Neighborhoods

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, the city of Youngstown, the Youngstown City School District, the Taft School Area Block Watch and the Taft Promise Neighborhood coalition cut the ribbon this morning to newly improved safe sidewalks.

School district CEO Krish Mohip said he was "excited to see community come together and provide resources children need." Youngstown police officer Phil Skowron mirrored Mohip's sentiment. "It's just good the kids don't have to be walking on the street, and have good sidewalks to walk on," he said. The infrastructure improvements, including new sidewalks, curb ramps and a bicycle rack, were funded by a grant to the city from the Ohio Department of Transportation Safe Routes to School program. The city was awarded $200,000 in 2015. To read the full story from the Vindicator, click here. 

Youngstown city and schools leaders applauded the improved
paths to school – specifically around Taft Elementary – a week before school
starts.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., city of Youngstown, city
school district, Taft School Area Block Watch and the Taft Promise Neighborhood
coalition unveiled upgraded sidewalks Tuesday morning. Although it may seem
like something small, school district CEO Krish Mohip said the message is big:
“Placing importance on our students.” Mohip said he was “excited to see
community come together and provide resources children need.” “What this – to
me – shows is that we have an entire community standing behind our children
saying, ‘We can do better, and we will do better,’” he said. Tara
Walker-Pollock, Success After 6 manager, shared Mohip’s excitement about
district improvements. “This is just one more improvement to help our
children,” she said. Tanisha McMullen, Success After 6 coordinator at Taft,
mirrored their sentiment. “It’s going to be a new year with a new opportunity
for the children to be safe,” she said. “Before, there were so many cracks in
the sidewalks, and now we don’t have to worry about them falling and tripping
on holes.” Youngstown police officer Phil Skowron said he appreciates the
safety aspect Safe Routes to Schools provides. “It’s just good the kids don’t
have to be walking on the street, and have good sidewalks to walk on,” he said.
The infrastructure improvements, including new sidewalks, curb ramps and a
bicycle rack, were funded by a grant to the city from the Ohio Department of
Transportation Safe Routes to School program. The city was awarded $200,000 in
2015. The improvements are part of the Safe Routes to School program, which
seeks to build safer environments and encourage more students to walk and
bicycle to school. Taft was selected because it has the highest percentage of
students who walk to school of any school in the district. Funding has been
secured for similar improvements around Harding, Williamson and McGuffey
Elementary schools. To read the full story from The VIndicator, click here.

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

On August 25, new playground equipment was installed in two
city parks thanks to a William Swanston Charitable Fund grant.

John White Park
on the East Side and Homestead Park on the South Side benefited from the
construction of the new jungle gyms. The new equipment is part of a $150,000
William Swanston Charitable Fund grant that will improve John White Park,
Homestead Park, Crandall Park, and Glenwood Park. The parks were chosen due to
the high concentration of youth in the surrounding areas.

Thursday, August 31, 2017

The First Place Community Fund of Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley awarded YNDC with a $2,500 grant for the Glenwood Neighbors Initiative.

This initiative seeks to improve the quality of life, safety, public health and perception of the Glenwood Avenue corridor to foster reinvestment and economic opportunity. This involves ongoing improvements to Glenwood Avenue: lighting, public art, vacant lot improvement, and streetscape revitalization. Many thanks to the Community Foundation for their support!

Six volunteers working to improve their neighborhoods left the pavilion at the center of Wick Park with $1,000 to use toward their next projects. 

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. honored the nominees and winners of their Neighborhood Champion awards Tuesday at the North Side park, recognizing 28 nominees and selecting five winners. Each of the winners was awarded $1,000 for a project of their choice. Members of the community nominated individuals they believe are deserving of the funds. Ian Beniston, executive director of the YNDC, said there were 95 submissions from across the city, which were then narrowed to a group of nominees. He said the event was meant to celebrate the work of individuals who give their time to improve the city. “These are the people doing the work. The city is for the citizens, and they’re the ones giving their time to help the city,” Beniston said. “We hope to see things like this raise the profile of these volunteers, and who knows, maybe someone will read about them and decide to donate to their work or be inspired to volunteer themselves.” To read the full story from the Vindicator, click here. 

A new project at Taft Elementary aims to create safer routes to school for kids in Youngstown. 

The infrastructure improvement project was celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony around the school Tuesday. The Ohio Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program gave a grant to the city to fund the project. New sidewalks, curb ramps, cross walks and eventually a new bike rack will be installed to help the kids get to school safely. Taft was chosen because so many students there walk and bike to school. To read the full story from WKBN, click here.

The winners of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp.’s Neighborhood Champion Awards. Each winner received $1,000 for use in a project of his or her choice. 

Peggy Bosela beautifies areas by planting and maintaining grass and flowers in neglected areas in her neighborhood near Albert Street and Hubbard Road.

Joyce Davidson is involved in Know Your Neighbor block watch and summer youth programs in her North Side neighborhood that pair teens with employment opportunities.

Marguerite Douglas helped create and is active in the Lincoln Knolls community watch. She also planned the East Side Better Block event the past two years.

Keland Logan, director of The Colony, which works with young people to conduct city cleanups and other enrichment projects. He also runs a youth reading program.

Thomas and Elnora Sipp, active in the 4 Square Block Watch on the South Side, have organized more than 50 neighborhood cleanups. At more than 90 years old, Thomas Sipp continues to cut the lawns of vacant lots across the South Side.

To read the full story from the Vindicator, click here.

The Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley has announced nearly $475,000 in grant awards as part of its second cycle of 2017. 

Of the awards, $118,149.47 was awarded to 21 organizations that submitted requests through the foundation’s online portal. The remaining funds – $356,052.44 – were distributed outside the grant process at the recommendation of component fund advisers. The largest grant, totaling $15,149.47, was awarded to The English Center to support its English as a Second Language, or ESL, courses. The money was provided by The International Institute Funds. Making Kids Count received $15,000 from the Italian Scholarship League Fund to support the charity’s Best Foot Forward program, which distribute boots and socks to children in need. To read the full story from the Business Journal, click here.

Friday, September 1, 2017

The United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley partnered with YNDC for the 2017 Day of Caring on Friday, September 1st.

 Approximately 500 volunteers from 40 volunteer groups participated in the annual day of service and helped scrape sidewalks, clean up vacant properties, clear brush and debris from pedestrian walkways, and secure vacant houses on the East Side of Youngstown. The groups that participated were 98 Marketing,
Aim, American National University, Belmont Pines Hospital, Boardman High
School, Burgan Real Estate, Casal's, Campbell City Schools, CCA, Committee to
Elect Tito Brown, Committee to Elect Seam McKinney, Compco, Dearing Compressor,
Eastgate, Exal, Factset, First National Bank, Ivy Woods Manor, Huntington Bank,
Gateways Industries, Jackson-Milton School, James and Sons, Lowe's Boardman,
Lowe's Niles, Men of Standard, The Colony, Mercy Health, Ohio Edison, Pizza
Joes, Rich Center for Autism, StepAbove Home Care, UAW 1112, UAW 1714,
ValleyCare, WKBN, Youngstown Air Reserve Station, YSU Room 203, YWRC, and YSU
Honors College. The focus areas this year included a stretch of Oak Street and side streets from Rice Avenue to Landsdowne Boulevard, the area of East High Avenue adjacent to East High School, and sites along Himrod Avenue and side streets between South Truesdale Avenue and North Lane Avenue. All together, volunteers removed 500 tires, 600 cubic yards of debris, and 60 cubic yards of debris. Volunteers also scraped 15,589 linear feet of sidewalk - that's over 3 miles! Special thanks to all of these organizations for their generous contributions; Huntington Bank, The Hometown Pharmacy, Green Youngstown, City of Youngstown, American Red Cross Lake to River Chapter, Masonry Materials Plus, Republic Services, Lowe's of Boardman, Lowe's of Niles, Dearing, AIM NationaLease, Simon Roofing, MercyHealth, Wedgewood Pizza, Akron Children's Hospital, AFL-CIO, CCA, Western Reserve Building Trades, Sam's Club, Royal Oaks, 898 Marketing, FortyTwo Event Production, and Dom's Ice House. Thank you to all the volunteers that participated this year and helped us FIGHT BLIGHT!

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

REVITALIZE Home Mortgage is launching a new community lending program in partnership with the City of Youngstown, Home Savings, and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC).

The City of Youngstown provided a $500,000 grant to capitalize the loan fund that will provide first-mortgage loans to individuals who are unable to obtain bank financing to purchase homes rehabilitated by YNDC. Loans will be serviced by Home Savings. RHM provides a first-mortgage financing source with flexible underwriting criteria for borrowers who don't meet requirements for conventional banking products. Specifically, RHM requires a lower minimum credit score than traditional lenders, accepts alternative sources of credit from applicants without a traditional credit score, and does not count deferred federal student loans in borrowers’ debt-to-income ratio calculations – addressing barriers that typically trigger denials from traditional lenders. Education and accountability measures are also built into the program, providing new homeowners with the tools necessary to ensure that they are successful in the long term and encouraging wealth building. Individuals interested in obtaining financing from RHM should call Tammi Neuscheler, YNDC’s Housing Client Manager at 330.480.0423 to enroll in HUD-Approved Pre-Purchase Housing Counseling which is the first step in the program.