Neighborhoods

Work is expected to get underway in spring on the three-sided tower sign at the Western Reserve Transit Authority’s Federal Station downtown, now that a requested variance has been approved. 

The variance for WRTA was among several items that the Youngstown Board of Zoning Appeals and City Planning Commission took up at a special meeting Wednesday.

Among those raising objections were Jack Daugherty, neighborhood stabilization director for Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. Testifying against the Winona Avenue change, he characterized it as “a classic example of spot zoning” with no legitimate public purpose. The property is also out of compliance with the city’s property maintenance code, he said. 

To see the full story from The Business Journal, click here.

The planning commission voted to recommend city council reject zoning changes to allow sober-living facilities in two residential neighborhoods.

The commission voted 6-0 Wednesday with Law Director Jeff Limbian abstaining, saying he did so because “there is a potential for litigation” over the issues, and he’s the city’s head legal counsel.

To see the full story from The Vindicator, click here. 

Mahoning County residents who dream of owning a home are invited to attend a Homeownership Resource Fair on Dec. 10. Participants will have the chance to work with local agencies and banks to make their dream a reality.

The event is led by Community Legal Aid in conjunction with the Mahoning County Financial Stability Partnership.

Vendors will share information on budgeting, credit counseling, home buyers programs, down payment assistance programs, and other resources that prepare people for purchasing a home. Participating agencies include: Apprisen, Youngstown Promise Neighborhood, United Way, the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Catholic Charities, Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority, Community Resource Coalition, Mahoning and Columbiana Training Association, Home Savings Bank, Chemical Bank, PNC Bank and First National Bank.

To see the full story from Community Legal Aid, click here. 

Thursday, December 12, 2019

The Western Reserve Health Foundation awarded a $65,000 grant to increase YNDC’s capacity to organize residents and develop the Youngstown Housing Task Force into an effective, sustainable and resident-driven organizing effort with the power to affect long-term systems and policy change to improve housing quality and health outcomes.

In 2020, work will include: door-to-door canvassing, continued execution of issue campaigns, training resident leaders, and development of a strong membership base for the Youngstown Housing Task. Many thanks to The Western Reserve Health Foundation for the support! The Western Reserve Health Foundation is a supporting organization of the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley. The Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley is operated exclusively for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes which effectively assist and promote the well-being of residents of Mahoning and Trumbull Counties. Information about the Foundation can be found at cfmv.org. 

Monday, December 30, 2019

During the month of December 2019, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) completed the sale of three newly constructed homes to homeowners on Helena Avenue.

The project to construct three new homes broke ground in June 2019 and was made possible through partnerships with the Mahoning County Land Bank, City of Youngstown, PNC Bank, Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, and Handel’s Neighborhood Association. This project is part of an overall planned strategy to revitalize Helena Avenue and the Handels neighborhood that began with the work of the Pleasant Grove Neighborhood Action Plan in October 2014 and is ongoing. Congrats to the new homeowners!

At its December meeting, board members of the Raymond John Wean Foundation awarded $2 million in community investment grants to Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership.

The community development corporations are strategic partners with the foundation due to their strong leadership roles in resident empowerment and sustained community development in Warren and Youngstown.

To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here. 

Monday, December 16, 2019

On Tuesday, December 3, 2019, The Raymond John Wean Foundation awarded YNDC a two year $1.1 million grant for general operations. YNDC will receive $550,000 in 2020. The grant will fund YNDC operations, programmatic activity, and neighborhood organizing.

The Raymond John Wean Foundation is a private foundation that has a vision of empowered residents creating a healthy, vibrant, equitable and economically stable Mahoning Valley, the Foundation leverages a powerful combination of grantmaking, capacity building, convening and partnerships within the strategic priorities of community revitalization, economic opportunity, educational opportunity and public and civic sector leadership.

YNDC is sincerely grateful for the ongoing support and strategic partnership with The Raymond John Wean Foundation. YNDC could not do its work without it. 

Friday. December 20, 2019

Since the completion of the Pleasant Grove Neighborhood Action Plan in October of 2014 aggressive efforts have been underway to stabilize Helena Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood.

The progress on Helena Avenue since the completion of the action plan includes the following:

• Demolition of nine vacant and abandoned properties;
• Renovation of seven vacant units including the renovation of a historic three unit building constructed in 1910;
• Code enforcement compliance achieved at five properties; Home repair assistance provided to multiple homeowners;
• Greening of multiple lots and creation of sidelots for homeowners;
• and Construction of three awesome new homes.

Taken together these results have eliminated abandoned properties, significantly increased investment in housing quality, and improved the quality of life on Helena Avenue. The work on the street and in the neighborhood is ongoing and continues to address challenges and improve the neighborhood. These results are not possible without the work of many partners including: Helena Avenue Residents, Handels Neighborhood Association, Mahoning County Land Bank, City of Youngstown, PNC Bank, Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, National Community Stabilization Trust, Greenheart Companies, and others.

Friday, December 20, 2019

On Thursday, December 19, 2019, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation was awarded a $750,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh’s Affordable Housing Program to rehabilitate twenty owner-occupied homes in the City of Youngstown.

PNC is the member bank supporting YNDC’s application and partnering on the project. Many thanks to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, PNC, the City of Youngstown, and all of our community partners that made this project possible!

Tara Walker-Pollock is like many young professionals who left the area to pursue career dreams in a bigger city. And like many young professionals, she returned with experiences and the belief that there’s opportunity in Youngstown.

“It wasn’t like I had to leave, but I just didn’t see an opportunity for me here at that time,” she says. “But I knew I wanted to come back and contribute to where I was from.”

She graduated from Campbell High School and headed to Kentucky, where she had family, to go to college. Walker-Pollock received a baccalaureate in communications from the University of Louisville. She wanted to pursue a career in journalism and an opportunity for an internship at a magazine took her to New York City. 

Dennis Pollock grew up in Harlem. He used to ride subway trains, finding music on every street corner and a variety of life that’s open 24/7.

Walker-Pollock’s roommate in New York happened to go to high school with Pollock. “There was a connection right from the start,” Pollock says.  

After graduating from high school, he wanted to produce music. While pursuing that dream he had several other jobs, but ended up living with his mother in Maryland.

“That was not the place where I wanted to be in my life,” Pollock says. But job prospects weren’t much better in Maryland when the stock market collapsed, and he wanted to take his relationship with his would-be wife further. So he decided to enlist in the Army. 

“It was one of those decisions I felt would just help out all around. The military would help me and help me be a better man for her,” he says. 

The couple married in September 2001 and Pollock deployed to Afghanistan in October. He was a communications specialists working on radios and computers and spent a year overseas. During that time, his wife moved back with family in Youngstown.

While home she was deciding on what to do with her career and wanted to pursue graduate school online. Her first thought was to study urban planning. “One thing that drew me to the idea of urban planning was that the cost of living in New York City is sky high, and the process of trying to find an affordable, nice place to live was something that was interesting to me,” she says. 

“Seeing gentrification up close and personal is something that just kind of drew me. I wanted to see how can I contribute to that field,” Walker-Pollock says. 

Exploring her options, she learned about Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and she sought an internship. “That experience opened my eyes to the opportunities that were here and to build on what they were doing,” she says. She received her degree in economic and community development. 

To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here.