The YNDC housing team has set a new record by replacing more than 240 roofs in 2023. 194 roofs were replaced in the City of Youngstown and 47 in other communities throughout Mahoning and Columbiana Counties for a total of 241 roof replacements. Many thanks to all of the funders that make this work possible including: City of Youngstown, Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, and the Ohio Housing Trust Fund!
Check out this episode of Common Ground: Stories from America's Vintage Movie Theaters. This episode features the Foster Theater! It includes a tour with the daughter of the man who built the theater and managed it for twenty-five years. You can learn more about the Foster's history, the forces that have shaped the neighborhood over the last eighty years, and what the future holds for this theater.
Avery is enjoying her new home she purchased with the assistance of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation. Avery is one of the success stories of YNDC’s HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Program. And her story is among the highlights of YNDC’s Annual Report 2023, which was released Thursday.
To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here.
Lisa is an Assurance Partner at Cohen & Company specializing in the real estate and construction industry including HUD compliance and employee benefit plan audits. Lisa was one of the first YNDC board members and has remained an active member of the YNDC finance committee before re-joining our board this year.
Lisa has a Masters in Business Administration from Youngstown State University and is a registered certified public accountant. Lisa is an active member of the Ohio Society of CPAs, the American Institute of CPAs, and the Affordable Housing Association of CPAs.
Lisa also serves on the board of REVITALIZE Home Mortgage as well as the Youngstown State University Honors College Advisory Board and the Williamson College of Business Administration’s Dean’s Advisory Board.
Some improvements are coming to a neighborhood on Youngstown South Side, making students’ walk to and from school a little better. Poles for new street lights are now going up around Taft Elementary School, on the city’s South Side. Most of the money came from the federal government’s Safe Routes to School Program.
The sidewalks and crosswalks around the perimeter of the school were previously replaced, which is helpful as a large number of students walk to school. In the past, problems with gun violence and drugs had made the neighborhood unsafe, and had forced kids to stay inside for recess.
Mahoning Valley TreeCorps is an initiative led by YNDC, Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership, Youngstown CityScape, the Healthy Community Partnership, along with many community partners. TreeCorps will restore and sustain the urban tree canopy in the cities of Youngstown Ohio, and Warren Ohio, in order to improve health, and make the urban forest accessible to all.
The program will: 1) develop a basic tree inventory and management plan for both cities; 2) provide forestry training to 75 local professionals and 75 young adults, create at least 5 living wage jobs, and fully involve neighborhood residents; and 3) plant and sustain 5,500 two-inch caliper trees in parks and greenspaces, and help municipal crews clear a backlog of urgent canopy maintenance issues necessary to sustain the urban forest. The program will help rebuild the canopy in areas of both cities where shade has been lost through vacant property demolition and dead tree removal efforts. Additionally, it will help alleviate the buildup of urgent tree maintenance needed in both cities, strengthen local capacity to manage and maintain the urban tree canopy, and create economic opportunities through urban forestry.
Additional community partners involved in this effort include the Cities of Youngstown and Warren, the Trumbull and Mahoning County Land Banks, Plant Ahead Ohio, Community Corrections Association, Choffin Career and Technical Center, Treez Please, Mill Creek MetroParks, Trumbull County MetroParks, Trumbull Soil and Water Conservation District, along with many neighborhood groups and community organizations.
Benefits of Trees
The benefits of planting shade trees in urban areas are enormous for residents and the environment. Shade trees reduce air pollution from cars and factories, provide needed summer shade, cool your home and reduce energy bills, encourage outdoor physical activity, improve mental health and wellness, improve property values, and have even shown to help reduce crime.
Where and What We Plant
Mahoning Valley TreeCorps plants shade trees that are 2” caliper in size (between 8 and 14 feet tall when planted), and will include a variety of species that are suitable to site conditions and will follow municipal Shade Tree Guidelines. TreeCorps plants trees with the primary purpose of providing shade to public spaces, and will NOT plant trees for agricultural or other purposes as part of this project.
Trees will be planted in publicly-accessible areas, such as: 1) city parks, boulevards, and medians; 2) tree lawns/devil strips where the adjacent neighbor approves, and 3) community greenspaces, such as lots maintained by community members and public lawns in front of businesses, schools, churches, and institutions.
Trees will NOT be planted in: 1) yards of private residences, 2) in front of abandoned lots or buildings that are not maintained (i.e. lots cut with municipal tractors), 3) any location that is not accessible to the public or not maintained by someone who will mow the grass/overgrowth under the tree on a regular basis.
TreeCorps will plant the trees for free and will water, prune, stake, and provide related tree care for the first three years. TreeCorps will NOT not mow grass, rake leaves, or provide any lawn maintenance to planting sites.
Request a Tree(s) in Your Tree Lawn or Community Greenspace
Groups or individuals interested in having a tree or trees planted on their tree lawn or community greenspace can contact Mike Long at (234) 228-9349 OR mlong@yndc.org, or complete a Tree Request form online via https://tinyurl.com/treecorps
Expressing interest or filling out a request form does not guarantee a tree will be planted. Many factors play a role in where the trees can be planted such as: underground utilities, space available, proximity to signs, driveways, or intersections, and many other factors. The TreeCorps project team will evaluate each request.
This project made possible through a grant from the USDA Forest Service. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this organization is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, and reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible State or local Agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information is also available in languages other than English.
To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.
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