Neighborhoods

The Fund for Women and Girls is a community-led fund at the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley. The CFMV Fund for Women and Girls is now accepting nominations for the annual Gems of the Valley awards.

Nominations are being accepted now until Sept. 20, and honorees will be recognized at a dinner on Oct. 17 held at Drake’s Landing/Avion on the Water. As one of the mainstay events organized by the Fund for Women and Girls, Gems of the Valley aims to highlight the work done by local women to improve their communities and support women around them – work that is often overlooked and under-celebrated.

Honorees will be chosen from the nominations by the Fund for Women and Girls Guiding Circle and those selected will have the chance to talk about their work and inspirations at the dinner on October 17. Nomination forms and tickets can be found online or at the event page. There’s no price for admission. 

The 2023 class of Gems were: 

• Sustainable Youngstown activist and organizer Lynn Anderson 
• Thrive 10:10 operations director Meghan DeGregory 
• Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. housing program manager Jennifer Evans 
• Outreach Quilt and Artist Guild founder and artist Allison Smith 
• Mercy Health Resource Mothers manager Dee Traylor

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

The city’s Board of Control approved $200,000 in grants to small businesses at its meeting Thursday.

Grants ranging from $2,500 to $15,000 were awarded to 20 businesses through the Small Business Boost Project. City Council approved appropriating $200,000 for the program in April.

The need for such a program was identified as the city assisted businesses through a microenterprise program funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security – or Cares – Act through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Many businesses were ineligible for assistance by the fund because of restrictions governing the federal funds, according to Carmella Williams, microenterprise grant program director.

The grant program is different from the $200,000 fund the city established last month to assist downtown businesses following the May 28 natural gas explosion at the Realty Tower.

Grants of $15,000 each were awarded to Build Your Own Breakfast LLC, Unpainted Arizona LLC, YoGo Bikeshares LLC, DOPE Brands LLC, Savannah Joe’s LLC and McRoyal Industries LLC. 

Grants of $12,000 each were made to Full Faith Moving Services LLC and Jaxstubbs LLC.

An $11,000 grant was made to HH Brothers Enterprises LLC; a $10,000 grant went to Kickdrum Entertainment LLC; and $9,000 was given to Avalon Downtown.

The remaining funds were awarded to Centro Tre LLC, ATAP Records LLC, Santa Rosa LLC, Noble Creature Cask House and Bistro 1907 LLC ($7,500 each); Coze Coffee Bar LLC ($6,000); Yo! Crash LLC and DDVE Holdings LLC ($5,000 each); and G’s Chop Shop ($2,500).

In other business, the board approved entering into a professional services agreement with Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation to administer the $150,000 Market Street Corridor project.

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

Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. this week jointly introduced new staff positions created through the Strategic Partners Fellowship, which is supported by The Raymond John Wean Foundation. 

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

In 2022, the Raymond John Wean Foundation partnered with Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation to launch a fellowship cohort. 

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

Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership and Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation have announced new staff positions created through the Strategic Partners Fellowship, which is supported by the Raymond John Wean Foundation.

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

Common Wealth Inc. and Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. will partner to develop a 2,200-square-foot duplex on the North Side.

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

The city’s design review committee approved two exterior improvement projects — though didn’t give its full support to one — making them eligible to receive grant money from Youngstown’s facade program. 

With the approvals Tuesday, the committee has authorized 51 businesses to receive grants from the program. The approvals were the first two in front of the committee for consideration since May 7. Before that, there were requests for the funding for several meetings in a row. 

City council in December 2022 approved setting aside $1 million of Youngstown’s $82.7 million in American Rescue Plan funds for the facade program. It allows eligible companies to receive up to $20,000 each to help pay for the cost of exterior improvements. 

In order to get the grants, companies have to obtain permission from the design review committee. Companies must show they are paying at least half of the cost of the work being done. 

The facade grants are forgivable loans with a five-year term. Every year a business remains open at their location in the city, 20% of the loan is forgiven until it reaches 100% at the five-year mark. The approval for Fusion Barber Salon at 2725 Mahoning Ave. was for the maximum $20,000 grant with the business planning a $40,886 project.

But the committee voted Tuesday to hold off on a key part of that project: permitting Fusion to put up a standalone ground sign near the street on the West Side’s main corridor. 

Jay Crafton, a committee member, said he was concerned the sign would adversely impact visibility for vehicles and take away handicapped parking in the strip plaza where Fusion is located. 

Crafton wanted to see if the proposed sign could be put on the same pole as other signs in the plaza or at least elevated on its own pole. 

“Generally speaking, our corridors look flooded” with signs, said Charles Shasho, a committee member and the city’s deputy director of public works. “There’s abandoned signs. There’s multiple signs on one lot.” 

Fusion will look at an elevated sign. 

The committee agreed to permit the business to erect a new sign on the building and paint the structure. 

The cost of the project wasn’t separated by each item so if Fusion doesn’t get approval for a sign by the street, city officials will have to determine how much funding the business is eligible to receive under the program. 

The committee also approved a $5,700 grant for Goldhammer Investments LLC, 59 Steel St., for a $11,400 project. Goldhammer is a home renovation company that is planning new metal signs, improvements to the building’s exterior and painting portions of it. 

Those in downtown, the uptown district, the Crandall Park district and businesses seeking facade grants need approval from the design review committee for exterior work. 

In other business, the committee approved a 2,200-square-foot duplex to be built at 107 Baldwin St. on the city’s North Side by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and Common Wealth Inc.

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

From eliminating blight to adding new housing, Youngstown leaders are working to attract people into the city.

"This housing project building a whole new neighborhood, new sidewalks, new street lights, newly paved street it's just one of those things we're trying to do to put that energy back into the citizens and let them know they are valued," First Ward Councilman Julius Oliver said. "This is how we feel about them and this is how we feel about our city," he said. 

However, in a city that's consistently lost population for decades, what's going to make people stick around? Oliver said quality of life. "There's no houses here with the modern amenities that they would want, there's no attached two car garages because most of the houses here had separate garages, there's no two, three bathrooms, you know," Oliver said. "These are the things that people are looking for, modern everyday amenities you know, that will give them a greater quality of life on the south side of Youngstown," he said. 

Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation Executive Director Ian Beniston said the cost of these brand new houses and some of the perks that come with them will also attract new residents.

To see the full story from WFMJ, click here. 

The Youngstown Renaissance Bus Tour will give residents a look at the “transformation taking shape on Youngstown’s South Side.” 

The bus tour will visit seven stops from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. 

Tour participants will meet at South High School, 1833 Market St., to begin the tour and catch the bus to six additional stops. The event is open to the public. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased from Glenwood Grounds, 2906 Glenwood Ave., or by contacting Vicki Vicars, one of the tour organizers, director of mission, equity and resilience at Youngstown’s Ursuline Sisters Mission and director of advancement for Thrive Mahoning Valley, at 330 717 8953. 

“The South Side is filled with incredible people, thriving nonprofits, healthy businesses and faith-filled church communities,” Vicars said. “This is what this tour is about. Come meet positive people and visit institutions that are pouring hope and renewal into this community.” 

The motor coach tour bus will accommodate up to 80 participants. Tour guides and site hosts will provide information about the interconnected visions for revitalization, economic development and community engagement. Participants will enjoy free coffee and a muffin at the Glenwood Grounds stop. 

The seven tour stops include: 

• South Side High School. 
• The Oak Hill Collaborative. 
• St. Patrick Church. 
• Ford Nature Center. 
• The Youngstown Playhouse. 
• Bernard Street Development. 
• Glenwood Grounds. 

Parking is available at South High, where participants will board the bus. At the completion of the tour, the bus will return to South High. 

“Please come and be a part of building community, building our future,” tour organizer Jon Howell said. “This tour will give participants a revelation of the transformation taking shape on Youngstown’s South Side.” 

South High School was constructed in 1911 and served generations of Youngstown students and the South Side community for more than 80 years. Youngstown Jubilee Urban Development purchased the historic building this year and launched the South High Revitalization Project, with a vision for the restored South High to serve as an anchor to contribute to the vitality and growth of the city’s South Side. 

The Oak Hill Collaborative was birthed out of social justice and community improvement activities by members of St. Patrick Church, on Oak Hill Avenue. The Oak Hill Maker Space is integral to the organization’s neighborhood revitalization and business incubator initiatives. 

Participants include makers, inventors, hobbyists, hackers, artisans, students, teachers, do- gooders and do-it-yourselfers. The organization’s business incubator has assisted small businesses throughout the Mahoning Valley with office space, business planning, grant writing and networking. 

St. Patrick Church’s Oak Hill Avenue building was completed in 1926. Constructed in the Gothic Revival style, the structure is known for its ornate wood and brick work, 80-foot ceilings and 72 stained-glass windows. St. Patrick has long been an anchor of Youngstown’s Oak Hill neighborhood. The church traces its legacy of community involvement back to its establishment as a parish in 1911. Members of the multicultural congregation are dedicated to enriching the spiritual life of the community and are intentional about serving the neighborhood. 

The Ford Nature Center, housed in a donated stone mansion in the northern part of Mill Creek Park, opened its doors to the public in the 1970s as the headquarters for the park’s nature education programs. In 2023, the center completed a substantial, comprehensive redevelopment project aimed at improving and expanding its facilities to better serve Youngstown’s nature education needs. 

The Youngstown Playhouse, originally formed in 1924, moved to its current home on Glenwood Avenue in 1959. It continues on a 100-year legacy of live community theater for northeastern Ohio, staging classic performances and modern productions for audiences numbering more than 9,000 individuals of all ages annually. The Youth Theatre Program serves nearly 150 participants through classes, workshops and fully staged productions, which are attended by more than 1,000 local public school students annually. 

The Bernard Street Housing Development, underway in the Glenwood Corridor, aims to encourage additional investment and home ownership near the north end of Glenwood Avenue, across the street from the Volney Rogers field and tennis courts. In the first phase of the project, three new homes are under construction on Bernard Street, formerly Cliff Street, which has been closed by barricades for several years. The energy-efficient homes will be approximately 1,500 square feet with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a first floor laundry, an open concept kitchen and living area and a two-car attached garage. 

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation is planning to build three additional homes on the street in a second phase. 

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

Monday, September 16, 2024

On Saturday, September 14, more than 90 people visited southside landmarks and revitalization projects on two tour buses. The tour included stops at South Side High School, the Oak Hill Collaborative, St. Patrick Church, Ford Nature Center, The Youngstown Playhouse, Bernard Street Development, Glenwood Grounds, and also highlighted many other projects along the tour route. The tour was organized by Jon Howell and Vicki Vicars. YNDC Executive Director, Ian Beniston served as the tour guide on one of the buses. More tours are planned for the future.