Neighborhoods

Thursday, September 21, 2017

The Ohio Department of Transportation has awarded YNDC with $30,000 to benefit the Safe Routes to School program.

The funds will be used for non-infrastructure components of the ongoing Safe Routes to School program, a collaboration between the City of Youngstown, YNDC, Ohio Department of Transportation, and Youngstown City Schools. Thank you to ODOT for their continued support!

Thursday, September 21, 2017

On
Tuesday June 13th, the Mercy Health Foundation announced the award of $280,000
to YNDC in support of the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) program
and the Eating for Health in Mahoning Valley project.

The funds will provide
additional support to SNAP customers in the Fruit and Vegetable Prescription
program, which provides prescription vouchers to patients to purchase fruits
and vegetable to supplement a healthy diet.  

Thursday, September 21, 2017

The James and Coralie Centofanti Charitable Foundation has awarded YNDC with a $2,148 grant for property maintenance.

Many thanks to the Centofanti Charitable Foundation for their support!

Mahoning Avenue will come alive with live music, an outdoor cafe, art galleries and a farmers market with the third Mahoning Avenue Fall Fest, which will celebrate the neighborhood’s many hidden treasures. 

The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday between Steel Street and McKinley Avenue on the West Side’s historic Garden District. The festival will feature baked goods, produce, jewelry and a host of family-friendly activities, including mini pumpkins to paint, courtesy of the Garden District Neighborhood Association, in addition to other children’s activities. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

Friday, September 22, 2017

On Saturday, September 16, 27 volunteers helped to begin rehabilitation of the historic 4-unit building at 2906 Glenwood Avenue.

Volunteers from Believers Church, Braking Point Recovery Center, Love This Place, Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church/Hope for Renewal, WKBN, and YNDC removed 20 cubic yards of debris from inside and around the building, scraped, prepared, and painted a portion of the back deck, replaced windows and doors, and installed vinyl siding. The property is being revitalized by YNDC partner organization Hope for Renewal. Thank you to all the volunteers for their hard work and special thanks to WKBN for providing refreshments and to Hope for Renewal for providing lunch.

Jay Coy of North Jackson brought his organic home-grown fresh veggies, including heirloom tomatoes and Italian green beans, and Mother Nature brought the sunshine to the third annual Mahoning Avenue Fall Fest on Saturday making it a pleasantly warm day for festival visitors. 

The one-day event, which featured live music by local musicians, an outdoor cafe, art galleries, a farm market, a wide variety of craft vendors and family-friendly activities, ran from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. between Steel Street and McKinley Avenue in the West Side’s historic Garden District. The neighborhood and local businesses support the Fall Fest, said 4th Ward Councilman Michael Ray, who described the event as an opportunity to display the vibrancy of the community and to support and promote its local artists and businesses. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

An injection of $850,000 to fight crime in Youngstown will be available for use by city institutions come October. 

Youngstown was one of three cities nationwide to receive the grant money, which was part of a U.S. Justice Department’s Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program. Tom Hetrick, neighborhood planner at the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., said the grant is the second round of funding the organization has received from the U.S. Justice Department. The first was used to fund the crime-fighting project’s planning and research phase the YNDC and its city partners plan to enact. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

Monday, September 25, 2017

This
farmers market season YNDC launched a two-county SNAP Double-Up Program as part
of the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive program, with coordination of six
farmers markets and retail locations across Youngstown and Warren.

Participating locations include the Idora Neighborhood Farmers Market, the
Northside Farmers Market, the Warren Farmers market, the Howland Farmers
market, the St. Elizabeth Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Market, and the
Lake-to-River Food Cooperative. SNAP customers at these locations will be able
to receive up to $30 in matching funds to purchase fresh produce.

Monday, September 25, 2017

Implementation of the Parks Improvement Action Plan
continues with funding from the William Swanston Charitable Fund, managed by
the Community Foundation of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley. 

Improvements have included repair and
resurfacing of the basketball court and walking trail at John White Park, new
climbing structures at John White and Homestead Parks, additional lighting at
Glenwood, Homestead, and John White Parks, camera installation at Glenwood and
Homestead Parks, and new benches, trash cans, and grills at Glenwood Homestead,
and John White Parks.

Monday, September 25, 2017

During July, August and September, YNDC’s Safe Routes to
School program has engaged 1,186 youth in pedestrian and bicycle safety
education.  

Walking School Buses have been held at Harding, Williamson,
Taft and Wilson Elementary Schools with 87 youth participating.
  Students were invited to meet at predetermined locations to walk to
school discussing pedestrian safety issues such as crossing the street,
utilizing crossing guards, and navigating neighborhoods and roads.
 Bicycles provided by the RedZone and City Kids Care were raffled off to
students in the Youngstown City School District.  YNDC provided a helmet
to each of the 800 bicycle winners demonstrating the proper way to wear a
helmet and discussing the importance of wearing one while riding bikes.  Bike
rodeos were held at the Youngstown Parks Summer Day Camp program and YMHA
properties, such as Rockford Village and Brier Hill, as well as community
events such as the Rayen Neighborhood Celebration, the South Side Academy Back
to School Bash, the Taft Back to School Bonanza and the Fall Fest Bike rodeo
educating 295 youth on the importance of wearing a helmet and safe bicycling
behaviors while providing obstacle courses to practice their skills.
 Youth can practice starting and stopping, weaving through cones, and
scanning behind them for traffic or other objects creating barriers for safe
passage.