Neighborhoods

The Union Home Mortgage Foundation, a charitable organization whose mission is to equip families with the tools and resources to achieve economic self-sufficiency, has announced its grant recipients for the second quarter of 2021.

The list includes five recipients across three states and includes a new nonprofit partner. 

Through this cycle, the Foundation is providing support to organizations making critical contributions to communities in the areas of financial literacy, community development and education in Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. The grants total $25,000 and will help these organizations develop permanent solutions to improve the lives of those families and individuals with access to these services. The UHM Foundation is pleased to partner with Soteria for the first time in 2021.

To see the full story from Business Wire, click here.

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

The City of Youngstown has awarded HOME and CDBG funds to YNDC for multiple housing and neighborhood improvement projects

:
HOME47 Strategic Acquisition and Rehabilitation - $570,000
CDBG47 Limited Repair - $490,699
CDBG47 Emergency Repair - $203,418
CDBG47 REVITALIZE - $40,000
CDBG47 2915 Glenwood Avenue - $100,000

Many thanks to the City of Youngstown, Community Planning and Economic Development, City Council, and Mayor Brown for the support and partnership!

The Mahoning County Land Bank turns 10 this year. It’s where the rehabilitation of abandoned properties often begins.

The success of the land bank ban be seen in a recent study done by Youngstown State’s college of business, which shows that for every dollar the land bank spends, it returns anywhere from $1.43 to $1.50 in benefits.

Mahoning County Land Bank Executive Director Debora Flora showed First News an example of what a land bank property might look like Wednesday afternoon.

“So, this is the footprint of the building of where the building was,” Flora said.

It’s the corner of Mahoning and South Portland avenues on Youngstown’s lower west side, where a commercial building once stood. The hope is to eventually have another business occupy the corner, but until then, it can still be used.

To see the full story from WKBN, click here.

Thursday, July 1, 2021

YNDC is proud to announce the publishing of its performance report from the 2nd Quarter of 2021!

 
The performance report highlights the work of YNDC from April to June 2021. An electronic copy can be downloaded below.

Thursday, July 1, 2021

On Thursday, July 1, 2021, the KeyBank Foundation awarded a $10,000 grant to YNDC for emergency repair.

The funds will be used for the emergency home repair program to assist low income homeowners with emergencies such as furnace and plumbing repairs at no cost. Thank you to the KeyBank Foundation!

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

108 Emergency Repairs

780 Cubic Yards of Debris Removed

38 Owner Occupied Home Repairs/Rehabilitation

30 Vacant Houses Boarded

REVITALIZE

Neighbors and motorists passing by the Foster Theatre on Youngstown’s South Side in recent years probably know it mostly for its seedy, run-down image.

But it always hasn’t been that way, and we are hopeful that new plans being laid by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. to reinvent the theater soon will help ring in a new perception not only of the building, but also of that part of the community, triggering new visitors and new growth.

YNDC, a planning and development organization that provides housing and neighborhood stabilization services in Youngstown, last month announced it had purchased the 800-seat theater at 2504 Glenwood Ave. for about $100,000, with plans to close it to pornographic movies and preserve the structure for other uses.

Steven “Shags” Shagrin of Walnut Creek, California, recently relayed a story to Vindicator reporter Ed Runyan about his grandfather’s vision to be the first to build a theater in Fosterville, then the city’s suburbs, in the 1930s.

Predicting the expansion of business into the neighborhood long before shopping centers became popular, Joseph Shagrin Sr. built and operated the Foster from 1938 until 1965.

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

One of the people most excited by news that the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. has purchased the closed Foster Theatre on Glenwood Avenue is Steven “Shags” Shagrin of Walnut Creek, Calif.

Shagrin is a grandson of Joseph Shagrin Sr., the man who built and ran the Foster from Dec. 26, 1938, until his retirement in December 1965.

Steven’s grandfather had the vision to build a movie theater in a neighborhood setting, selecting a site near Idora Park and Mill Creek Park on the city’s South Side, according to his obituary. He had predicted the expansion of business into the neighborhood before shopping centers were popular.

“My grandfather was the very first one to break away from downtown,” Steven noted. “He said, ‘You gotta put it in the neighborhood. That’s where the people are.’ That was brilliant because the bus line ran from Mill Creek Park out to Idora Park. And what was on the way? The Foster Theatre. People could go out to Fosterville, they could watch a movie for a nickel, a dime, maybe a quarter.”

Years later, “everybody moved to the suburbs,” Steven said.

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

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

On Tuesday, July 6, the Senator Maurice and Florence Lipscher Charitable Fund awarded a $5,000 grant to YNDC for the renovation of 2915 Glenwood Avenue.

The funds will be used to renovate the vacant retail plaza into a modern retail facility with multiple units for neighborhood serving businesses. This project is part of ongoing efforts to improve the greater Glenwood Avenue corridor. Thank you to the Senator Maurice and Florence Lipscher Charitable Fund for the support!

The city of Youngstown has been looking for ways to get people to move back into the city and now, if they build new, they won’t have to pay property taxes for 15 years.

It’s called a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) and in some cases could mean a savings of $20,000.

There’s space for new businesses to open and existing ones to expand along Andrews Avenue. Along Sheridan Road, existing homes could also be expanded and new ones could be built along its side streets.

“I think expanding the CRA to all neighborhoods helps the whole city as a whole,” said Community Development Director Beverly Hosey.

CRAs were created by the Ohio legislature.

At its last meeting, Youngstown City Council approved making the whole city a CRA.

To see the full story from WKBN, click here.