Neighborhoods

Friday, December 21, 2018

Dan Wakefield and Lauren Handwork of Ursuline Ministries sat down with us to talk about their organization’s mission and how they are using their space at the Glenwood Business Center.

Ursuline Ministries comprises the Ursuline Center, the Beatitude House, and the more recent Housing Program started in 2015. They use their space at the Glenwood Business Center to stockpile furnishing donations for their Housing Program, which leases houses and apartments to previously homeless people enrolled in the Ursuline Program. Dan said they had outgrown their old space due to a high volume of donations and started looking for another warehouse earlier this year. They found out about the space from YNDC’s eNewsletter and from having worked with YNDC in the past to lease rehabilitated homes to their tenants. They say the new space has opened up their old community space for other programming and has allowed them to expand their donations. Dan said the location is perfect for them, being close to many of their residential rental properties. We’d like to thank Dan and Lauren for taking the time to talk to us and for being great tenants and partners in revitalization!

Friday, December 21, 2018

Monica and Domingo Vega are YNDC rental residents on Bonnie Brae Avenue in the Idora Neighborhood.

They moved into their home in May 2017 with their three children and have made great relationships with neighbors and the community since. Monica and Domingo met while working midnights together at Walmart. Monica now works as a freelance painter and Domingo works as a security guard. Monica said the neighbors watch out for each other on Bonnie Brae and that they feel blessed to be able to have a home after Domingo lost his previous job. Monica grew up in Columbiana County and moved to Youngstown with her family as a young girl. Domingo grew up in Chicago and spent ten years in Puerto Rico before relocating to Youngstown in 2006. They are active at Victory Christian Center where their oldest son is a youth pastor, Domingo plays guitar, and Monica serves in the nursery. Both said they appreciate the alertness and friendly attitude of YNDC when it comes to property maintenance and other rental issues. “It’s hard finding such a responsive landlord sometimes,” said Monica. We’d like to thank Monica and Domingo for taking the time to talk to us and for being such great tenants and Idora neighbors!  

Friday, December 21, 2018

Donald
Robinson grew up in his residence at 493 West Princeton Avenue and has lived
there his entire life.

His parents moved to Youngstown from Morgantown, West
Virginia and left Donald the house when they passed away. After a house fire in
2015, Donald started applying for assistance with addressing code violations on
the home. He heard about YNDC from friends and applied for the Limited Repair
program. Donald’s project was completed in August 2018. The exterior of the home was painted, electrical was
updated, and new windows were installed, among other repairs. He said both he
and his sister Rhoda V. Nelson are thrilled to see their old family home
brought back to life. “It’s had such a tremendous positive impact on my life,”
he said. “I get compliments on the house all the time now.” He said the process
was very easy and the workers were respectful of his work schedule. Donald
hopes to live in the home with his cat, Red Midnight Robinson, for many years
to come. We’d like to thank Donald for taking the time to talk to us and
sharing his story.   

There was no shortage of prominent personalities and trends featured on the front pages of The Vindicator this year.

Arno Hill, the mayor of Lordstown, was out front in his support of a HomeGoods warehouse in his village that would create hundreds of jobs and bring in much-needed revenues.

The health of Youngstown Bishop George V. Murry took center stage as he battled leukemia, and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, was at the forefront of several issues, including his political battles with President Donald Trump.

Here are the top people and trends for this year as selected by Vindicator staff and editors.

1 - Certainly one of the most far-reaching stories of the year, and one of the most heartbreaking, is the story of Amer “Al” Adi Othman.

The former owner of the Downtown Circle Market and Circle Hookah lounge, Adi, a native of Jordan, became a local symbol for the crackdown on undocumented immigrants by the Trump-empowered Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Adi’s story was a roller coaster, particularly for his family, who watched him face deportation, celebrate a potential reprieve and then disappear when ICE agents apprehended him during what was supposed to be a check-in meeting.

The fight to keep Adi in Youngstown included politicians from both parties and a sizable show of support from the public, but the outcry was not enough to stave off the deportation.

Adi was deported to Amman, Jordan, on Jan. 29 after a two-week hunger strike. The family sold its downtown businesses in September, and Othman’s wife, Fidaa Musleh, moved to Jordan to be with her husband.

2 - Dave Green, United Auto Workers Local 1112 president, and Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, often found their names in the headlines. GM and its Lordstown assembly plant were often the subject of bad news this year. In June, Lordstown’s second shift was eliminated, and on Nov. 26, GM announced it would idle five North American plants, including the plant at Lordstown.

Green, newly elected to his position as president of the union local, was thrust into the spotlight as the 1,500 remaining workers at the plant – and their families, and the thousands of workers whose jobs are dependent upon the plant – looked to him for guidance in the face of the doomsday they’d dreaded for decades. To read the full story from the Vindicator, click here. 

One story we followed extensively in 2018 was the effort to stop what was being described as "predatory land contracts" in the city of Youngstown.

In the contracts, out-of-town companies would buy abandoned homes and resell them for much more than they're worth.

On Wednesday, Youngstown City Council will vote to regulate the contracts, but two groups say the law doesn't go far enough and wants council to vote no.

One house on Youngstown's E. Lucius Avenue was -- until it was torn down -- used by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) to show how Vision Property Management of South Carolina would lure people into what YNDC officials call predatory land contracts.

At one point, there was a sign offering the house for $12,000.

But selling a house like that one, and allowing someone to live in it, would change under the proposed new law in Youngstown.

"If someone wants to enter into a land contract they have to actually get a home inspection on that property that shows it's in compliance with city code, that it's habitable before they can put somebody into the house," said Jack Daugherty, YNDC Neighborhood Stabilization director. To read the full story from WKBN, click here.

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

On Thursday, December 27, the Schwebel Family Foundation awarded YNDC with a $1,000 grant.

Many thanks to the Schwebel Family Foundation for their support of YNDC! REVITALIZE.

Wednesday, January 2, 2018

On Thursday, December 27, 2018, the Pollock Personal Foundation awarded YNDC with a $10,000 grant for Corridor Improvement Corps.

The Corridor Improvement Corps is a comprehensive revitalization strategy aimed at improving public health, safety, and quality of life for residents by leveraging AmeriCorps members and community volunteers to complete physical improvements to Youngstown’s neighborhood corridors. The improvements will include 1) cleaning up and painting blighted walls and facades of vacant buildings, 2) cleaning up and clearing overgrowth from vacant lots littered with debris, 3) planting hearty urban trees, 4) installing split rail fencing along vacant lots, 5) replacing broken and unsafe sidewalks, 6) installing covered benches at public spaces and bus stops, and 7) improving corridor lighting and signage around public spaces and corridor businesses. When applied systematically, these improvements will restore a basic sense of order to Youngstown’s corridors and will result in sustainable improvements to the safety and quality of life for Youngstown’s residents. Many thanks to the Pollock Personal Foundation for the support! REVITALIZE.

Wednesday, January 2, 2018

On Friday, December 28, 2018, the Home Depot Austintown store donated 82 new counter tops to YNDC for use in housing projects.

The counters will be used in YNDC's ongoing housing rehabilitation work. Many thanks to the Austintown Home Depot! REVITALIZE.

According to Councilwoman Basia Adamczak, Youngstown City Council decided Wednesday night to send the proposal to regulate predatory land contracts back to the Community Planning and Economic Development Committee.

She says council wants to look further into what YNDC and ACTION want added to it.

The current proposal would require any property sold under a "land installment contract" to have a home inspection and title search.

What YNDC and ACTION officials are demanding to be added is an appraisal and a minimum $5,000 penalty paid by the company to the victims of predatory contracts.

"It's unfortunate because people do fall victim to predatory lending so it's definitely an issue that we do have here in Youngstown that we do need to solve. But at the same time, there's those landlords that are good and diligent landlords that we need to make sure are protected as well. So that's why we need to come back together and have conversation," Adamczak said. To read the full story from WKBN, click here.

City council postponed a vote Wednesday on legislation to help stop certain predatory lending contracts because local activists who back the policy change want to include tougher language.

Specifically, Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods [ACTION] and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. want the proposal to require appraisals for every land-installment contract and a minimum $5,000 fee paid by companies to victims of predatory contracts, said Councilman Julius Oliver, D-1st, who is co-sponsoring the legislation.

Council, he said, is in agreement that those two provisions will be added.

“We are on board with it and we want to protect the citizens as much as possible,” Oliver said. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.