SitemapAn AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) team is serving with Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) from September 23 to November 6.
The team is aiding in projects improving Youngstown’s neighborhood decay from its significant population decrease and the economic decline of its steel industry.
The NCCC team of nine from the North Central Region campus of Vinton, Iowa is collaborating with YNDC staff and community groups to board, clean, and repair at least 35 vacant, blighted properties to make neighborhoods more inhabitable. The team is measuring, cutting, painting and hanging boards, removing debris, and landscaping vacant properties and lots.
Through their service, NCCC members are reducing the proliferation of vacant properties and lots that total nearly three times the national average. Reducing vacant properties reduces health and safety risks posed to neighbors and children, encourages reinvestment, and discourages criminal activity and vandalism.
NCCC member and New Hampshire native, Regan Naughton asserts, “I hope to take what I learn from removing Youngstown’s blight and showing outsiders its potential with me for the rest of my life.”
The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation represents a multifaceted effort to promote reinvestment in neighborhoods throughout Youngstown. YNDC seeks to improve Youngstown’s quality of life by offering numerous programming and services: vacant land reuse, urban agriculture, demolition, home rehabilitation and repair, homeownership development, job training, economic development, community engagement, volunteer workdays, and neighborhood planning.
The AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) and its FEMA Corps units engage 2,800 young Americans in a full-time, 10-month commitment to service each year. AmeriCorps NCCC members address critical needs related to natural and other disasters, infrastructure improvement, environmental stewardship and conservation, and urban and rural development; FEMA Corps members are solely dedicated to disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery work. The programs are administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). CNCS is the federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund, and Volunteer Generation Fund programs, and leads President's national call to service initiative, United We Serve.
For more information, visit www.nationalservice.gov.