Neighborhoods

Monday, January 16, 2017

On Monday, January 16, 23 volunteers from AmeriCorps VISTA, AmeriCorps REVITALIZE, Fifth Avenue Boulevard Neighbors, Progress Mahoning Valley, Taft Promise Neighborhood, Victory Christian Center, Wick Park Neighbors, YNDC, YSU Honors College, and YSUscape came together to clean up vacant homes on Youngstown’s north side for the MLK Day of Service.

The teams boarded and secured 15 houses and completed the clean-up of 8 properties, which included removing 195 bags of trash and 58 cubic yards of debris. The YNDC Workday Trailer, funded by The Youngstown Foundation, made its first appearance in the field and provided tools and supplies to the clean-up teams. Many thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work and to Pizza Joe’s Cornersburg for donating lunch.

Around the Mahoning Valley, volunteers put Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s message of peace and community to good use with a series of community service projects.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a federal holiday recognizing the birth of the Civil Rights leader. While the day is in remembrance of King’s efforts to end segregation, volunteers also paid tribute to the leader by working to improve their own communities.

Habitat for Humanity volunteers assisted with painting, landscaping and other work at a house in Warren. Meanwhile, volunteers with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) boarded up vacant houses and cleaned up yards and streets in the Wick Park and Crandall Park neighborhoods.

“For the neighborhoods, it gets rid of trash. The people living next door, the neighbors who have to live with the trash every day… it improves their quality of life,” said YNDC volunteer Gia Cappabianca.

By noon, the YNDC group had already filled 200 bags of trash.

Rashone Oliver brought her three school-aged kids along for the day, helping clean up trash and overgrown trees and shrubs around abandoned homes.

“In order for us to have success in our future, we have to start bringing our kids up and helping them realize that revitalizing… is important. This is very important for us, so instilling it in my kids is one of the best parts,” she said.

Elsewhere, teams of American Red Cross volunteers installed new smoke alarms for residents in Austintown as part of the agency’s “Home Fire Campaign.” The campaign is an effort to decrease fire-related deaths.

“Trying to protect everybody in the community isn’t a possibility, but we want to install as many smoke alarms as we possibly can,” said volunteer Gary Offerdahl.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here.

A Chicago company wants to help fix up Youngstown’s abandoned land and is offering to pay $350,000 toward the project.

Fresh Coast Capital’s April Mendez stood before Youngstown City Council’s finance committee Tuesday, selling her company as the one that can develop and implement a plan to reuse Youngstown’s vacant land.

Mendez threw out possibilities of what those spaces could be.

“Could we do urban forestry projects? Could we put in place advanced agriculture, larger scale greenhouses that bring food production to the local economy? Could we do wetland mitigation?”

Shandor Szalay, with the New York City-based AKRF Engineering, would help develop the plan.

“It’s just very encouraging to see the type of landscape you have in terms of lots of open space, lots of vacant property, wide right of ways,” he said.

Fresh Coast showed pictures of professionally landscaped areas. The set-up could ultimately decrease the flow of storm water into Youngstown’s sewage system, keeping some of it out of Mill Creek Park.

The city already has a long-term plan, primarily a new plant, to deal with the runoff. The green space plan would help but not replace it.

“The thought process is by doing this, we will both benefit the economics and the beauty of the community while reducing the cost of the long-term control plan,” said Youngstown Law Director Martin Hume.

However, implementing Fresh Coast Capital’s plan could be $25 million over 25 years. Youngstown City Council said Tuesday it was not ready to make that commitment.

Fourth Ward Councilman Mike Ray supported it, though.

“A long-term savings, those numbers, I mean, it could be substantial in the future savings of the city,” he said.

The rest of council wanted more information before deciding.

“I don’t think I would have been ready to vote for it today. I think we need to do all our research,” said Second Ward Councilman T.J. Rodgers.

Nate Pinkard, Third Ward councilman, said the project would cost a lot of money.

“We’re talking about a program with a 20-year ramification.”

Council decided to keep the Fresh Coast plan in the finance committee for now. If they did take a vote Tuesday, the consensus was it would have failed.

Mayor John McNally said he supports using the company to come up with a green space plan but knows it’s something council is struggling with.

Fresh Coast officials asked for a final decision in four to six weeks.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here.

The City of Youngstown will invest millions of dollars to improve the quality of life for its residents and visitors.

Youngstown City Council approved spending $5.3 million dollars toward cleaning up vacant properties, a new amphitheater downtown, and a business expansion.

Two-thirds of the total, $3.5 million, will go toward demolishing about 518 vacant properties in the city, possibly 20 of them commercial. It will be the most properties ever demolished by the city itself — the direct result of raising sanitation fees.

“For the decision to fund this environmental sanitation fund, truly, it’s the first one in the state. We’d not be having this meeting tonight talking about the ability to tear down 500 homes,” said Finance Director Dave Bozanich.

Abby Beniston, with code enforcement and demolition, said the priority is to get rid of the vacant properties along safe routes to the schools.

Council decided to spend $500,000 to clean up the old City Asphalt property on Gibson Street.

Another $800,000 will go to the MKSK Landscape Architecture of Columbus to start the new amphitheater project along the river downtown. Its completion date has been extended from December 2017 to May 2018.

Council approved a deal with Fireline Incorporated on Andrews Avenue. It’s a $350,000 water and wastewater grant, the sale of two parcels in Smokey Hollow, and a 75 percent 10-year tax abatement.

“That’s what we did tonight. We created opportunities for investment through building the amphitheater, through cleaning up properties,” said 5th Ward Councilwoman Lauren McNally.

Council members also approved to ask the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for a $650,000 grant, matched with $218,000 in city money. It will go toward a recreational trail from downtown to Mill Creek Park.

The only one voting no on that issue was 6th Ward Councilwoman Anita Davis. She’d rather see paths along the main roads.

“A lot of people do ride their bike as an actual means of transportation. That would have been work-related, that affected the whole community that had a logical use for it,” Davis said.

A public meeting on what’s being called the “Center City to Mill Creek Connector” bike path will be held Thursday from to 3 to 5 p.m. in the Covelli Centre Community Room. The public is invited to attend and provide input on the project.

To read the full story from WYTV, click here.

To listen to the full story from the Mahoning Valley Podcast, click here.

POLAR PLUNGE AT MOSQUITO LAKE: The 11th annual Mosquito Lake Polar Plunge and show to support Special Olympics Ohio’s athletes will be held 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the beach area at the park. A costume contest is set for 1 p.m.

Plungers are required to raise a minimum of $75, or $50 for students, in pledges by the day of the event.

On Saturday, priority parking at the beach will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. After the lot closest to the beach is full, shuttle service will be available between other parking areas and the beach.

HOOPS 4 TROOPS: The Niles McKinley High School Red Dragons vs. Howland High School Tigers varsity boys basketball game 7 p.m. today at Niles High School will be a OHSAA Military Appreciation Night “Hoops 4 Troops.”

Both schools are engaging in a challenge to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. Students from both schools are encouraged to wear camouflage clothing at the game. T-shirts will be sold to commemorate the event.

CLOTHING GIVEAWAY: Cortland Trinity Church’s Closet will have a free clothing giveaway from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the church, 2576 McCleary Jacoby Road, Cortland. Breakfast is also free. All children’s clothing is being accepted.

For information, call Betty at 440-685-4564 or the church office at 330-637-1421.

IDORA NEIGHBORHOOD WORKDAY: The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. is hosting a neighborhood work day to board up and clean up vacant homes in the Idora Neighborhood, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Those helping are to meet at 820 Canfield Road.

GO BABY GO PROGRAM: Volunteers from Mahoning County Career and Technical Center and Youngstown State University PT Program, as well as local electricians and teachers, will work in conjunction with OH WOW! The Roger and Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science and Technology, and Mahoning County Education Service Center to modify a small “fleet of cars” 8:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday.

Past research has shown that this kind of opportunity for independent mobility is linked to cognitive, social, motor and language development. Go Baby Go is a nationally known program that enables children 5 and younger with disabilities to experience the movement of driving a motorized car. The cars are specially modified to accommodate physical disabilities, including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and spina bifida.

The build will begin at 9 a.m. at the MCTC, 7300 N. Palmyra Road, Canfield. For information, contact Bev at 330-881-2906 or B.Lankitus@Mahoningesc.org

Today

• NAR-ANON — 7 p.m., Howland Community Church, 198 Niles Cortland Road SE, Warren, a 12-step program for relatives and friends who have been adversely affected by a loved one’s addiction to drugs. Bill, 330-856-3822.

• We Do Recover — 3 p.m., United Methodist Community Center, 760 Main Ave., Warren.

• Glimmer of Hope — 8:30 p.m., Fellowship Hall, 2555 Rush Blvd., Youngstown.

• A Better Place to Be — 10 p.m., Glenbeigh, 29 North Road, Niles.

• Gamblers Anonymous — closed meeting, 7:30 p.m., Westminster Church, 119 Stadium Drive, Boardman. Call 330-505-5060.

• Grief Share — recovery support group, 6:30 p.m., Seeking God’s Glory Church, 3217 Surrey Road, Warren.

• Bible study for recovering people — 7:30 p.m., Niles Nazarene Church, Niles Vienna Road.

• Reformers Unanimous — 7 p.m., 2111 Sodom Hutchings Road, Vienna, a Christ-centered addiction abstinence program. 330-509-0001 or 330-720-2463

• Lordstown Lions bingo — 7 p.m., Lordstown administration building, 1455 Salt Springs Road. Doors open 5:30 p.m.

• Youngstown Area Tropical Fish Society — 7:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church of Mineral Ridge, 3654 Main St. Speakers offered. 330-638-4839 or www.yatfs.com.

• The Survivors Group — open discussion, 7 p.m., Neil Kennedy Outpatient Facility, 160 Clifton Drive, Howland.

SATURDAY

•Howland Group — 1 p.m. Howland Community Church, 198 Niles Cortland Road.

• Saturday Here and Now Group — 4 p.m., The Sahara Club II, 2345 Youngstown Road, Warren.

• Saturday Night Serenity — 7 p.m., First Church of God, 541 S. High St., Cortland.

• Seeking God’s Glory — 6:30 p.m., 3217 Surrey Ave., Warren. 330-550-3393.

• Clothing giveaway — 9 a.m., Lake Milton Church of Christ, Milton Avenue.

• Parent Support Group — 11 a.m., Heart Reach Ministries, 211 Redondo Road, Youngstown. 330-330-2916.

• Overeaters Anonymous — 10 a.m., St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church, 4453 Warren Sharon Road, Vienna. 330-545-5139.

•Saturday Night Recovery– 4 p.m., Sahara Club II D, 2345 Youngstown Road, Warren.

•Saturday Here and Now — 4 p.m., Sahara Club II, 2345 Youngstown Road, Warren.

• Saturday Night Serenity — 7 p.m., First Church of God, 541 S. High St., Cortland.

• Saturday Night Recovery — 7 p.m. open discussion, Second Christian Church, 904 W. Market St., Warren.

• Vienna Grange 1537 — noon, Copper Penny Lodge Hall, Vienna.

Agenda

•Howland Group — 1 p.m. Howland Community Church, 198 Niles Cortland Road.

• Saturday Here and Now Group — 4 p.m., The Sahara Club II, 2345 Youngstown Road, Warren.

• Saturday Night Serenity — 7 p.m., First Church of God, 541 S. High St., Cortland.

• Seeking God’s Glory — 6:30 p.m., 3217 Surrey Ave., Warren. 330-550-3393.

• Clothing giveaway — 9 a.m., Lake Milton Church of Christ, Milton Avenue.

• Parent Support Group — 11 a.m., Heart Reach Ministries, 211 Redondo Road, Youngstown. 330-330-2916.

• Overeaters Anonymous — 10 a.m., St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church, 4453 Warren Sharon Road, Vienna. 330-545-5139.

•Saturday Night Recovery– 4 p.m., Sahara Club II D, 2345 Youngstown Road, Warren.

•Saturday Here and Now — 4 p.m., Sahara Club II, 2345 Youngstown Road, Warren.

• Saturday Night Serenity — 7 p.m., First Church of God, 541 S. High St., Cortland.

• Saturday Night Recovery — 7 p.m. open discussion, Second Christian Church, 904 W. Market St., Warren.

• Vienna Grange 1537 — noon, Copper Penny Lodge Hall, Vienna.

To read the full story from the Tribune Chronicle, click here.

Saturday morning, volunteers worked for about four hours to help spruce up the city of Youngstown.

It was all part of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation’s Community Workday.

Saturday’s project focused on cleaning up a home on Pineview Avenue in the Idora neighborhood.

“It’s a very productive feeling after. You feel accomplished that you were part of something bigger than yourself that was bettering the city that could use it in many places,” said volunteer Nick Chretien.

Over 50 volunteers took time out of their day to do their part for the city.

“I feel like my Saturday morning was not wasted. I could spend it lying in bed, or helping clean out houses and tear down brush and help improve the city, and I think every little bit helps,” said volunteer Michael Detwiler.

If you would like to get involved, YNDC meets the third Saturday of each month for its Community Workday.

To read the full story from WYTV, click here.

There was a huge, everything-must-go, clearance Saturday on the city’s South Side.

Living room furniture, dining room furniture, kids’ and adults’ clothes, toys, crutches, leaves, trash.

Wait ... leaves and trash?

Yep, everything was packed up and gone.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. sponsored a cleanup day at a vacant house on Pineview Avenue, just off Glenwood Avenue. It was part of an effort to rid the Idora Neighborhood of blight and turn the abandoned house into a restored home ready for a new owner, said Ian J. Beniston, YNDC executive director.

About 60 volunteers showed up to help with ridding the house of its contents and cleaning up the outside of the property. Most of the contents were tossed into huge, roll-off trash bins, while some were saved and will be given to families in need.

Volunteers set up in assembly-line fashion to pass items from room to room, ultimately finding their way to bins outside.

The detached garage was filled with hints about the family that once lived there, including trash bags of clothes, a Sponge Bob Square Pants book bag, a kids’ basketball hoop and several other toys. Even a pair of crutches. They all went into the trash bin, as did bags and bags of leaves that were raked up from the yard.

Beniston said YNDC recently acquired the property through the Mahoning County Land Bank with the intention of gutting and rehabilitating it so it can be sold to a new owner who will call it home.

The house sits on a double lot and includes an outdoor brick oven, which Beniston said will help make it attractive to buyers once the renovation is complete and it’s on the market.

“This is a solid house,” Beniston said, standing outside the two-story structure. “It’s probably going to need a new roof, but it’s otherwise solid, and it’s going to be beautiful when we get done renovating it. There’s no reason a house like this should be vacant.”

Most of the house’s contents had grown musty and rotted from neglect, but the living room and dining room furniture, including a china hutch, were still in good condition. Those items were to be given to a local family who recently took in four young children, said Jim London, president of the Idora Neighborhood Association.

London, who is known as “Big Jim,” said projects such as the one that took place Saturday help to ensure that local properties stay in the hands of local owners instead of being purchased by out-of-town owners who don’t usually take care of them.

“Once bad landlords get a hold of things, it just devastates a community,” London said. “So we’re not afraid to roll up our sleeves and do projects like this. We want to keep our community nice and clean and safe.”

Lisa Slanina of Youngstown and her 8-year-old son, Zack, were among the volunteers who turned out to help with the project. A native of Youngstown, Slanina said she and her son recently returned to the city after spending 10 years in Arizona, where she’d gone for work.

“We just want to help make the city great again,” Slanina said. “You see these beautiful houses and you want to see them restored to their original glory.”

Slanina said she and Zack used to take part in similar projects through their church when they lived in Arizona.

“He likes to help people,” she said of her son.

Jodi Malmisur of Canfield said the recent presidential election is what spurred her to get involved with local projects.

“I was very unhappy with the results [of the election],” said Malmisur, who backed Hillary Clinton in the race for president.

Rather than simmer in anger, Malmisur decided to become an agent for change. She got involved with the local Young Democrats organization and then with a group called Progressives.

“I just decided it’s time to roll up my sleeves and help, and it just snowballed from there,” said Malmisur, who works as a staff attorney for the Mahoning County Child Support Enforcement Agency.

“It’s time to do something.”

To read the full story from the Vindicator, click here.

In the Idora neighborhood is the first public lodging in nearly 20 years available to travelers looking to stay overnight in the city of Youngstown.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. has become the landlord of two rehabilitated houses that are Airbnb units at 866 and 928 Canfield Road, the first called Revitalize Residence, the second Idora Inn.

“This gives an opportunity for people who are visiting the city to actually stay in the city, in one of the neighborhoods, and get a great feel for what Youngstown is all about,” says Tiffany Sokol, housing director for the YNDC.

At one time, hotels such as the Pick-Ohio, Hotel Youngstown and the Tod put up visitors to Youngstown. But the city has lacked such lodging since the Wick Pollock Inn closed in 1998.

Airbnb Inc. (originally known as Airbed and Breakfast) is a “community marketplace for people to list, discover and book unique accommodations around the world,” says its website. Customers register online and can connect to more than 800,000 listings in 192 countries.

The company charges guests a 6% to 12% nonrefundable fee when they book and a 3% processing charge.

Airbnb has one of the highest valuations, $30 billion in 2016, of any startup in the world.

Unlike traditional hotels, Airbnb units are often in the heart of residential areas. Private owners rent accommodations that range from small apartments to mansions, even castles.

YNDC, which promotes homeownership as part of its neighborhood improvement programs, acquired 928 Canfield Road, a triplex, several years ago. It never intended to become a landlord of the property with high visibility in a heavily trafficked area.

“If we didn’t acquire the property, it would have stayed in the hands of the slumlord who owned it, or it would have been acquired by another slumlord, or it would have been demolished,” Sokol says. “And because of its place on the corridor, it would be really awkward to have a dead space there.”

Adds YNDC Executive Director Ian Beniston, “People threw out the idea that we should have a bed and breakfast or something like that. And while we can’t do that yet, this has kind of been a test to see if there’s a market for people looking to stay here.”

Renovations on the house at 928 Canfield Road began in November 2015 and the first Airbnb guests began arriving in early spring 2016. The Airbnb unit is a one-bedroom apartment on the third floor. The other two units are traditional rentals. Known as the Idora Inn, it’s “popular beyond our expectations,” Beniston says.

YNDC soon added the Revitalize Residence, 866 Canfield Road. Originally designated to house only AmeriCorps NCCC volunteers who come to work with YNDC for six- to eight-week stretches, it is transformed into an Airbnb unit when AmeriCorps members depart.

Columbus resident Jessica Valsi, a veteran of Airbnb both domestically and internationally, stayed at the Idora Inn in 2016.

“It was so nice,” Valsi states. “I really enjoy just being in a neighborhood, which feels so much nicer than a sanitized hotel experience.”

High-profile guests have also stayed at the YNDC Airbnb units. Jay Williams, a former mayor and outgoing U.S. Department of Commerce assistant secretary for economic development, is listed with a profile photo as a reviewer of the Idora Inn on Airbnb.com under the name “Roy.”

Unlike some Airbnb accommodations, both units are totally private. YNDC uses a self check-in system, so travelers can arrive anytime and get access to their rooms.

Both units include kitchen amenities as well as Wi-Fi and Netflix. The Revitalize Residence offers two bedrooms, the Idora Inn one bedroom with two beds.

Prices are $85 a night for the Idora Inn and $100 a night for the Revitalize Residence, but the YNDC is willing to negotiate extended-stay rates.

Fees from the Airbnb units go directly to help support YNDC programs. They rehabilitate and sell houses in the Idora neighborhood and in other sections of the city, part of its long-range neighborhood revitalization efforts.

Beniston views the Airbnb program as another YNDC success story in the Idora area: “It has added value to the neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods because people are able to come in here and stay. They’re able to visit the park — plus they are able to support our work here in the city.”

To read the full story from the Business Journal, click here.

There are now two new places to spend the night in the city of Youngstown.

Two houses on Canfield Road in the Idora Neighborhood have been converted into Airbnb rental units.

They were bought and renovated by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.

Someone staying in the area can rent them out for the night.

The YNDC says reviews have been positive and the occupancy rate is high. The homes are the first public lodging available in Youngstown in nearly 20 years.

To see the inside of the rental units or get more information, visit Airbnb’s website.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here.