Neighborhoods

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

DaVetta has lived in her home for over 30 years. Severe roof leaks were causing damage throughout her home.

By replacing DaVetta’s roof, YNDC eliminated the leaks and prevented further damage. “It is amazing. It was amazing when they called me. I was almost in tears because I didn’t know how I was going to get the roof fixed. Since I live in an older house, there are a lot of things going on in this house and with being on a fixed income I have to take things a little at a time. Getting my roof fixed was something I didn’t see happening for a long time, but they came right out and did the work, and I was so grateful,” DaVetta said.

Monday, November 7, 2022

On Monday, November 7, the Walter and Caroline Watson Foundation awarded a $15,000 grant to YNDC for the purchase of a dump truck.

The truck will replace YNDC's aging dump truck and enhance our clean up and neighborhood stabilization capacity. Many thanks to the Walter and Caroline Watson Foundation!

Thursday, November 10, 2022

1,498 Cubic Yards of Debris Removed

160 New Clients Enrolled in Housing Counseling

100 Owner Occupied Home Repairs

56 Emergency Repairs

15 Vacant units Rehabilitated

REVITALIZE

The messaging that frames our lives and perceptions of ourselves isn’t always necessarily obvious. It can be as simple as the broken playground play sets that never seem to get repaired, the absence of seats in the waiting area at your local pharmacy or the boarded windows marking yet another failed business in your community.

I first became aware of poverty’s symbiotic relationships in my college days, specifically when I learned how businesses could structure consumer interactions to send a message. Fast food restaurants, for example, have more rigid seats than places where you are expected to enjoy a leisurely meal. That’s not an accident.

In communities like ours, that type of coded language permeates more aspects of our day-to-day lives than you might realize. One of the top priorities presented by residents who responded to the 2021 Greater Glenwood Neighborhood Survey was the need to improve housing and property conditions. The reasoning offered by most residents was simple: “It’s important. It says who we are,” one person said. “The nicer each home is, the more value you add to the neighborhood,” another commented.

Sadly, that way of thinking also works in reverse. When the entire neighborhood is in disrepair, what encourages a homeowner to ensure they tend to their property as quickly as possible? When only a particular type of business exists along the Glenwood corridor, business owners assume their business may not succeed in that area and that the area doesn’t attract the kind of consumers they’re interested in courting.

It’s a catch-22: The current conditions push away all the factors that might help improve the current conditions. And the ramifications extend to our mental and physical health. The absence of a gym, a well-maintained walking trail or the prevalence of broken sidewalks can deter exercise. And if you have to drive across town to get to a grocery store with fresh produce, the probability that you’ll make more convenient — and often less healthy — choices for your family increases. Making a difference Here's how Mahoning County's felony drug court faces addiction and works to change lives.

The conditions you live in and what you see in your neighborhood can also impact how you view yourself. It can dictate what you feel is attainable for you. And it can create such disdain for the community you call home that you feel more motivated to leave than to be part of the solution.

Luckily, what we’ve seen happening in Youngstown over the past year proves our reality is quite the opposite. The community is engaged and ready to roll up its sleeves and support initiatives like the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.

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

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation and City of East Liverpool announced a new home repair program available to homeowners in the city.

The home repair program will replace failing roofs at no cost for low-income homeowners that meet certain criteria set forth by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

To be eligible for the program, a person must own and occupy their home in the City of East Liverpool.

To see the full story from WKBN, click here. 

The annual WRTA Holiday Lights program unveiled the 12 local organizations and nonprofits that are being honored for their efforts to help residents in need. Each was highlighted during a press event at the Concept Studio downtown.

As a way of saying thanks, the winners will be recognized with signs on Western Reserve Transit Authority buses, as well as on the WRTA website and through social media promotion.

The 12 winners were selected from a group of 50 nominees, said Dean Harris, executive director of the WRTA.

They are Alta Care Group, Boys & Girls Club of Youngstown, Cadence Care Network, Gateways to Better Living, Glenwood Grounds, Jewish Family and Community Services, NAMI Mahoning Valley, the Bummer Fund, Yellow Brick Place, YoFresh Foods, Youngstown Blue Coats and Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.

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

A new home repair program is offering to replace failing roofs at no cost for low-income homeowners in the city of East Liverpool.

The city is partnering with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation to offer the program.

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

Thursday, November 17, 2022

The City of Youngstown and First Ward Councilman Julius Oliver have awarded  $725,000 in American Rescue Plan funding for phase one of the revitalization of the Glenwood Avenue, High Street, Bernard Street, and Rockview Avenue.

The funding will be used for acquisition of vacant land, land clearing, replacement of sidewalks, landscaping, home repair, and the construction of several new homes. Huge thanks to the City of the Youngstown and Councilman Oliver for supporting this project!

The city’s Board of Control approved spending more than $500,000 in American Rescue Plan funds at its meeting Thursday.

Youngstown CityScape was awarded more than $200,000 total — $187,500 for matching funds for Appalachian Regional Commission funding for the CityScape at Briel’s project and $25,000 for matching funds for an operational funding grant from the Youngstown Foundation.

In 2021, CityScape acquired the former Briel’s Flowers and Greenhouse property, 22-26 S. Belle Vista Ave., with plans to grow its own plants and flowers for its annual Streetscape downtown beautification event and retail sale, as well as to provide job-training opportunities.

Youngstown CityScape will use the money – the city grant combined with $187,500 in ARC funding – renovate the house adjacent to the greenhouse to serve as a community center that will offer services including workforce development for returning citizens, Sharon Letson, CityScape executive director, said.

“There’s going to be a kitchen in there. People are going to be able to have meetings there,” she said.

The other $25,000 grant will provide matching funds for a $50,000 operating grant from the Youngstown Foundation, she said.

Both grants will come out of the 3rd Ward’s ARP allocation. City Council earlier this year approved designating $2 million for projects in each of the city’s seven wards out of the city’s $82.7 million ARP allocation. 

The board also approved entering into a $200,000 professional services agreement with the Western Reserve Port Authority to administer the Mahoning Avenue Redevelopment Project. Under the agreement, which WRPA’s board of directors approved Wednesday, the port authority will provide services including property acquisition, remediation, greening and cleanup along the Mahoning Avenue corridor.  

The agreement builds upon the memorandum of understanding the city already has with the port authority to assist with land acquisition and economic development, according to Nikki Posterli, chief of staff to Mayor Jamael Tito Brown and director of the city’s department of community planning and economic development.

“It gives us the ability to do things that we wish we could have done prior to the pandemic. Now we finally have the means to put some action to what we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” she said.

Additionally, the board approved entering into a professional services agreement with Youngstown Neighborhood Development corp. to administer roof and house repairs for designated low-income homeowners in the 5th Ward. 

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

Thursday, November 17, 2022

On Thursday, November 17, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation was awarded a $400,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati’s Affordable Housing Program for home repair in the City of Youngstown.

Huntington Bank and Farmers National Bank are the member banks supporting YNDC’s application and project. The grant award will be used to replace approximately 45 roofs in the City of Youngstown in 2023.

YNDC is grateful to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, Huntington Bank, Farmers National Bank, City of Youngstown, The Raymond John Wean Foundation, United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, Premier Bank, Alta Head Start, Flying High and other partners for their support and partnership in making this grant award possible.