The city and a Mahoning Valley nonprofit organization want to lay out a welcome mat for people moving into the community – legal immigrants and refugees and all newcomers. City Council’s Community Planning and Economic Development Committee in mid-August approved sponsoring legislation to join Welcoming America. That’s a preliminary step to pursuing a Welcoming City designation. “The first step was the city joining Welcoming America, which is the national organization, which we’re also part of,” says Christopher Colón, executive director of Thrive Mahoning Valley, a nonprofit organization that works to make the Valley a welcoming community. Certified Welcoming is a designation that says a city or community has policies in place signifying it’s open and willing to accept newcomers into the community, he says. “And for purposes here, specifically, it’s immigrants and refugees.” Even though Thrive Mahoning Valley is a Welcoming America member, a governmental entity must take the lead to earn a Welcoming designation through Welcoming America. Welcoming America “is a nonprofit leading a movement of inclusive communities becoming more prosperous by ensuring everyone belongs, including immigrants,” according to the organization’s website. Thrive approached Stephanie Gilchrist, Youngstown economic development director, earlier this year and arranged a meeting to talk about welcoming status. Thrive met with Gilchrist as well as Nikki Posterli, the mayor’s chief of staff, and the city agreed to sponsor the move to join Welcoming America. Gilchrist says the city is developing a strategic plan including economic development and sees an increase in the number of immigrants and non-native English speaking citizens coming into the community.
“I think a lot of folks have the misconception of what that looks like for us and who that includes,” she says. “And so I believe this is a way to bring unity to the community and to become more inclusive and to ensure that everyone has a place in the city of Youngstown, through workforce, through economic growth, through home ownership. ”The department will prepare legislation and present it to city council for approval.
Benefits
For First Ward Councilman Julius Oliver, chairman of the Community Planning and Economic Development Committee, becoming a Welcoming City is practical. “Your alternative is people continuing to leave the city so it gets to the point where there are no longer enough people here for us to actually be a charter city anymore,” he says. “If we make Youngstown a welcoming city to whoever would like to live in Youngstown, for me, it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the broader perspective of who people assume will be moving here.” It has to do with people who have left the city and are thinking about coming back, Oliver says. He wants the city to welcome them. “That’s the perspective I’m coming from,” he says. Oliver hears from people who have relocated and want to come back but don’t for a variety of reasons. The councilman points to the six houses being built by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. on Bernard Street.
To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here.
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