SitemapGreen Youngstown partnered with the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation and the City of Youngstown to coordinate and execute a massive blight-busting project on Youngstown’s South Side.
The Cottage Grove neighborhood is one of the most hard-hit in Youngstown’s population loss, with over 90 vacant and abandoned properties in a 12 block area. 78 of these properties were boarded-up and cleaned up through the efforts of our 465 volunteers. Each property had boards placed on doors and windows, overgrown bushes, trees and plants cut down and chipped, tires and illegally dumped debris hauled off and litter removed. The volunteers were broken up into teams responsible for a specific task on 1 street in the neighborhood. Then we set them loose. By 2:00 pm the entire neighborhood was transformed.
The remaining vacant houses in the neighborhood were in such poor shape, they were deemed too hazardous and were slated for demolition. Ten of those houses are being demolished through the wonderful in-kind donations of Marucci and Gaffney Excavating (labor) and Republic Services (debris disposal fees), saving the City of Youngstown nearly $100,000 in demolition costs! Three houses will be demolished by the City of Youngstown.
Residents of the area were stopping volunteers to thank them, taking pictures with them and having a great time. Smiles and appreciation to all the volunteers and staff abounded!
We would also like to thank our sponsors and partners:
-United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley
-City of Youngstown
-Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation
-Marucci and Gaffney Excavating
-Republic Services, Inc.
-The Hometown Pharmacy
-Huntington Bank
-NYO Property Group
-Lowe’s
-Akron Children’s Hospital – Mahoning Valley
-AIM NationaLease
-Banner Supply Co. Inc.
-Dearing Compressor & Pump Co.
-Mercy Health
-Sam’s Club
-Simon Roofing
-Coca-Cola
-Wedgewood Plaza
-Chick-Fil-A
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