SitemapA handful of initiatives focusing on health and wellness for at-risk children in Mahoning and Trumbull counties are getting a financial boost from the William Swanston Charitable Fund.
On July 1, the nonprofit organization announced it would award $321,000 in 2015 grants to 10 programs, including those designed to connect more physically challenged children to adaptive sports and an endeavor aimed at improving Youngstown neighborhoods.
“We are very pleased to be providing resources to aid local leaders in carrying out some very creative initiatives that will create greater opportunities for children to lead healthier, safer and more fulfilling lives,” said Paul M. Dutton, chairman of the board of the William Swanston Charitable Fund.
A partner at Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell, Dutton has been a trustee for over 30 years, but the fund dates back to 1919.
It was established by Canfield farmer William Swanston, whom Dutton said “bequeathed $100,000 and 100 acres of land in Canfield Township to the former Dollar Savings & Trust Co. (now part of PNC Bank) to establish an orphanage for ‘dependent, neglected and abused children’ in Mahoning County.
“The bank recruited five prominent people in Youngstown to carry out the task, but nothing was accomplished by 1980,” said Dutton. “Former Mahoning County Probate Judge Charles P. Henderson dismissed the former trustees and replaced them with five new ones, including myself. It was his last act on the bench.”
Since orphanages no longer existed in 1980 and Mahoning County Children Services was responsible for overseeing the housing and care of such children, Dutton said the trustees purchased and renovated the former Kennedy School in Youngstown.
“We leased the building to children services and put the rest of the money into a charitable fund to be used to help ‘dependent, neglected and abused children.’
“This was around 1983 or 84 and we have been distributing the money annually since that time.”
Dutton said in 2010 the William Swanston Charitable Fund affiliated with the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley and expanded its jurisdiction to include Trumbull County.
There are currently seven trustees, including three from Trumbull County.
“We have become much more proactive,” said Dutton. “We don’t simply react to requests for funding, but as a group decide where to focus our efforts.”
This year the trustees awarded $25,000 to the nonprofit Adaptive Sports Program of Ohio to buy more equipment and expand its outreach activities to Trumbull County.
“Adaptive sports programs are excellent for building physical health and self-esteem, but they are very expensive and many families cannot afford the cost of such equipment,” said Dutton.
Based in Wooster, the organization offers a host of competitive and recreational adaptive sports programs ranging from wheelchair basketball to track in many cities, including Akron, Youngstown and Medina, to promote the health and wellness of kids and adults with physical disabilities.
“We started our programs in Youngstown in 2014 with sled hockey and we have branched out in the Mahoning Valley quite a bit,” said Lisa Followay, executive director and founder of Adaptive Sports Program of Ohio. “We are very unique. No other organization offers these types of programs in the Mahoning/Trumbull county area.
“We rent existing facilities to hold the sporting events to keep costs down but we do provide adaptive equipment which is very expensive.”
Followay said the grant money would cover the cost of expanding its offerings to those in Trumbull County.
“Sports can be so empowering,” said Followay. “Yet our most vulnerable population often does not have the access. We’re so excited that the Swanston fund is helping us to impact the lives of individuals with physical disabilities.”
Children’s Rehabilitation Center in Howland also received a $12,000 grant. The center is expanding its year-old “Investing in Fitness for the Physically Challenged” initiative to include more exercise opportunities at the Howland center and off-site.
Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation Executive Director Ian Beniston said $32,000 in Swanston funding would allow the organization to move forward with plans to set up four test sites for the “Better Block” program.
“Better Block” is already being used in cities around the country, including Cleveland and Akron, to transform streets into more inviting and pedestrian-friendly areas.
“The general idea is to take distressed corridors and breathe new life into them by creating spaces where people want to walk, bike, eat, socialize and activate vacant space,” said Beniston.
Two daylong festivals are expected to take place late this summer or early fall in Youngstown that will temporarily change traffic flow and feature bicycle lanes, larger sidewalks, plantings, outdoor eating, health fair activities, kids’ games, healthy cooking demonstrations and entertainment.
One event is tentatively scheduled for Mahoning Avenue in the area of Steel Street and Milton Avenue. The other is expected to take place at Midlothian Boulevard between Sheridan Road and Irma Street. Two other locations on the north and east sides of the city are being identified for the spring of 2016.
Dutton said the idea for Better Block actually came from last year’s Innovations Conference held in November 2014 at the D.D. and Velma Davis Education & Visitor Center of Mill Creek MetroParks. Sponsored by the William Swanston Charitable Fund, the conference brings in speakers from around the country to discuss best practices for improving the lives of at-risk children.
“Last year, we had a speaker from the Boston area who discussed how to make urban environments more pedestrian friendly, which led to Youngstown’s Better Block idea,” said Dutton.
”We would not be able to do any of these events without the Swanston grant,” said Beniston. “There has been significant work done to restore and improve housing in many neighborhoods. These events should increase the momentum of commercial development, hopefully giving rise to new businesses and a more active and healthy public realm that will replace the empty space.”
In addition, Akron Children’s Hospital received $150,000 to continue its Mahoning Valley Healthy Kids Coalition initiative, which got underway in 2014.
The program began after the hospital received a $150,000 grant from the fund last year.
“The mission of the Mahoning Valley Healthy Kids Coalition is to create healthy lifestyles and thereby healthy futures for children in Mahoning and Trumbull counties through a comprehensive program focusing on prevention, intervention and awareness initiatives with both clinical and behavioral outcomes,” said JoAnn Stock, director of development for Akron Children’s Hospital.
The coalition partners include preschools, school systems and libraries in Mahoning and Trumbull counties as well as the Mahoning and Trumbull boards of health.
“We are grateful for the continued support of the William Swanston Charitable Fund and are honored to carry on the legacy of caring for the children of our community created by Mr. Swanston through his estate plan,” said Stock. “The generosity and foresight of donors such as Mr. Swanston emphasizes the impact that planned giving can have on the quality of life for future generations.”
Mercy Health Foundation Mahoning Valley was given $25,000 to support the second year of its Fresh Start program, the newest component of its Resource Mothers initiative, which works to provide prenatal and early childhood care and to prevent childhood obesity.
“We started our Resource Mothers program twelve years ago,” said Crystal Jones, grant director at Mercy Health Foundation. “We work with low-income at-risk women during the prenatal period to ensure they receive the care they need to deliver a healthy baby,” said Jones. “Once the infant is born we strive to make sure the child leads a healthier life by making sure the child receives the proper immunizations and other needed care.”
In 2014, the foundation began its Fresh Start program after receiving a $40,000 grant from the William Swanston Charitable Fund. The goal of Fresh Start is to teach young mothers how to obtain and prepare healthy food.
“Eating right is a major part of ensuring that a family has a healthy life. Right now Ohio is 50 out of 50 in the number of African Americans who die before their first year of birth,” said Jones. “Our Resource Mothers program will not only help to reverse that trend but will ensure the long-term health of families.”
The grant money is also being used to cover the addition of a part-time mentor and educator.
“This allows us to increase the number of women and children enrolled in the program,” said Jones.
Additionally, $40,000 was presented to Warren City Schools to continue the second part of the Warren Fitness Challenge; Compass Family & Community Services received $20,000 for its Daybreak Youth Crisis Shelter (10-bed, 24-hour emergency shelter for children and teenagers); Children’s Hunger Alliance was awarded $10,000 for its after-school food program at 11 sites in Youngstown and the Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership got $2,000 for its Giving Tree Garden (community garden used to educate children in Warren’s Garden District Neighborhood).
“Each of these programs addresses the harsh challenges confronting many at-risk children in our community,” said Dutton. “We love what we are doing and hopefully are making a difference in the lives of at-risk children in the Mahoning Valley.”
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