Neighborhoods

The Raymond John Wean Foundation has awarded community investment grants totaling $345,000 to four organizations whose work is representative of its strategic priorities. 

The grants were approved Sept. 7 by the foundation’s board of directors. The foundation, which has distributed more than $100 million in grants to nonprofits, describes its priorities as community revitalization, economic opportunity, educational opportunity and public sector leadership. REVITALIZE Home Mortgage in support of its REVITALIZE Home Mortgage Loan Fund. This investment will leverage community resources to provide a two-county lending model for first-time homebuyers who are unable to access conventional banking products. Loans will be focused on homes identified and rehabilitated by Warren’s Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership and YNDC. To read the full story from the Business Journal, click here. 

REVITALIZE Home Mortgage (RHM) is launching a new community lending program in partnership with the city, Home Savings Bank and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., according to a news release. 

The city provided $500,000 for the loan fund, which will provide first-mortgage loans to individuals unable to obtain bank financing. The loans will be serviced by Home Savings. To begin the process of participating in the program, call Tammi Neuscheler, YNDC housing client manager, at 330-480-0423. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

Two Valley communities are finally being awarded federal grant dollars to help support community services.  

According to a press release from Valley Congressman Tim Ryan, Youngstown and Warren will bring home a combined $5,600,000 in Community Development Block Grants, Emergency Services Grants, and HOME grants. For the 2017-2018 Fiscal year, Youngstown is receiving more than 3.2 million dollars in CDBG money. Mayor John McNally says several community organizations have already applied and been given contracts for that money. McNally said the money goes towards community organizations that provide social services, such as ACTION, OCCHA, Taft Neighborhood Promise, and YNDC. In addition, CDBG grants go toward funding portions the city's litter program, park development program, and certain street improvement projects. Youngstown will also be receiving more than $400,000 in Emergency Services Grant money, which goes toward services that treat and combat homelessness in the Valley. To read the full story from WFMJ, click here.

Thursday, September 14, 2017
YNDC and its partners, the City of Youngstown, Youngstown Police Department, and Youngstown State University, were awarded an $850,000 grant from the US Department of Justice to implement a crime reduction plan in a target area on the south side of Youngstown, focused on Market Street, South Avenue, and the Taft and Cottage Grove Neighborhoods. 

The Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grant will fund crime-reduction activities in four key areas: small business safety; residential property safety, community empowerment, and neighborhood revitalization. The small business safety initiative seeks to address these crime issues through employee and manager training, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) assessments and grants to property owners, focused deterrence, increased surveillance, increased communication between property owners and the Youngstown Police Department, increased police presence, and proactive police patrols. The residential property safety initiative seeks to address crime issues through targeted community education, grants to homeowners for safety upgrades, focused deterrence targeting repeat offenders, increased lighting and surveillance, increased police patrols, increased enforcement of the city’s rental property registration program, landlord engagement, incentives for landlords to practice sound management practices, and targeted code enforcement of nuisance properties. The community empowerment initiative seeks to address crime issues and improve neighborhood quality of life through community organizing, creating new neighborhood groups, engaging residents through block parties, volunteer events, and improvement projects, distributing resource guides, providing services for individuals returning from incarceration, and increased opportunities for youth and young adults through activities, sports leagues, job training, and job opportunities. The neighborhood revitalization initiative seeks to address crime issues and improve neighborhood quality of life through establishing a Clean and Green Team that cleans up and secures vacant properties, demolition of blighted properties, boarding up and securing vacant properties, vacant lot maintenance, neighborhood improvement, installation of additional lighting, repairing infrastructure, and addressing gaps in retail, particularly related to providing healthy food options. This project was supported by Award No. 2017-AJ-BX-0009 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, United States Department of Justice. A map of the target areas can be downloaded below.

Cleaning up neighborhoods known for crime takes teamwork between police, officials, and invested neighbors.

In the Valley, that teamwork shone through, winning the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation nearly a million dollars to clean up the south side. The South Side Revitalization Project has been running on teamwork for years and on Wednesday, it got a big boost. YNDC now has the money to make the dream of safety and security on the south side a reality. YNDC is getting a grant for $850,000 from the Department of Justice to implement a plan to fight and reduce crime in the area. It took two years to develop, with the help of researchers and the Youngstown Police Department. “We did the plan, we analyzed a lot of data related to crime — where it was happening, when it was happening, who was committing the crime,” said Neighborhood Planner Tom Hetrick. To read the full story from WKBN, click here.

An $850,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice will support programs created by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. aimed at crime reduction on the South Side. 

YNDC was awarded its first Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation planning grant in 2015 to develop a plan to reduce crime in the Taft and Cottage Grove neighborhoods along Market Street and South Avenue. In January, the plan was submitted along with an application for funding. The new grant awarded  YNDC will fund activities in four areas: small business safety, residential property safety, community empowerment and neighborhood revitalization. To read the full story from the Business Journal, click here. 

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation is getting $850,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice to fight crime on Youngstown's south side.  

The grant will target the areas between Market Street and South Avenue where city leaders believe the highest crime concentration exists.  The money will focus on several different initiatives, the first being getting residents to look out for one another and beautify their own areas.  Tom Hetrick from the YNDC said, "We'll have a community organizer who works to get more neighborhood organizations up and running and support the ones that already exist. Help them better to connect with resources to do projects."  Second, they'll educate people on how they can better protect themselves and not be an easy target for crime. To read the full story from WFMJ, click here.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and its partners – the city of Youngstown, Youngstown Police Department, and Youngstown State University – were awarded an $850,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to implement crime-reduction strategies on the South Side. 

The YNDC is a multifaceted neighborhood development organization launched in 2009 in partnership with the city and The Raymond John Wean Foundation to develop strategic neighborhood reinvestment in neighborhoods throughout the city. The target areas are Market Street, South Avenue and the Taft and Cottage Grove neighborhoods. The grant will fund crime-reduction activities in four key areas: small-business safety, residential-property safety, community empowerment and neighborhood revitalization. In 2015, YNDC and its partners were awarded a federal planning grant to analyze crime data, engage community members, review evidence-based practices and develop a crime-reduction implementation plan. The plan was finalized in January 2017 and submitted to the DOJ for review, along with an application for implementation funding. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and its partners – the city of Youngstown, Youngstown Police Department, and Youngstown State University – were awarded an $850,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to implement crime-reduction strategies on the South Side. 

The target areas are Market Street, South Avenue, and the Taft and Cottage Grove neighborhoods. The grant will fund crime-reduction activities in four key areas: small-business safety, residential-property safety, community empowerment, and neighborhood revitalization. In 2015, YNDC and its partners were awarded a federal planning grant to analyze crime data, engage community members, review evidence-based practices, and develop a crime-reduction implementation plan. The plan was finalized in January 2017 and submitted to the DOJ for review, along with an application for implementation funding. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

The fight against criminal activity on Youngstown's South Side is getting an $850,000 shot in the arm. 

The US Department of Justice has awarded the grant to the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, Youngstown Police, and Youngstown State University to develop crime-reduction strategies in a target area on the South Side. The effort will focus on Market Street, South Avenue, and the Taft and Cottage Grove neighborhoods. The grant will fund crime-reduction activities in key areas including small businesses, residential property, community empowerment, and neighborhood revitalization. To read the full story from WFMJ, click here.