Neighborhoods

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Natasha and her family have lived in their home for 6 years.

Severe roof leaks were causing damage throughout their home. By replacing Natasha’s roof, YNDC eliminated the leaks and prevented further damage to their home. “It made a big difference. My house is warmer now. We don’t have any leaking in the roof or water leaks around the house going into the basement anymore. It impacts me a lot because we don’t have a lot of income and this program helped us a lot. I told his mother about it and she got into it too, because I know with her also being low income and everything going on it’s hard for people and for us to pay for everything,” Natasha said.

Monday, May 2, 2022

The Glenwood Fresh Market (Market) completed its first full month of operation.

Since the market opened it has enrolled 1,348 individuals as members, 646 households and 1,191 individuals have been served, and $25,829.67 in produce (totaling more than 30,000 pounds) has been provided. 
YNDC has partnered with Vantage Aging, an organization that helps adults 55+ receive job skills training and re-enter the workforce to place a participant at the Market to assist with day-to-day operations. The Market continues to survey members and has begun to adjust produce offerings based on member preferences and has added several new items over the past month in response to requests, including ginger, green tomatoes, and spinach. Work is also underway to begin health screenings, cooking demonstrations, and nutrition education activities at the Market in partnership with Mercy Health.
HUGE thank you to the market's primary supporters including: USDA, Mercy Health Foundation - Mahoning Valley, and The Healthpath Foundation of Ohio!

Monday, May 2, 2022

Effective May 2, 2022, YNDC has provided all items in the Community Toolshed to be integrated into Habitat for Humanity of Mahoning Valley's Tool Library.

Residents will now be able to check out these tools and many other items from Habitat's Tool Library. Habitat for Humanity Mahoning Valley plans to open the Tool Library in Summer 2022. For more information please call Habitat for Humanity Mahoning Valley at 330.743.7244. 

My late grandparents claimed the greater Glenwood neighborhood as their home in 1975.

Like myself and my family, the most beautiful thing about the greater Glenwood neighborhood is that it belongs to those of us who call it home. And I don’t just mean that figuratively: A recent survey conducted by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation found that 79% of those who live in my neighborhood are homeowners. Strengthening that feeling of ownership is the fact that many of the people who live in these neighborhoods off Glenwood Avenue have been here all of their lives.

For this reason, the neighborhood has been able to keep a sense of community, even in the roughest of times economically. Because, like many predominantly Black neighborhoods across the country, we’ve seen some rough times. Economic hardships have left a blight of abandoned buildings, leading to a rise in crime and a decline in hyper-local resources. But when I say the Glenwood corridor belongs to its residents, I’m speaking beyond the names on property deeds, to the sense of accountability and responsibility myself and my neighbors feel towards each other and our community at-large.

To see the full story from Mahoning Matters, click here.

East Liverpool housing inspectors are finding themselves facing dire housing conditions after a slowdown during the pandemic prevented them from being able to get inside homes to inspect, said housing inspector Kayla Crowl.

“We’ve really gotten to the worst of the worst when it comes to what we are handling,” Crowl said at the city health district’s April 20 board meeting. “These aren’t [where] they have garbage outside their house. It’s never that simple anymore. It’s different than any of us have seen and I’ve been here since 2018. I know that’s not a long time but it’s long enough to see this is abnormal. We are reaching some territory here that hasn’t ever been seen before.”

During the pandemic, inspectors were not able to get into these homes which delayed the inspection process, said health commissioner Carol Cowan. “Everything slowed down during COVID.”

“We weren’t going to pressure people during that,” Crowl said. “That wasn’t even an option. So we are finally able to.”

Housing inspector Amy Toot said that often, structural safety and sanitary issues are so severe that condemnation is immediately necessary. “We are getting into homes that have never had eyes on them before,” Toot said. “Homes that have had issues for a very long time and these issues can’t be seen from the exterior of the home.”

Crowl said calls seem to be more severe than ever on a consistent basis. “This is an every call scenario now,” Crowl said. “We’re getting more and more like this.”

Eighteen homes have been condemned in the past two months, Toot said. “We had nine condemned in March, nine in April, four search warrants in the last 30 days just to get into homes that are like that that are actually occupied by people living with or without water, typically without,” Toot said. “The last three search warrants resulted in condemning the home and removing the people. It’s just becoming very very everyday.”

To see the full story from Morning Journal, click here.

The Appalachian Ohio State of the Region Conference is set to celebrate its tenth year on May 10 in Ohio University’s Baker Center Ballroom.

The annual event brings together public officials, economic development experts, and business and organizational leaders to foster collaboration and share innovation in Appalachian Ohio.

OHIO’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service Economic Development Administration University Center plans and sponsors the annual event in coordination with many regional partners. This year’s theme, Models for Revitalization, will explore topics important to the progress and growth of the region, while highlighting collaboration models, creating vibrant communities, broadband, affordable housing, and tourism in rural Ohio.

“This is a special year for this conference as we celebrate a decade of good work together as an Appalachian Ohio community,” said Jason Jolley, Associate Dean for Public Strategy and Innovation at the Voinovich School. “We’re especially energized to be back together for an in-person event this year and believe our theme built around revitalization will serve as a reminder that our collective energy and innovation is vital and important to the future of a thriving and vibrant Ohio.”

To see the full story from Ohio University, click here.

Good soil and strong roots are needed for most any plant to grow and remain healthy.

Applying that concept to help people have healthier skin and hair is the goal of Deep Roots Self Care, a new business started by Carmella Williams. “Even though we have access to great products people are saying, ‘My hair is still dry,’ “ says Williams. “It’s not that we don’t have access, it’s really about what we’re missing in our diet.” 

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

Phil Kidd returns to Youngstown to offer the keynote address at this year's annual meeting of the Youngstown Press Club.

Kidd, special projects manager for Northwest Neighborhoods Community Development Corp., is the former director of events and special projects for the city of Youngstown.

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

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

588 Cubic Yards of Debris Removed

40 New Clients Enrolled in Housing Counseling

29 Emergency Repairs

28 Vacant Houses Boarded

6 Vacant Units Rehabilitated

REVITALIZE

The city of Youngstown has a plan in place that could ultimately bring down all of the worst vacant homes in the city.

The city hopes being a part of the demolition business will be a thing of the past if they can tear down up to 750 of the worst homes in two years or less. 

The city already has $8-million dollars in ARP funds in their back pocket for this project, but they're waiting to get their hands on a statewide $12-million residential brownfield grant that they've applied for.

The city said this grant would get the job done quicker and ARP funds could go elsewhere.

"If we get the brownfield grant, part of the demolition process gets taken over by the Land Bank," Mike Durkin, Youngstown Code Enforcement and Blite Remediation Superintendent said, "That's the difference."

Because the Mahoning County Land Bank would take care of the physical demolition, the city would be able to focus resources on identifying and prepping vacant homes for demolition. 

"We can see the finish line," Deb Flora Executive Director of Mahoning County Land Bank said, "and that is a really strong statement to make, considering that not that long ago, we had more than 4,000 vacant, abandoned badly beat up structures in the city of Youngstown.

To see the full story from WFMJ, click here.