Neighborhoods

On Saturday, January 21, over 90 volunteers from AmeriCorps VISTA, Boulevard Park Block Watch, Cardinal Mooney High School, Full Spectrum Community Outreach, Hope for Renewal/Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Idora Neighborhood Association, Mahoning County Young Democrats, Progress Mahoning Valley, Victory Christian Center, YNDC, YSU Fellowship of Christian Athletes, YSU Football, YSU Golf, YSU Honors, YSU REDI, YSUscape, YSU Softball, and YSU Volleyball helped clean out a vacant home

at 759 Pineview Avenue that YNDC will rehabilitate for resale to a new homeowner. Volunteers removed debris, linoleum flooring, wall tiles, cabinets, and carpeting, cleaned up the landscaping, and much more! Over 80 cubic yards of debris was removed from the property. Many thanks to all the volunteers, Conroy’s Party Shop for donating water and soda, Pizza Joe’s Cornersburg for donating lunch, and Hope for Renewal/Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church for providing snacks and breakfast!

Have you started thinking about this year's garden yet? Come join us at Iron Roots Urban Farm for a garden workshop!

All gardeners are welcome, whether you've been gardening for years or plan to start your first garden this spring. Farm Manager Corey Maizel will present basic gardening topics, from soil amendments to planning crops to extend your growing season, and answer questions. FREE garden kits with seeds will be given out to all participants at the end of the workshop, so you'll want to mark this on your calendar!

Saturday, February 25, 3:00pm - 5:00pm

Tuesday, March 7, 6:00pm - 8:00pm

RSVPs are appreciated, but not required. To RSVP, you can either email produce@yndc.org or call our office at 330.480.0423.

Friday, January 27, 2017

On Friday, January 27, the John and Denise York Foundation awarded YNDC with a $10,000 grant.

The grant will be used for neighborhood improvements and revitalization. Many Thanks to the John and Denise York Foundation for their support.

Monday, January 30, 2017

Be part of making Youngstown’s neighborhoods a great place to live, work, and play! Help us clean up a vacant home in the Idora Neighborhood, Saturday, February 18, 8:30am - 12:30pm

, at the Idora Neighborhood Workday! Meet at 820 Canfield Road. Add it to your Calendar.

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

In January 2017, YNDC sold three fully revitalized homes to new homeowners.

Two of the homes are located in the Brownlee Woods neighborhood on the same street. 1613 Medford Avenue sold for $46,500, and 1618 Medford Avenue sold for $50,000. The third home, located in the Idora Neighborhood, 853 Lanterman Avenue sold for $61,500. Congratulations to the new homeowners and thank you for your investment in Youngstown's neighborhoods!

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

113 Volunteers at 2 Community Workdays

50 Vacant Houses Boarded

180 Yards of Debris Removed

28 New Clients Enrolled in HUD-Approved Housing Counseling

REVITALIZE

Two months after its passing, members of an LGBTQ group in Youngstown are talking about the anti-discrimination laws and what they mean for the city.

Youngstown is now the 16th Ohio city to ban discrimination. City leaders passed the law in December, making it illegal to discriminate people in the LGBTQ community. The law forbids bullying and discrimination in employment, housing, and lending.

Full Spectrum Community Outreach board members said this will have a big impact on how the Youngstown community comes together.

Tim Bortner said it’s a good sign leaders like Youngstown Mayor John McNally are behind the LGBTQ community.

“I think it’s very important because it actually shows that our support is coming from the top down,” he said. “It shows that they support us and that they are here for us, and willing to help us make this a better community and safer place for us to be.”

Marnie Cram called the law “monumental.”

“It means that there are greater protections for the population, meaning that we can move forward focusing on other things to get the community together,” she said.

Earlier this week, the White House announced an executive order protecting federal employees from anti-LGBTQ discrimination signed by President Obama in 2014 will continue to be in effect during President Trump’s administration.

Full Spectrum wants to continue working with other organizations in the area, including the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation and St. John’s Episcopal Church, to have a bigger impact on the community.

Full Spectrum offers support groups to reach out to the LGBTQ community in the Youngstown area. For more information, visit the group’s Facebook page.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here.

Monday, February 6, 2017

The Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Implementation Plan (South Side Revitalization Project) has been completed by the project team, consisting of YNDC, Youngstown State University, and the Youngstown Police Department.

The planning process analyzed crime data and engaged community members in a target area on the South Side of Youngstown in order to identify research-based strategies to reduce crime and improve neighborhood conditions. The plan identifies four primary initiatives to achieve these goals: 1) the small business safety initiative; 2) the residential property safety initiative; 3) the community empowerment initiative; and 4) the neighborhood revitalization initiative. The planning process was funded by Award No.2015-AJ-BX-0012 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, US Department of Justice. The project team recently submitted a final draft of the implementation plan along with an application for funding to implement cross-sector crime-reduction strategies. The plan is available for download below.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

YNDC is pleased to present a second round of funding for an opportunity meant to help groups involve youth in vacant lot greening projects across the city.

This program was funded through the Centers for Disease Control and is being led by the University of Michigan as part of a 5 year, 3 city study of vacant land reuse (now it its second year). A wide variety of groups may apply, but youth involvement (ages 10 - 24) must be at the core of proposed projects for this opportunity. Researchers will be monitoring project implementation and maintenance. Funds awarded can be used to compensate youth involved in the project. Site eligibility restrictions will apply to this grant—groups should get their proposed site approved by project staff as soon as one is chosen.

Attendance at an application technical assistance session is mandatory for this opportunity. Please see dates and times below:

Tuesday, February 21st, 4:00pm - 7:00pm

Monday, February 27th: 4:00pm – 7:00pm

Saturday, March 4th: 1:00pm – 4:00pm

All sessions will be held in the YNDC Kitchen, located at 822 Billlingsgate Avenue (around the corner from our main facility) on the south side of Youngstown.

Interested individuals should contact Liberty Merrill at YNDC by phone at 330.480.0423 or via email at lmerrill@yndc.org with any questions. Please see the application below for program details.

Out of two potential programs to beautify Youngstown, one is specific to a single neighborhood and will cost the city nothing, while the other will cost over $1 million but is good anywhere in the city.

The bend on Market Street on Youngstown’s south side, specifically the Shell station, is the city’s number one crime hot spot. It’s in Councilwoman Anita Davis’ Sixth Ward.

“There was one point it was just like something out of a movie. People up on cars, things like that,” she said.

Davis was among the council members on the Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee who heard from the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation Wednesday evening about an $850,000 grant.

YNDC, Youngstown State, and the City of Youngstown applied for the Byrne Grant through the Justice Department. The money would be spent to reduce crime and eliminate blight only in the neighborhoods along the Market Street and South Avenue corridors.

“This really revolves around making this the cleanest area of the city, so addressing the blight, cleaning it up, boarding everything up,” said Ian Beniston, with YNDC.

The Bryne Grant money would be used to help small businesses, rehabilitate housing, fund programs for repeat criminals and youth, and rental registration.

“We have a 3,000 to 4,000 structure housing problem,” said Finance Director Dave Bozanich.

He spoke about a new program called “Live Youngstown,” where the city would grant $1.5 million to YNDC to pay for water and wastewater-related issues for people looking to buy and live in Youngstown. With the money, the organization thinks they can fix up about 100 homes.

“I’m sure all of you get, ‘Why aren’t you renovating homes? Why aren’t you doing more to bring people into the city? Why aren’t you making the neighborhoods more livable?’ Things of that nature. I think this is going to have a pretty dramatic step toward accomplishing that,” Bozanich said.

The meeting amounted to how YNDC was going to spend $2.3 million in taxpayer money — some federal, some city. Councilman Nate Pinkard wanted something in return.

“I would like to see a little bit more accountability and some reporting back to council on how the program is functioning. We don’t get that,” he said.

The committee should know by summer if it will get the Byrne Grant.

Council is expected to vote on the $1.5 million Live Youngstown grant next Wednesday.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here.