Neighborhoods

Thursday, March 9, 2023. 

On Wednesday, February 1, Farmers National Bank awarded YNDC with a $7,500 grant to support YNDC’s housing programs. Thank you to Farmers National Bank for their ongoing support!

A strong, longstanding commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is central to KeyBank's culture and purpose of helping the communities it serves thrive.

Now, KeyBank is expanding and growing its efforts even further outside of its organization across the country.Recently, KeyBank launched a partnership with Resilia, a social enterprise that supports nonprofits to empower and support Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, & people of color led and serving grassroots nonprofits organizations throughout the United States. The collaboration provides capacity building for 25 non-profit organizations, including board development, identifying and organizing fundraising plans, and growing and building non-profit organization.

"At KeyBank, our purpose is to help our clients and communities thrive. The best example of a thriving community is one in which its nonprofit network has strong leadership, direction and operations, we are pleased to provide our nonprofit partners with expert capacity-building coaching, access to templates, and on-demand courses through Resilia's capacity-building offerings," said Shanelle Smith Whigham, Senior Vice President and Director, KeyBank Community Relations and Corporate Initiatives.

For the inaugural 12-month pilot program, KeyBank and Resilia chose 25 nonprofits across the United States to help with organization infrastructure, including coaching for a full year, access to curriculum, budgeting assistance, board management, fundraising events, systems and operations, people operations, program management, storytelling and marketing, legal and compliance, and strategic planning.

La Casa De Amistad (South Bend, IN)

Martin Dale Brightwood CDC (Indianapolis, IN)

LISC Toledo (Toledo, OH)

Stark Education Partnership (Canton, OH)

The Well Community Development Corporation (Akron, OH)

Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (Youngstown, OH)

To read the full story from YahooLife, click here.

A strong, longstanding commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is central to KeyBank's culture and purpose of helping the communities it serves thrive.

Now, KeyBank is expanding and growing its efforts even further outside of its organization across the country.​

Recently, KeyBank launched a partnership with Resilia, a social enterprise that supports nonprofits to empower and support Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, & people of color led and serving grassroots nonprofits organizations throughout the United States. The collaboration provides capacity building for 25 non-profit organizations, including board development, identifying and organizing fundraising plans, and growing and building non-profit organization.

"At KeyBank, our purpose is to help our clients and communities thrive. The best example of a thriving community is one in which its nonprofit network has strong leadership, direction and operations, we are pleased to provide our nonprofit partners with expert capacity-building coaching, access to templates, and on-demand courses through Resilia's capacity-building offerings," said ​Shanelle Smith Whigham, Senior Vice President and Director, KeyBank Community Relations and Corporate Initiatives.

For the inaugural 12-month pilot program, KeyBank and Resilia chose 25 nonprofits across the United States to help with organization infrastructure, including coaching for a full year, access to curriculum, budgeting assistance, board management, fundraising events, systems and operations, people operations, program management, storytelling and marketing, legal and compliance, and strategic planning.

La Casa De Amistad (South Bend, IN)

Martin Dale Brightwood CDC (Indianapolis, IN)

LISC Toledo (Toledo, OH)

Stark Education Partnership (Canton, OH)

The Well Community Development Corporation (Akron, OH)

Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (Youngstown, OH)

To read the full story from AccessWire, click here. 

Wednesday, March 22, 2023.

Joseph Bowers has opened 6 restaurants for other people and knew it was time to strike out on his own.

With 30 years of restaurant experience, an immense love for good food, and his family recipes passed down from generation to generation, he officially opened his new Glenwood Avenue restaurant, Savannah Joe’s, on March 28, 2023. The restaurant specializes in authentic, southern-style, low country cuisine.
 
The official grand opening was Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Regular business hours are Wednesday-Saturday 11am-8pm, and Sunday 12pm-6pm.
 
On the menu, you will find a variety of “food for your soul.” The appetizer menu features Fried Green Tomatoes, Low Country Deviled Crab, and Smoky Pulled Pork Nachos. Numerous fresh Salads, Sandwiches, and Burgers expand the extensive entrée menu which includes Cajun Chicken, Fried Catfish, Shrimp and Grits, Smothered Pork Chops, and Ribs. Macaroni and Cheese, Candied Yams, Collard Greens, Okra and Tomatoes, Fried Corn, and Black-eyed Peas are just some of the side dishes on the menu. The dessert menu includes Sweet Potato and Pecan Pie, Red Velvet Cake, Pound Cake, and Peach Cobbler. Please visit https://www.savannahjoes.com/ to view the complete menu.

“I put my heart, soul, and spirit into the preparation of all our signature dishes. The meals that I prepare are made with the finest ingredients and served with care.”

Monday, March 27, 2023. 

On March 1, YNDC was awarded a $1.11 Million Grant Award from the Ohio Department of Development Housing Assistance Grant Program.

The grant will provide emergency home repairs and handicapped accessibility modifications to homeowners who are at or below 50% of Area Median Income in Mahoning County.

The funds will be used to complete 373 units. Huge thanks to the Ohio Department of Development for the major support of our home repair efforts!

In 2017, the healthcare company made plans to turn the 18,000-square-foot building into a full-service community clinic. 

Now, with nothing still up and running, some in the area are asking for answers. Almost six years after announcing a healthcare clinic will be coming to Youngstown’s south side neighborhood, One Health Ohio still isn’t open. “Things take time but they don’t take five, six, seven years. That’s not how long they take,” Ian Beniston with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation said. 

To read the full story from WFMJ, click here. 

The City of Youngstown is going to use some of its American Rescue Plan funding to help up a portion of the South Side. 

City leaders will be working with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation to create what’s being called a “Quality of Life Ambassador” position within the YNDC. That person will then assist city Code Enforcement officials and inspectors in locating and then keeping track of problems in the city’s seventh ward.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here. 

There’s a debate taking place in Youngstown about the future of one of the South Side’s newest buildings. 

The company that owns it has plans to redevelop it, but others are saying the plans are not moving quickly enough.

The Bottom Dollar building on Glenwood Avenue has been vacant since the grocery store closed eight years ago. Five years ago, One Health Ohio bought the building promising to build a clinic there. But since then, nothing has been done, and people interested in renovating and upgrading the Glenwood Avenue corridor are frustrated.

Youngstown councilwoman Anita Davis and Ian Beniston, executive director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, stood outside the vacant Bottom Dollar building on Glenwood Avenue frustrated that it’s still empty.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here. 

A new restaurant is opening on Youngstown’s South Side. 

Savannah Joe’s is celebrating its soft opening Friday and Saturday. It’s open today from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

It’s a new soul food restaurant on Glenwood Avenue.The owner has been in the industry for over 30 years and says it’s a dream come true to open his own restaurant.

“It’s gonna be great food. We put our heart and soul into everything that we cook, I love the food, I love the culture, and I think that’s what we’re going to present here,” said Joseph Bowers, owner of Savannah Joe’s.

Bowers is from Savannah Georgia but has been living in the Youngstown area for over a decade.He says he’s had a passion for cooking since he was little watching his grandma and mom in the kitchen. It’s where he got the inspiration for his restaurant.

“It’s going to be Southern cuisine, soul food, Low Country cuisine. It’s a region in Savannah, around the Charleston, South Carolina area to Savannah, Georgia is called the Low Country of the United States, the Gullah Geechee culture. That type of food… fish and grits, shrimp and grits,” Bowers said.Bowers lives near the Glenwood Corridor area. He says he wanted to keep his restaurant local so he can serve the residents in his neighborhood as well as those who come from other cities to eat at his place.

After Saturday, the restaurant will open back up for a grand opening Tuesday with a ribbon cutting at 11:30 a.m. Then, it will be open from Tuesdays – Thursdays, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. and Sundays, 12 – 6 p.m.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here. 

New Southern-style soul food restaurant opens in Youngstown. 

To watch the full video from WFMJ, click here.