDC.” 
 

Almost a year after its installation, there’s a new sign welcoming visitors to check out a free community recreation spot on the city of Youngstown’s east side. The free community putting green and sand bunker on Northwood Avenue was completed last August by the Ebony Ladies Golf and Youth Foundation.

It’s public and open to youths, adults and seniors in the second ward area wanting to practice their skills.

The project was made possible through funding support from Second Ward Councilman Jimmy Hughes, with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation serving as the fiscal agent for the project.

To read the full article from Mahoning Matters, click here.

While officials are enthused about the population increase Coshocton County has seen since the 2020 census and new people moving in, they know there is more that needs done to keep the momentum going.

The amount of those moving into Coshocton from outside the area means the number of homes to buy has gone down. Carly Thompson of Howard Hanna Real Estate previously told the Tribune Coshocton is not a new build community. That's where officials would like to make huge strides, especially in attracting and keeping young professionals. 

Tiffany Swigert, executive director of the Coshocton Port Authority, knows the struggles some might encounter buying a new home locally, as her son recently experienced.

"We have an influx of young people who are entering professions who can't find housing. We're going to lose them if we don't help them with something. They're going to go to another community where they can find a house and that's terrifying to me and it should be terrifying to all our employers here as well," Swigert said. "We want to keep young professionals in our area so they're filling these jobs,"

The former Custom Glove factory in the 400 block of South Fifth Street could be developed into eight new homes priced around $200,000 if the county land bank enters into a partnership with Build Ohio of Canton. It is all dependent on Welcome Home Ohio receiving funding from the Ohio Department of Development.
The former Custom Glove factory in the 400 block of South Fifth Street could be developed into eight new homes priced around $200,000 if the county land bank enters into a partnership with Build Ohio of Canton. It's all dependent on it getting Welcome Home Ohio funding from the Ohio Department of Development.
To help address the need, the county land bank is exploring a partnership with Build Ohio Neighborhoods Inc. of Canton.

The project would construct eight homes on vacant lots in the 400 block of South Fifth Street at the site of the now demolished Custom Glove Factory. The land bank acquired the property in 2022.

The partnership depends on Build Ohio receiving Welcome Home Ohio Program funding from the Ohio Department of Development. It could provid up to $100,000 per house for the 2027 funding cycle. Applications are due Aug. 25.

Patrick Mackie of Build Ohio Neighborhoods of Canton recently gave a presentation to the Coshocton County Land Bank regarding building eight homes at the former Custom Glove factory site, dependent on getting Welcome Home Ohio grant funding.
Value and requirements
Homes built with Welcome Home Ohio money can be sold for no more than $220,000. A family of four can make no more than $105,225 annually to qualify. Buyers have to live at the home for at least three years and it has to be their primary residence; it can't be a rental.

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Patrick Mackie of Build Ohio said the funding helps to close the gap between construction costs and home prices.

Houses would probably have a construction value from $260,000 to $310,000. The style and size of houses are to be determined, but they are likely to be 1,400 to 1,600 square feet. Average build time is three to four months, Mackie stated.

"This would allow us to build attainable quality homes and sell them back to people at a pretty affordable rate," Mackie said. "They're not cheap homes. The reason we were able to expand and create Build Ohio is because we create a quality project and we stand by it."

The non-profit organization formed in 2025 from the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation and Canton for All People.

To read the full article from, The Daily Jeff, click here.

Jennifer is the Owner-Occupied Home Repair Program Assistant for Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation. Under the supervision of the Owner-Occupied Repair Client Coordinator, the Owner-Occupied Repair Program Assistant will complete programmatic tasks including answering and making phone calls, client database maintenance, document preparation and processing, filing, and scheduling.

Thursday, August 13, 2026

The WesBanco Foundation awarded YNDC with a $25,000 grant for Housing Counseling. The Housing Counseling Program empowers low- to moderate-income residents to identify and overcome barriers to homeownership, including inadequate savings, income, credit history, and understanding of the home buying process, and prepares them for future homeownership; and provides existing low- to moderate-income homeowners with resources to maximize their limited incomes and minimize repair costs so that they can avoid foreclosure and improve their living conditions.

Many thanks to WesBanco for the support!

City Council will consider legislation Monday to allow the board of control to spend $120,000 to buy the former Mary Haddow Elementary School for potential economic development.

The school district closed the building, 2800 Oak St. Extension, to classroom instruction in 2008 and then used it for record storage. It's been empty for years.

The city wants to use the East Side building for senior citizen housing with the hope that will spur other housing projects to be built nearby, said DeMaine Kitchen, the city's director of community planning and economic development.

"The building is in good condition, and our vision is to repurpose it," Kitchen said. "I'd love to salvage and repurpose the building."

An appraisal of the property in May 2025 put its value at $225,000.

The city board of education declared the property as surplus in April.

The city will also obtain six other school properties from the district at no cost, Kitchen said.

The properties that are empty because the structures were demolished are at the former John White and West elementary schools.

School district properties with buildings still on them that the city will obtain at no cost are Adams School, Rutherford B. Hayes Middle/Junior High School, Princeton Junior High School and Sheridan Elementary School.

Kitchen said: "We want to acquire as much land in the city as possible so we can control what is done with it. We'll take them down and put up housing where it makes sense. These blighted structures have, frankly, been hurting the neighborhoods."

The Economic Action Group will apply for state brownfield funding for the properties, Kitchen said.

OTHER BUSINESS

Council is also being asked Monday to sign an agreement with the Ohio Department of Development for a $1.27 million grant.

The funding, approved in June by the State Controlling Board, is for 950 linear feet of new roadway from the intersection of U.S. Route 62 and Albert Street and running northeast to North Garland Avenue. The road would provide highway access to about 30 acres, including the site of the former McGuffey Plaza, on the city's East Side.

The state grant is for 75% of the project's cost. The city will seek additional funding sources to cover the other 25%, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works.

U.S. Route 62, which connects to Interstate 680 and state Route 711, now ends at Albert Street. The project would extend it so it continues onto North Garland Avenue.

The former McGuffey Plaza, a shopping center built in 1954 and later remodeled and called the McGuffey Mall, is located near McGuffey Road at North Garland Avenue.

It was built in 1954 with businesses starting to leave in the late 1990s. It was empty by 2007 and demolished in 2014. It is owned by the Western Reserve Port Authority.

Council also will consider legislation to permit the board of control to sign off on a state Residential Economic Development District (REDD) grant for up to $2.5 million to replace or install streets, sidewalks, water and sewer lines, lighting, crosswalks and trees at various locations in the city where the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. has or is building new houses.

To read the full article from The Vindicator, click here.

Daniel Tirabassi is the Owner-Occupied Home Repair Project Assistant for Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation. Under the supervision of the Owner-Occupied Home Repair Project Coordinator, the Owner-Occupied Home Repair Project Assistant will complete programmatic tasks including processing incoming bids, document preparation for inspectors, clients and funders, preparing building permit applications, processing check requests, preparing files for closure, and general filing.

Monday, August 17, 2026

The Huntington Foundation awarded YNDC with a $25,000 grant for Housing Counseling. The Housing Counseling Program empowers low- to moderate-income residents to identify and overcome barriers to homeownership, including inadequate savings, income, credit history, and understanding of the home buying process, and prepares them for future homeownership; and provides existing low- to moderate-income homeowners with resources to maximize their limited incomes and minimize repair costs so that they can avoid foreclosure and improve their living conditions.

Many thanks to The Huntington Foundation and Huntington National Bank for their ongoing support!