SitemapThe long-vacant plaza at 2915 Glenwood Ave. is being given new life by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to neighborhood revitalization.
“The Glenwood Fresh Market is going to one of multiple storefronts,” says YNDC Neighborhood Stabilization Director Jack Daugherty. “That plaza used to be a daycare center and a soul food restaurant most recently, but it has been vacant for a good five years or so, and before that some of the storefronts were vacant for almost 20 years.”
Now, with the help of funding from federal block grants, the plaza will include the 1,200-square-foot Fresh Market as well as five other white box spaces available for rent.
Some sections of Youngstown can be considered food deserts, particularly in neighborhoods without a convenient supermarket. YNDC is doing its part to resolve this. “Residents in this neighborhood, and in other neighborhoods throughout the city, want to see more access to fresh and healthy foods close by because not everybody has access to a car,” Daugherty says.
The Fresh Market will provide produce and healthy food options free of charge to individuals and families whose household income falls 200 percent below federal poverty guidelines. YNDC canvassed the neighborhoods adjacent to Glenwood, literally knocking on more than 700 doors, asking residents what they most wanted to see near them. The overwhelming response was access to healthy foods. This was the primary motivation for creating the Fresh Market.
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