Neighborhoods

The YNDC Community Toolshed is now allowing the surrounding community to borrow tools for free for the summer. 

There's a wide array of tools available to help tend to yards and gardens, including rakes, shovels, lawnmowers and wheelbarrows. "People are so happy to be able to come, and especially the lawnmowers to be able to cut their own grass and make it look presentable and neat. They love coming back. I have one woman who comes every week and she is honestly so happy with the way her lawn looks," said Toolshed Coordinator Kennedy Romeo. Only YNDC Community Toolshed members can borrow the equipment. Residents have to be at least 18 years old and have a valid driver's license to become a member. To read the full story from WKBN, click here.

Eleven students from Youngstown State University will spend the summer working at area nonprofit organizations as part of the biennial Nonprofit Leadership Summer Honors Internship.

The program is supported by a $65,000 grant from the Raymond John Wean Foundation, Warren. All students have a minimum GPA of 3.0.

“This program aims to provide meaningful, career-related experience which in turn fosters and develops leadership skills to serve in the public and nonprofit employment sectors,” said Laura Dewberry, director of the YSU Center for Nonprofit Leadership, in a statement. “This program also benefits the selected host organizations by building capacity as the students work on projects that help increase the impact made in the organizations’ community work.” To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here.

There’s a lot of cool new stuff happening in this Rust Belt city parked just over the Pennsylvania-Ohio state line. But the best reasons to head west from Pittsburgh are the old traditions that Youngstown has stubbornly hung on to and proudly celebrates.

First, the new: The Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre opens downtown with a “first look” event on Friday. With room for 4,800 people plus bars for adults and eventually a splash zone and playground for kids, it’s set on the Mahoning River where a factory used to manufacture equipment that processed and finished steel. Youngstown no longer needed that.

Steel built this city starting in the early 1900s, and steel’s dramatic collapse in the late 1970s was the death of the place, almost. But Youngstown is tough — steelworker/boxer/gangster tough. Youngstown is coming back. To read the full story from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, click here. 

Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. received a $25,000 infusion for an existing program that helps get individuals into houses, as it prepares to enter into a new endeavor later this week.

Home Savings Bank donated the funds Monday to YNDC’s Community Financial Empowerment Initiative. Since 2014, the program has provided free, on-on-one counseling to Mahoning County residents to help them improve their credit and financial situation, said Tiffany Sokol, YNDC housing director. The objective is for these individuals to eventually become homeowners or improve their rental situation, she said. To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here. 

Home Savings Bank donates $25K to Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation in support of their housing counseling program.

To see the video from The Business Journal, click here. 

The Alliance for Congregational Transformation in Our Neighborhoods (ACTION) will meet at 6 p.m. today at Martin Luther Church, 420 Clearmount Drive, to confront six city landlords.

The agreements will demand the landlords maintain their properties to city code enforcement standards, respond to tenant maintenance request and pay their delinquent taxes to the city. To read the full story at Vindy.com, click here. 

The Downtown Youngstown Farmers Market will open for the season from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the B&O Station on Mahoning Ave.

The market takes place once per month and allows local residents to access fresh, locally grown produce right in their backyard.

The market is an ongoing partnership between the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and Mercy Health–Youngstown. Not only is fresh produce brought to those who may not have access, the market is designed to accept SNAP/EBT payments and with a grant from the Mercy Health Foundation–Mahoning Valley and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, individuals using SNAP can “double-up” their produce purchase up to $30.

The market will take the second Wednesday of each month from June through October. To read the full story at Vindy.com, click here. 

The first farmers market at the B&O Station takes place on Wednesday night from 4 pm until 6 pm.

The event is an ongoing partnership between the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YDNC) and Mercy Health - Youngstown.

The farmers' markets take place once a month and are open to the public. To ready the full story from WFMJ, click here. 

The Downtown Youngstown Farmers Market will open for the season from 4 to 6 p.m. today at the B&O Station, 530 Mahoning Ave.

The market takes place once per month and allows local residents to access fresh, locally grown produce right in their backyard.

The market is an ongoing partnership between the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and Mercy Health-Youngstown. Not only is fresh produce brought to those who may not have access, the market is designed to accept SNAP/EBT payments and with a grant from the Mercy Health Foundation–Mahoning Valley and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, individuals using SNAP can “double-up” their produce purchase up to $30. To read the full story at Vindy.com, click here. 

The popular Farmers Market in downtown Youngstown kicks off the summer season Wednesday.

It will be set up at the B&O Station on Mahoning Avenue from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. every Tuesday through October.

The market offers fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms. To see the full story from WKBN, click here.