Neighborhoods

In 2021, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) acquired the property that formerly housed the Foster Theatre for a renovation project. Now, that project is receiving some more support. According to YNDC Executive Director, Ian Beniston, Youngstown Sixth Ward Councilwoman, Anita Davis allocated $100,000 in ARP funds for the Foster Theatre redevelopment project.

To read the full story from WFMJ, click here. 

Monday, September 18, 2023. 

On Saturday, September 16, AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) team Oak 4 arrived in Youngstown to complete neighborhood improvement projects and tree planting with YNDC and multiple partners.

The team is composed of Team Leader Naomi Brown, Isaac Kraemer, Nick Savarese, Christopher Hites, Alex Thomas Tutt, Lizzy Davis, and Christian Wilson. The team will be cleaning up and securing vacant property, planting trees, and completing other neighborhood improvement projects.
 

A watch party for an advance screening of an episode of the PBS Western Reserve miniseries “City Centric” that focuses on Youngstown leaders will take place at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Penguin City Brewing, downtown. The evening will begin with a happy hour from 5 to 6:30 p.m. To reserve a spot, click HERE.

Each episode of “City Centric” focuses on six people who live in a city in the station’s viewership area: Akron, Canton, Alliance, Kent, Youngstown and Sharon, Pa. Those who were chosen “reflect the fabric of their community,” according to the station. They fall into these categories: entrepreneur, revitalizer, entertainer, humanitarian, politician and future leader. Each episode is 30 minutes long.

The Youngstown episode focuses on Jackie Popovec, lead singer of The Vindys; Samantha Turner, 3rd Ward city councilwoman; Patricia Stokes, neighborhood steward for Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation; Sharon Letson, Youngstown CityScape executive director; Aspasia Lyras-Bernacki, co-owner of Penguin City Brewing Co.; and Derrick McDowell, founder of Youngstown Flea.

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

Columbiana County commissioners last week accepted the 2024 estimated certificate of resources, with Commissioner Mike Halleck saying they’ll need to cut about $2.6 million from department requests before approving next year’s general fund appropriations. “Anybody that wants to come in and plead their case is more than welcome,” he said, with plans to likely approve next year’s spending limits by the first part of December. Commissioners will look at past spending and make sure appropriations are in line with what’s available. “We address needs, not wants,” Halleck said. The total certificate of resources approved by the county Budget Commission was more than $65 million, which includes the more than $23 million for the general fund, plus special revenue funds, capital projects, debt service, internal services, agency and enterprise funds.

In other business, Halleck said work was beginning this week on the beautification of the parking lot where the county Board of Elections building used to stand off of Park Avenue. There will be plantings and the area will be cleaned up. Work started Monday. The county Municipal Court parking lot will be redone also in the coming weeks. Commissioners selected the Community Action Agency of Columbiana County as the administrative agency for the Lead Safe Ohio Program funded through an $897,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Development. The county had applied for the funds last month and sent out a request for qualifications, receiving RFQs from two different entities, CAA and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.

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

Carol Brenner knew she wanted to stay active after retirement, so she started volunteering at the Glenwood Fresh Market, an organization that helps people with limited financial means gain access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Brenner, 66, remembers being in difficult circumstances. The Struthers High School graduate got married at age 19, had three daughters, and then was divorced, which changed her lifestyle “I wasn’t working and had three little ones, and I couldn’t buy fresh produce. If apples were on sale, we got apples,” she said.

She attended Youngstown State University before getting married. Despite being a single mother, she returned and completed her social work degree in 1991. She always was interested in medical social work, so she interned at Northside Hospital and stayed there until 1997. After that, she worked at Ohio Youth Advocate Program, the Area Agency on Aging (now Direction Home of Eastern Ohio), Turning Point Counseling Services (now Coleman Professional Services), Hospice of the Valley, and finally Catholic Charities, from where she retired last August.

Brenner said she she found her calling at the Glenwood Fresh Market. “When I went to college I took social work courses, and it was for me. It seemed like in our family I was the social worker. Even at the grocery store, I was that person people could talk to. My husband says, ‘Turn the neon sign off,'” she said. She was happy with her profession, but she felt she had enough. “You know when it’s time to go,” Brenner said.

She wanted to remain involved in the community, at least after recovering from subsequent knee surgery. When Jim, her husband since 2012, retired from his job, she told him about the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, and he became a participant. For Carol, it was a logical step to do the same. RSVP, part of AmeriCorps Seniors, matches people over 55 with volunteer opportunities that are consistent with their abilities and interests. Members can participate as much or as little as they want. RSVP seeks to enhance the lives of the volunteers while helping the community by using their talents. Anyone seeking more information can contact Diana Palardy at 330-480-0352 ext. 1 or dpalardy@fcsserves.org.

Brenner added that RSVP honors the volunteers at appreciation dinners and outings such as Scrappers games. Palardy interviewed Brenner to determine an appropriate placement. At first when Palardy suggested a food market, Brenner wasn’t sure she was interested. Now, she loves it and feels it was the exact fit.

The Glenwood Fresh Market was started by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation in response to concerns about the area being a “food desert.” 

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

Monday, September 25, 2023. 

Charnitta is a YNDC Housing Counseling client and first-time home buyer who highly recommends this FREE program. She chose to live in Youngstown because of the low cost of living in the area and how close it is to everything. The spacious interiors, red brick, and hardwood floors drew her to her home.  She loves her new neighborhood. “There’s always something going on,” she said. She was so happy to find this home in her price range and in her son’s school district so he didn’t have to change schools. Charnitta was set up for success, and she encourages anyone who dreams of owning their own home, especially those who are first-time home buyers, to enroll.

Congratulations Charnitta! Thank you for your investment in Youngstown’s neighborhoods and best wishes in your new home!

YNDC's FREE HUD-Approved Housing Counseling program assists clients with identifying and resolving barriers to obtain and sustain quality affordable housing in confidential one-on-one counseling sessions over the phone. Please call YNDC at 330.480.0423 for more information or to enroll in the program.
 

Of all the cities and townships in Mahoning County, it turns out the ones with the oldest houses have seen the largest percentage of increases in home valuations. How did that happen, and is that good or bad? Earlier today, we talked with several people about the increases in Youngstown, Struthers and Campbell. The 400 block of Geneva Avenue in Struthers — between Youngstown-Poland Road and 5th Street — is a neighborhood that was built in the 1960s. Six years ago, houses there sold for between $70,000 and $80,000. “Those same houses are reselling for $130,000 [and] $140,000,” said Jenna Koontz, a realtor for Howard Hanna.

Koontz grew up, still lives and now sells houses in Struthers where, for the last couple of years, she says buyers have been frustrated. “They’re frustrated by what the houses are going for. Like, can I even afford this anymore? There were 20 offers on this house. Well, it’s kind of caught up to us now,” Koontz said. Numbers released last week by Auditor Ralph Meacham show that Youngstown, at 57%, had the highest percentage increase in home values of any community in Mahoning County. Second was Struthers at 51% and Campbell was third at 50%. “In some of those communities, you know quite well, you could buy a house, a few years ago, $25,000 to $30,000,” Meacham said.

In Youngstown, some of those houses now sell for $45,000. “The difference in absolute dollars is just $15,000 in that case, but as a percentage increase, it gets to be 50% pretty fast,” Meacham said.

“We want to see values go up,” said Ian Beniston, who runs the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here. 

We’ve been sharing different stories on housing in the Valley for the past several weeks. WKBN Community Affairs Director Dee Crawford goes in-depth with one organization looking to help people improve their homes.

Ian Beniston is the executive director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation. He said there is a lot going on in the organization with housing opportunities.

To watch the interview or read the full story from WKBN, click here. 

It took years, but 56-year-old Fern Shaw is finally a homeowner. It’s something she said she never thought would happen, with the costs associated with homeownership and the credit scores required for a bank loan. When her children got older, she decided to start looking for something outside of the rental market. “I have rented for a very, very long time. I have three children. My husband and I always wanted to own a house but was never able to afford it,” she said. But due to a program through the Trumbull County Land Bank and a chance encounter at a local restaurant, her dreams have come true.

The Trumbull County Land Bank has an “Improved Property Program” that gives homeowners and investors an opportunity to purchase vacant properties at a low price and then own them after renovations. Shaw didn’t know about the program until someone at a restaurant struck up a conversation with her husband about it. “Looking into it, we thought that maybe this is possible that we can own our own home,” she said. Shaw, who is originally from Braceville, now owns the home on Orlo Street in Warren. It wasn’t easy, but Shaw said it was affordable. The couple acquired the house from the Land Bank in 2019 for around $5,000 and began renovations the next year. It was challenging to find workers during the COVID-19 pandemic so Shaw and her husband did a lot of the work themselves.

There are requirements to purchase a home through the Land Bank. Certain renovation requirements must be met by a certain time period, and only after those are met is the deed signed over to the new owner. The Trumbull County Land Bank details the procedure on its website. Residential properties listed on the Land Bank’s website range from $10,000 to $89,900. Shaw and her husband ended up spending about $40,000 to $50,000 on renovations, but Shaw said it was still more affordable than buying a home upfront, and the repairs weren’t made all at once. Shaw said after making the required renovations, she and her husband are now taking their time to make little updates to make their new house feel more like home. “Just knowing that you don’t have that mortgage, it just really helped a lot, so now it’s just like totally affordable and the little money that you do make, you can use it to fix up the house,” she said. Now, she said she’s trying to get the word out about the program so that others who may believe home ownership is out of reach know that it’s an option. “So anybody out there that has hopes of ever owning a house and don’t know how they’re going to do it, try Land Bank. You will be pleased and amazed and feel really, really blessed. I mean, just when you think you’re giving up. It just happened for me, and I’m just so happy. So happy. Words can’t express how happy I am,” she said. “I can just sleep better at night. I can plan for the future. I can spend more time with my grandchildren and my children. I can just do more,” she added.

Such a program isn’t just available in Trumbull County. Keondre Johnson, 30, of Youngstown, also worked through the Mahoning County Land Bank to renovate a home on E. Lucius Avenue. Applications for the Mahoning County Land Bank’s Deed-in-Escrow program are first open for those looking for single-family homes. After that, investors like Johnson are given the option to purchase. Johnson’s family lives in the area, and he owns a few local rental properties. He said his goal is to offer some more affordable and quality rental options in the area, where he has seen rent climb as high as $1,300 to $1,400 a month. He plans to list the house for around $850 a month. “My goal is to kind of be able to build up the area because I grew up in this area,” he said. “I don’t want to see people having to move outside of where they’re from to get nicer quality housing.” Johnson said he purchased the house for $15,000 and estimates he put about $27,000 in renovations. Through the program, he said the Land Bank provides an inspector so that he knows the estimated renovation costs upfront. “For this area, houses are going, the median is like $65,000, so they still give you enough room to you know, step into a situation where you’d have equity,” he said.

Organizations like the Columbiana County Land Bank and Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation also offer properties for sale, often below traditional prices in the market, after making their own renovations.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here. 

Penguin City Brewing Company and Youngstown Cityscape recently co-hosted a public viewing party of the episode celebrating their businesses and the city they serve. They were featured as part of a six-episode series on PBS Western Reserve called City Centric which aired Sept. 1. Tonight, the episode celebrating the city of Youngstown premieres at 8:30 p.m.

Here’s what you need to know about watching the show. 

WHAT IS CITY CENTRIC? Producers behind City Centric want viewers to “gain insight into a city that runs on elbow grease in Youngstown” and celebrate the people who are all about their city. “CITY CENTRIC is more than a new series for PBS Western Reserve,” said Ryan Donchess, program and production manager. “It’s a passion project for us that highlights the many great people in our vast viewing area who enthusiastically strive to make their communities better.” Episodes also featured Ohio cities like Kent, Akron, Canton and Alliance. 

WHAT NETWORK IS THE YOUNGSTOWN CITY CENTRIC EPISODE ON? The series will be streaming at 8:30 p.m. on the PBS Western Reserve website and available on WNEO Channel 45 and WEAO Channel 49. Watch all five episodes on demand on the PBS Western Reserve website, PBS app and YouTube. Before the episode premiers, watch the city of Youngstown preview here. 

WHICH LOCALS ARE FEATURED IN YOUNGSTOWN’S EPISODE? Jackie Popovec, lead singer of The Vindys; Samantha Turner, 3rd Ward city councilperson; Patricia Stokes, Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation; Sharon Letson, executive director of Youngstown CityScape; Aspasia Lyras-Bernacki, co-owner of Penguin City Brewing Company; Derrick McDowell, founder of Youngstown Flea. 

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