SitemapThe Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation and Home
Depot teamed up Friday to make sure at least one local veteran would be able to
find an affordable, nice place to stay.
YNDC knows how to fix up old houses but
even by their standards, a house on Wakefield Avenue was a huge undertaking. “It
was a really big project when we got the house. It was pretty much a shell of a
house when we got it,” said YNDC Housing Director Tiffany Sokol. The house has
a special purpose — YNDC wants it to go to a veteran. The Department of Housing
and Urban Development estimates there are about 40,000 American veterans who are
homeless on any given night. Vets have purchased YNDC homes before but this
will be the first one remodeled with a veteran in mind. “Help the folks that
have served us. As we serve our community, we really want to create
opportunities for them to be a part and be homeowners in our communities,”
Sokol said. They got some special help from the Boardman Home Depot to do it,
too. “We felt like this was a project that was deserving of our help,” Greg
DeCarlo said. The home improvement store has long focused on serving those who
have served us. “Home Depot realizes there’s a lot of veterans in the
community. We like to give back to those veterans in need,” DeCarlo said. So
they joined YNDC to make the project happen, giving the organization a $22,000
grant that covered all the materials. Home Depot also brought more than a dozen
volunteers to put on the finishing touches. “These guys are trying to do this
for a veteran in need, so this is just a way that Home Deport and associates
can give back to the community,” DeCarlo said. Home Depot gives out several of
these grants every year but this is the biggest one DeCarlo can remember. “Without
their help, we really would not have been able to make this project possible,”
Sokol said. The home will be finished up within a few weeks and should be
listed for sale by the middle of July. Veterans interested in buying it can
contact YNDC at 330-480-0423.
To read the full story from WKBN, click here.