Neighborhoods

Thursday, May 30, 2019

The 2019 Southside Summer Experience is a series of pop-up events and day camps that provide positive activities throughout the South Side for youth and their families. 

As part of the US DOJ Community Based Crime Reduction project, the events bring together community members, YPD officers, and neighborhood youth in a safe, fun, and engaging environment.  Through hundreds of door-to-door interviews, residents identified a need for more opportunities and activities for youth as one of the most desired improvements for their neighborhood.  One event will be held each week in the CBCR target area, between Market St. and Zedaker.  The first 2019 Southside Summer Experience took place on South Ave. on Monday, May 20 and the next will be held at Horizon Science Academy on Wednesday, June 5.  All events take place from 5pm-7pm and are free to the public.

Event date and locations are listed below:

Wednesday, June 5 at Horizon Science Academy

Monday, June 10 at Homestead Park

Wednesday, June 19 at 2801 Market St.

Thursday, June 27 at the corner of Erie & Judson

Saturday, July 6 on the 300-block of E. Philadelphia

Thursday, July 11 at the corner of Indianola & Gibson

Wednesday, July 17 at the corner of South Ave. & Lucius

Monday, July 22 at the corner of Ravenwood & Southern Blvd.

Wednesday, July 31 at the corner of Brooklyn & Southern Blvd.

Thursday, August 8 at the Boys and Girls Club

Monday, August 19 at the corner of Market & Midlothian

Wednesday, August 28 at Valley Christian (corner of Midlothian & Southern Blvd.)

Thursday, September 5 at the corner of Midlothian & Zedaker

Saturday, September 14 at the corner of Florida & Zedaker

Friday, May 31, 2019

Home Savings Charitable Foundation has awarded YNDC a $25,000 grant for the Community Financial Empowerment Initiative.

This program includes YNDC’s housing counseling and serves as the foundation for the YNDC’s comprehensive community development model aimed at increasing economic opportunity and quality of life for traditionally underserved city residents, including increased financial stability, quality affordable housing, and asset building.

As a HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Agency, YNDC offers pre- and post-purchase one-on-one counseling services and online education, to assist low- to moderate-income city residents identify and overcome barriers to homeownership, including inadequate savings, income, credit history, and understanding of the home buying process and prepare them for future homeownership, and to provide existing low- to moderate-income homeowners with resources to maximize their limited incomes and minimize repair costs so that they can avoid foreclosure and improve their living conditions.

Many thanks to the Home Savings Charitable Foundation for their support of this critical free service! REVITALIZE. 

Monday, June 3, 2019

The Youngstown Farmers Market at the B&O Station will take place monthly, June through October, on the second Wednesday of each month from 4pm-6pm. 

The B&O Station is located at 530 Mahoning Avenue.  The market features fresh produce grown by local farmers and in June there will be a variety of potted plants and herbs for sale.  The market also offers Produce Perks, which doubles the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables up to $30 per market for customers shopping with their EBT benefits.  The market accepts cash, credit cards, SNAP/EBT, WIC Farmers Market Nutrition vouchers, Senior Farmers Market Nutrition vouchers, and the Mercy Health Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program vouchers.  Market dates are June 12, July 10, August 14, September 11, and October 9.

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.