Neighborhoods

There is a popular proverb that goes “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

Several years ago, a couple said they took this phrase to heart, creating a business out of a solution they used to compensate for an impossible outdoor growing season.

Tom and Katie Phibbs moved into their Kinsman, Ohio farm toward the end of 2010.

“I was recovering from a kidney transplant at the time,” said Tom. “My wife had wanted to start a farm, which was something I never thought I would do, however she had just given me her kidney so I was not going to say ‘no.’”

What they didn’t count on, he said, was all the rain that was to follow in the spring of 2011, a dilemma that ultimately led to the creation of The Lettuce People.

“It was one of the wettest springs on record,” said Katie. “The field was so wet that it was impossible to grow anything. Tom had the idea of growing lettuce inside instead. We had the space available in the basement so I began to research and experiment with hydroponic growing.”

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in a water and nutrient solution without using soil. The Lettuce People employs hydroponics indoors, relying on LED lights to replace the sun.

“When I first started my research I documented everything I was doing on YouTube so that people could follow along,” said Katie. “I received suggestions from people around the world and then I was contacted by a Philips Lighting supplier, that gave me free LED lighting which I compared against other options.”

Today she has 1,500 YouTube subscribers and several different working hydroponic systems, which she uses to grow lettuce and basil.

“Our goal is to address some of the challenges facing communities across the world by putting solutions in the hands of the people,” said Katie. “That’s the reason we developed and shared our vertical indoor hydroponic growing unit that allows families, businesses or educational facilities to grow their own vegetables 365 days a year.”

Katie said hydroponics uses 90 percent less water than field-grown lettuce and can be done using rainwater collected from city rooftops.

“Vertical hydroponics allows over 10 times the number of plants to be grown in the same space as conventional agriculture,” she said.

“Using less space makes this ideal for urban environments and a growing population. Keeping our plants indoors allows us to produce a premium product without the use of pesticides or other sprays that can have negative consequences for our health and the environment.”

In addition to being able to grow all year long, Katie said being underground gives them the “benefits of thermal mass,” which reduces heating and cooling costs.

The two have known one another since 1989.

“Katie’s brother and I were in the same third grade class and quickly became best friends,” said Tom. “As the years progressed we lost touch but we serendipitously reconnected again in 2004 and began attending college together at Youngstown State University. We’ve been together ever since.”

Their company is making progress. In 2014, The Lettuce People moved into the Common Wealth Kitchen Incubator in Youngstown, which Tom Phibbs manages.

The kitchen incubator supports businesses designed to help rebuild and improve Youngstown’s local food economy.

The Lettuce People also receives assistance from the Youngstown Business Incubator.

“We are one of their portfolio companies,” said Tom, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Youngstown State University. “They are helping us tremendously by providing access to capital and legal counsel.

“After I graduated from college, I worked for Turning Technologies, which was a YBI portfolio company. I was able to initiate help for our business from YBI while I was working for Turning Technologies. YBI focuses on software companies, but the CEO, Jim Cossler, agreed to help us out even though we were not initially software focused.”

Tom and Katie, who have two children, are on a mission to reduce the increasing problem of childhood obesity, one city at a time.

In addition to selling greens to local restaurants and the Lake-To-River Food Cooperative, the company has created its “Seed to STEM” (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education program for kindergarten through 12th grade students along with its online “Teach a (Wo)Man to Farm” adult education program, designed to help residents start their own hydroponic businesses.

“The problem with a lot of school gardens is that because they are outdoors the children don’t get to participate in the actual harvest during the summer,” said Katie. “By teaching hydroponics they will get the full experience, planting, harvesting and eating what they have grown.

“Our hope is that we will significantly increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables.”

Their programs are already being used at the Mill Creek MetroParks Farm in Canfield and by the Trumbull County Educational Service Center’s (TCESC) Alternative Placement Program (APP).

APP is made up of special education students in grades nine to 12 who suffer from emotional disturbance.

“Hydroponics is part of the science curriculum,” said Frank Bindas, intervention specialist for the Alternative Placement Program at TCESC.

“Our students learn best by using their hands so we thought it would be a good idea to teach our students how to grow hydroponically on a first-hand basis,” said Bindas.

“For most of our students college is not an option, so we focus on vocational skills. Hopefully The Lettuce People’s program will provide them with knowledge that they can use in the workforce.”

“Kate has donated some materials and has come in with a PowerPoint presentation and growing mediums,” said Charity Washington, classroom assistant for the Alternative Placement Program.

“I think our students have enjoyed the experience. I think it has also helped them become more self-sustaining by making them comfortable with the idea of growing food for themselves and their families.”

“Last summer I taught a class at the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, a community development organization that offers classes on urban farming, cooking and homeownership,” said Katie.

To read the full story from Akron Legal News, click here.

A few years ago, Anthony Young of Youngstown realized he was pretty good at detailing cars.

So good, in fact, that he was able start his own business.

But there was one problem.

“The driveway got too small,” Young said.

Young found space inside his friend’s tire shop on Mahoning Avenue, but he eventually had to find a new space of his own at 1707 Mahoning Ave. for the DNA Detailing business.

The next step he took his business was last fall when he applied to receive an equipment loan from the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp.

“I really didn’t think I had a chance at getting a loan,” he said.

But he did.

The $5,000 loan helped to enhance his business.

Not only has he moved up from the driveway, he now has the equipment needed to cut the time in half on cleaning and detailing the inside and outside of cars.

“I was scrubbing carpets by hand with a brush,” he said. “[The YNDC loan] helped me get a steam cleaner, more vacuums and a buffer.”

Young isn’t alone. Three other businesses also have benefited from the loans so far.

Last year, the YNDC started to offer $1,000 to $10,000 loans to micro-businesses with five or fewer full-time employees. The organization also offered business-plan classes.

“Starting a small business isn’t easy, and seeing people get to the point to see it pay off is really awesome,” said Liberty Merrill, land-reuse director for the organization.

The YNDC already has a list of businesses interested in taking the business classes that start in March. A high amount of loan applicants also are anticipated this year. The goal is to help three to five businesses.

These loans — they are funded through a grant from the Ohio Community Development Corp. Association — come with lower criteria than bank loans, and are based partially on the character of the business owner. To be eligible for the loan, the applicants have to go through credit counseling.

“We want to get people ready to get loans from traditional banks,” Merrill said. “That would really be our goal.”

Keyonna Trevathan and her business partner, Shalise White, both of Youngstown, are another set of business owners who benefited from the program after they received a $3,800 YNDC loan.

Trevathan was in search of something different for her daughter’s birthday party when her business idea blossomed.

That was two years ago. Today, KBC Kidz has a full stock of party options for children’s parties and parties for the elderly.

“We do everything from the decorating to the entertaining,” she said.

With the loan, KBC Kidz was able to purchase Disney’s “Frozen”-theme supplies, two additional laptop computers, a helium tank and other supplies.

“I actually didn’t think we were going to get it,” she said. “I think it is great they help small businesses.”

Barbecue-sauce developer Charles Penny of Youngstown hopes to receive a loan this year to cover the cost of bottling and labeling his signature condiment.

Penny went through the business classes the YNDC offered last year after he realized he had a chance at selling his apple juice-based sauce.

“I have been barbecuing for years, and I just started developing my own sauce and some people wanted to buy it,” he said.

The classes helped guide him to what steps to take next in the business, and the speakers were honest about the positives and negatives of running a business.

But they also gave him encouragement. Penny hopes to have his sauce on the market just in time for barbecue season this year.

“[I] definitely needed it because it gives you direction,” he said of the instruction he received from the classes. “And it makes you realize what you need to get through.”

To read the full story at Vindy.com, click here.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. will offer small-business development classes and equipment loans this year.

Participants will leave class with a business plan outline and have resources available to refine the plan.

Financial and credit counseling are also available.

The free classes will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. starting the week of March 17 and ending the week of April 28.

Class will be conducted at the Iron Roots Urban Farm, 822 Billingsgate Ave. on the South Side.

YNDC also has loan funds available from $1,000 to $10,000 for startup or current businesses with five or fewer full-time employees.

For questions on the classes or guidelines on the loan program, contact Liberty Merrill at YNDC by phone at 330-480-0423 or by email at lmerrill@yndc.com.

Tp read the full story at Vindy.com, click here.

The search for a project manager to oversee the U.S. Route 422 corridor redevelopment tentatively will be underway by the end of next month.

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber is working on a draft of the job description and seeking funds for the project manager, said John Rossi, president of the Youngs-town/Warren Regional Chamber Foundation.

The redevelopment is spearheaded by the chamber, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and the Trumbull County Board of Commissioners.

Rossi said the goal is to start evaluating potential candidates by the end of March.

Ian Beniston, executive director of YNDC, said the project manager would help increase the momentum of the initiative.

However, some progress has continued with the redevelopment of the corridor, according to a 2014 report.

“We have several action teams working on this,” Rossi said.

On the neighborhood front, Girard and Trumbull County have demolished houses on Belgrade Avenue and Dearborn, Davis and Howard streets.

Additionally, the YNDC and city of Youngstown boarded 17 vacant homes in the Brier Hill neighborhood. A community neighborhood cleanup also is being planned for spring. Beniston said volunteers would be needed for that project.

According to the report, sidewalk improvements for the Parkwood neighborhood are scheduled for this year through the Community Development Block Grant Neighborhood Revitalization Program. The Appalachian Regional Commission also is scheduled to fund waterline improvements.

Further, a grant request exceeding $68,000 was submitted for the construction of a Mahoning River boat launch with parking and access near River and Front streets. Girard also is pursuing measures to initiate large improvements at the waste-treatment plant in the corridor.

The Regional Chamber also is focusing on economic development in the area, Rossi said. Vallourec Star sponsored the first business association meeting at the end of last year, which identified common area challenges and opportunities.

To read the full story at Vindy.com, click here.

Hill Top Chicken n More, a new soul-food restaurant at 3662 Loveland Road, will have its grand opening Saturday.

Hours for the restaurant are 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Daily specials will be $1 off from Saturday to March 6. 

To read the full story at Vindy.com, click here.

The Raymond John Wean Foundation announced Tuesday it has awarded grants that range from $1,040 to $5,000 to 28 organizations in Youngstown and Warren, the total of the grants coming to just under $100,000.

Seven organizations received $5,000 grants: Historic Perkins Homestead Neighborhood Association, Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, Stop One Place Help Is Available Inc., Hunger Helpers, Pride Youngstown, Quilts from the Heart and T.N.R. of Warren Inc.

Forty organizations applied for grants and the foundation, although its Neighborhood Success and Leadership Program, chose 28 to develop and execute “resident-driven, grassroots projects,” the foundation said.

Those awarded grants, the amounts, and purposes:

• 4 Square Block Watch, $1,810, new beginning neighborhood beautification.
• Boulevard Park Block Watch, $4,750, Rush and Euclid boulevards in Youngstown.
• Central City Neighborhood Association, $4,520, Washington Street Park expansion.
• Community Volunteer Council, $1.040, cooking program.
• Youngstown East High School, $3,655, Panther Garden Club.
• The Fashion Crew, $3,030, Reduce reuse and upcycle.
• Friends of the Mahoning River, $2,160, Fourth Annual Riverfest.
• Historic Perkins, $5,000, Phase 4 of Perkins Rose Garden Revitalization.
• Hunger Helpers, $5,000, healthy deliveries.
• Just Because, $3,720, Children’s health fair and fun day.
• Mahoning Valley Sojourn, $5,000, to defray expenses of 15 Youngstown high school students during their weeklong leadership development when they visit sites of civil rights history in the South.
• Martin Luther Lutheran Church, Youngstown, $1,726, Hope for Newport Community Garden.
• Neighborhood Ministries, $4,000, Rockford health and fitness.
• Old Furnace District Neighborhood Association, $4,250, pocket park project.
• Pointview Children and Families Garden, $3,680, greenhouse growth and education.
• R.E.P. Learning Center, $1,248, read and succeed.
• Pride Youngstown, $5,000, Seventh annual Youngstown Gay Pride Festival and Community Picnic.
• Quilts from the Heart, $5,000.
• The Robins Project, $4,977, Summer box office series.
• Rocky Ridge Neighborhood Association, $1,848, action plan implementation.
• Southside Community Garden, $1,982, year 4.
• Stop One Place, $5,000, help for the less fortunate of Trumbull County.
• N.R. of Warren, $5,000, “Purrfect solution to community cats.”
• Taft 4-H Club, $3,750, Taft Grows Green.
• Upper North Heights Neighborhood Association (of Youngstown), $3,420, Crandall Park project.
• West Side Community Center, $4,540, part 2 of youth health and fitness program.
• Youngstown Urban Minority Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Outreach Program Inc., $1,170, Discovery 3 After School Science Extravaganza.
• YSUscape, $2,170, North Campus Gateway revitalization plan.

Monday, March 2, 2015

On Wednesday, February 18th, Marilyn Moore-Davis, a General Motors retiree and first-time homebuyer, closed on her purchase of a 3-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom home located at 2342 Goleta Avenue, in the Crandall Park neighborhood on Youngstown’s North side that was fully rehabilitated by YNDC. 

On Thursday, February 26th, Ken and Beth Miller, returning to the area after spending several years in Geneva, Ohio, closed on their pruchase of a 4-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom home located at 944 Canfield Road, in the Idora Neighborhood on Youngstown's South side that was fully rehabilitated by YNDC.

YNDC has a number of other fully rehabilitated homes for sale. Current listings can be viewed on the Homes for Sale page. 

Last year, with three kids and another on the way, Jonathan Ellis and his wife were in serious need of a new home.

Their apartment couldn’t hold their growing family, but Ellis’ poor credit disqualified him from a traditional mortgage. The family’s pastor suggested they talk to the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.

“We’d never bought a house before,” says Ellis. “We met with [the development corporation] regularly to establish a budget and pay off previous debts. We also took a homeownership class about [getting] a loan and handling closing costs.”

Youngstown Neighborhood Development was established in 2009 to assist residents like Ellis with financial counseling and lead efforts in home rehabilitation, neighborhood stabilization and cleanup.

In 2014, the organization expanded its efforts with the Revitalize program, which focuses on reviving entire neighborhoods and ramping up community assistance through initiatives such as counseling and homeownership education.

“We wanted to increase the scale of our work [from what we’d done since 2009],” says Ian Beniston, the nonprofit's executive director. “What we’ve done over the last year is [build capacity] on all levels, which means very detailed neighborhood [revitalization] plans.”

The Revitalize initiative has repaired more than 100 street lights, created plans for eight transitional neighborhoods, provided 19 first-time mortgages and opened Glenwood Community Park. The program rehabilitated 22 homes in 2014 alone, the majority of which did not require any government subsidies. Beniston estimates that the initiative has assisted more than 20,000 Youngstown residents.

A new partnership with the federal community service organization AmeriCorps provides a steady stream of volunteers and resources needed to complete such projects, says Beniston, allowing his development corporation to accomplish more than it could have alone.

One AmeriCorps employee, Elena Rapone, is stationed at the development corporation and works closely with Revitalize neighborhood cleanups, landscaping and home remodeling.

“It breaks my heart to see little kids running around a neighborhood with so many vacant houses and broken glass on the sidewalks,” says Rapone. “To know that our efforts make it a cleaner and safer place makes me happy to go into work every day.”

With the help of Revitalize, Ellis began to pay off his previous debt and improved his credit score enough to qualify for Youngstown Neighborhood Development’s Community Loan Fund, which helps new homebuyers who get rejected for mortgages by traditional banks.

Last year, the Ellises moved into a four-bedroom, two-bathroom remodeled brick home in a neighborhood that Youngstown Neighborhood designated for revitalization. They settled in just in time to welcome the newest addition to the family in January 2015.

“[Youngstown Neighborhood Development] changed our lives,” says Ellis. “My credit score continues to improve, and we have a home that’s large enough for all six of us.”

To read the full story at IBmag.com, click here.

Dominion East Ohio today presented $110,000 in grants to 12 winning community organizations in its 20th annual Community Impact Awards competition, co-sponsored with Inside Business Magazine.

A panel of community judges chose the winners from among more than 50 entries submitted by organizations throughout the region. The award recognizes cities or organizations that have made an impact in the community. The Dominion Foundation, philanthropic arm of Dominion Resources Inc., Dominion East Ohio's parent company, funds the Community Impact grants. The Dominion Foundation is dedicated to the economic, physical and social health of the communities the company serves.

"This year's award-winning organizations developed and carried out some very ambitious and creative projects that really impressed our panel of judges," said Jeff Murphy, Dominion East Ohio vice president. "These projects demonstrate the major role that our region's non-profit and economic development agencies play in improving their local communities."

Since 1996, Dominion East Ohio has distributed more than $1.3 million in Community Impact Awards to organizations throughout its service area.

This year's Community Impact Award winners are:

• Brite Cleveland received $15,000 for its Brite Winter Festival, an outdoor winter arts and music event that annually attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the city. Brite Winter Festival visitors generated $650,000 in purchases with local businesses in 2014.
• Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., received $15,000 for its Cuyahoga EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) Coalition program, in which trained volunteers provide free federal income tax preparation. During the past seven years, 2,000 volunteers helped more than 70,000 clients receive more than $90 million in refunds.
• Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) received $12,500 for its REVITALIZE program, which brought together 600 residents with city officials to identify top neighborhood improvement priorities in strategic neighborhoods. For example, over the past five years, YNDC-city cooperation in the South Side Idora neighborhood has helped increase building occupancy rates, reduced reported crime rates by 40-percent and helped increase home sales and prices.
• ArtsinStark in Canton received $12,500 for its launch of The ELEVEN, a $2.2 million tourism project celebrating the 11 greatest moments in professional football history. The project is designed to attract Pro Football Hall of Fame visitors to make the two-mile trip to downtown Canton. After completion, the project goal is to attract 50,000 new downtown visitors annually.
• Ohio City Incorporated of Cleveland received $10,000 for its Ohio City Home Safety Program, administered in partnership with Cleveland Division of Police Second District. The program, open to all residents of the near West Side neighborhood, features a personal home safety audit conducted by a uniformed Second District police officer. Participating residents may apply for up to $250 in matching funds to make recommended safety improvements.
• Canton Symphony Orchestra received $7,500 for its Zimmerman Symphony Center Project, a renovation and expansion of Umstattd Performing Arts Hall within McKinley High School. The project included new ergonomic seating and digital projection system, lobby upgrades and expanded restrooms. The project also included new orchestra administrative offices, multi-purpose reception hall, public meeting rooms and music library.
• Akron Marathon Charitable Corporation received $7,500. In 2014 alone, the organization's signature event attracted a record 15,000 runners, generating more than $6 million dollars in local economic impact. The race also served as fundraiser for local charities, who collectively raised more than $100,000.
• Cleveland's Historic Warehouse District Development Corporation (HWDDC) received $5,000 for its Small Box in the Warehouse District program. The project involves using recycled shipping containers and converting them to small retail stores. In 2014 HWDDC, in partnership with Cleveland Container Structures Inc., announced its first three tenants – The Official Team Shop of the Cleveland Browns, Banyan Box and The Wardrobe, which opened in the fall.
• Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership received $5,000 for its "Garden District" revitalization of Warren's Central City neighborhood. The project has involved demolition of 70 blighted structures, conversion of many of those properties into community gardens, construction of stone walls, using salvaged stone from neighborhood demolitions. A recent addition to the program is an "Adopt-a-House program," which provides private capital to fund neighborhood housing renovations.
• LAND studio in Cleveland received $5,000 for its AHA! Program, a downtown summer festival of lights. LAND – Landscape, Art, Neighborhood and Design – was formed by the 2011 merger of ParkWorks and Cleveland Public Arts. AHA! has attracted an estimated 8,000 visitors from northeast Ohio and beyond.
• Youngstown's Advanced Methods in Innovation received $5,000 for its INVENTORcloud course for area K-12 and post secondary schools. Students use INVENTORcloud's 3-D printer, solid modeling programs and software applications, along with innovation, communication, collaboration and critical thinking to solve real-world challenges.
• Cleveland's Neighborhood Solutions Inc., received $10,000 as winner of the third annual Community Impact special Environmental Award for its Vineyards and BioCellar of Chateau Hough project. The BioCellar is an experimental facility featuring a passive solar greenhouse envelope built above an existing basement on vacated land. The BioCellar can be used for year-round cultivation of vegetables, fruits herbs and wine grapes, along with providing water purification, soil detoxification, nutrients cycling and pollination, aquaponics and cool storage.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 24,600 megawatts of generation, 12,400 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline, and 6,455 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion operates one of the nation's largest natural gas storage systems with 949 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves utility and retail energy customers in 12 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

To see the full story from CNN Money, click here.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

On Wednesday, March 11th, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation was awarded a Dominion Community Impact Award for its REVITALIZE efforts to stabilize Youngstown neighborhoods.

YNDC’s REVITALIZE efforts over the course of the past year include: partnerships with the City of Youngstown, neighborhood groups and many others to develop neighborhood action plans; a new AmeriCorps REVITALIZE project that provides 10 members with a year long program to board up hundreds of vacant homes, rehabilitate vacant homes and clean up vacant lots; significantly increased housing activity in our HUD Certified Housing Counseling, acquisition and rehabilitation, and repair programs. These results demonstrate our ongoing commitment to increase the scale and impact of our work.