Neighborhoods

A program in Youngstown that lights up areas of the city to make them more crime-resistant and safer has finished up a project. The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation’s Community Safety Program recently installed new lighting on businesses along the Glenwood Corridor.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here.  

Mahoning County continues to spend its state and federal funds to reduce lead hazards, but funding reductions in Washington and Columbus could make it more challenging in the near future.  Mahoning County commissioners regularly have approved items placed on the agenda by Phil Puryear, head of the county’s Department of Lead Hazard Control.

In just the past month, the board has approved 16 projects across the county, totaling roughly $430,000, for remediation of lead-based hazards. The work is funded through a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Lead Hazard Reduction Grant and Healthy Homes supplemental funding.

“The incidence of lead poisoning is high here,” Puryear said. “These are competitive grants based on need and the ability to spend the money, and fortunately we’ve been granted a lot of money to remediate these lead-based paint hazards.” The county received the four-year, $5.7 million award in 2022, and it will expire at the end of 2026. The grant required at least $500,000 in local matching funds and Puryear said the application ultimately included nearly $700,000, including $500,000 from the City of Youngstown in the form of Community Development Block Grant dollars, and $160,000 from the county. Puryear said landlords who benefit from the program also pay into it, which counts as matching funds.

The overall funding for lead hazard remediation through the grant and matching dollars will be closer to $7 million by the time it is completed next year. He said that through the first quarter of 2025, the county has used about $486,000 of the matching funds and drawn about $2.46 million against the $5.7 million award. Puryear said the program supports low-income families with children. Children are more susceptible to the dangers of lead and can be exposed through any number of channels. Puryear said wet basements can lead to flaking of lead paint, and glazing on windows in houses built in the 1950s and 1960s often puts lead-contaminated dust into the air as the windows open and close. He said $5 million of the grant funding is specifically for lead-based paint remediation, which limits the scope of the project to only items that are painted or varnished with lead-based products. He said the rest of the funding is through HUD’s Healthy Homes program, which gives them more room to address other issues.

“We can address issues like water infiltration, carbon monoxide detectors, electrical hazards, and other things that will make the house less safe, as well as things that will increase the risk of lead exposure,” he said.

The program also allows for collaboration. For example, the county sometimes helps the City of Youngstown with projects such as mold removal. One item on the April 24 agenda included a contract with Galloway Construction & Restoration Inc. for mold remediation in the amount of $12,740. “We don’t typically deal with mold through this project,” Puryear said. “But the City of Youngstown gives us a lot of matching funds for our lead grant, and from time to time when they have issues that arise that they have no method of dealing with, they will ask us to help facilitate some projects for them,” he said.

Likewise, the county will at times petition the city, on a case-by-case basis, to use the grant to fix a roof or demolish a garage. All of those projects are completed through a CDBG grant agreement, whereby the county pays the contractor and the city reimburses the county. “All of our contractors are licensed and bonded in lead abatement and certified through the EPA and the city doesn’t have that capability at this point,” he said.

Ian Beniston, executive director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, said his organization’s partnership with the county and city — and the funding that supports it — has been critical to its mission for about the past 15 years.

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

The Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Community Enhancements (OCE) awarded YNDC a $1,100,000 award from the PY 2024 Housing Assistance Grant Program. The Housing Assistance Grant Program is funded with Ohio Housing Trust Fund (OHTF) dollars.

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

The funds will be used to complete repairs to 205 housing units. Huge thanks to the Ohio Department of Development for the major support of our home repair efforts!
 

The Huntington Foundation awarded YNDC with a $30,000 grant for Housing Counseling. The Housing Counseling Program empowers low- to moderate-income residents to identify and overcome barriers to homeownership, including inadequate savings, income, credit history, and understanding of the home buying process, and prepares them for future homeownership; and provides existing low- to moderate-income homeowners with resources to maximize their limited incomes and minimize repair costs so that they can avoid foreclosure and improve their living conditions.

Many thanks to The Huntington Foundation and Huntington National Bank for their ongoing support!

More than 300 people invested in the continued growth and success of Appalachian Ohio attended the 13th annual State of the Region Conference on May 13 at Ohio University.

As part of the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center, the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service brought  together public officials, economic development experts, business and organizational leaders, and others to discuss various issues related to economic growth in the Appalachian Ohio region.

Five panelists talk on stage at the State of the Region Conference in the Baker Center Ballroom
“The State of the Region was a powerful reminder of the innovation and collaboration shaping the future of Appalachian Ohio,” said John Carey, director of the Governor’s Office of Appalachia. “As our region develops, we continue to leverage unique opportunities and create meaningful change, all driven by strong partnerships and leaders who are committed to seeing their communities succeed.” The theme for this year’s event was “Building Thriving Communities” and featured four panels on Housing, Tourism, Child Care, and Development.

Five panelists sit on stage and talk at the State of the Region Conference All of these efforts can be tied together by one foundational component: affordable housing. As different panelists pointed out, it’s essential for the tourism industry because workers need a place to live that is close to hotels, restaurants, and attractions. The level of childcare is dependent on the local schools and the property taxes generated, and new residents fuel economic development. It's important to note that housing options aren’t required to be new dwellings, but ones that are improved.

“We try to take a ‘fix it first’ approach, we have thousands of people living in what I would consider low-quality housing,” said Ian Beniston, executive director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation(opens in a new window). “If we don't fix those houses, ultimately, a lot of folks will have to vacate them.”

To read the full story from Ohio Today, click here.

The Center for Nonprofit Leadership at Youngstown State University, housed in the Williamson College of Business Administration, has been awarded a grant from The Wean Foundation to implement the 2025 Nonprofit Leadership Summer Fellowship Program.

The Nonprofit Leadership Summer Fellowship Program is a biennial program that matches YSU students seeking career-related experience in the nonprofit sector with nonprofit organizations in the Mahoning Valley looking to build organizational capacity. This program gives 12 YSU students the opportunity to work full-time for 12 weeks, for a total of 480 hours, or part-time for 300 hours between May 12 and August 1. All fellows are paid $18/hour.

The following students and organizations were selected to participate in the 2025 Nonprofit Leadership Summer Honors Internship Program.

• The Andrea Mahone Foundation hired MacKenzie Harrington, a Master of Business Administration student, for the part-time Marketing & Social Media Fellowship position.
   
• Inspiring Minds Youngstown hired Melea Johnson, a Social Work major, for the full-time Site Instructor Fellowship position.
   
• Mahoning County Land Bank hired Serene Awad, an Environmental Studies major, for the full-time Program Management Fellowship position.
   
• Mahoning Valley Historical Society hired Connor Tapp, a History major, for the full-time Community Engagement Fellowship position.
   
• Mercy Health Foundation Mahoning Valley hired Kevin Balella, a Marketing major, for the full-time Panerathon Event Fellowship position.
   
• Meridian HealthCare hired Tara Wine, a Marketing major, for the full-time Marketing & Development Fellowship position.
   
• Northeast Ohio Adoption Services hired Sujey Navarro Negrete, a Business Administration major, for the part-time Community Engagement Fellowship position.
   
• Oh Wow! Children’s Center for Science & Technology hired Aicha Sawaneh, a Communication major, for the part-time Marketing & Events Fellowship position.
   
• United Way of Trumbull County hired Danuneka Cargill, a Business Administration major, for the part-time Marketing & Events Fellowship position.
   
• YMCA of Youngstown hired Haya Farhan, a graduate student studying Health and Human Services, for the full-time Marketing & Development Fellowship position.
   
• Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation hired Sabrina Johnson, a Psychology major, for the full-time Neighborhood Stabilization Fellowship position.
   

• YWCA Mahoning Valley hired Miya Brown, an Accounting major, for the part-time Accounting Fellowship position.

  To read the full article from Youngstown State University, click here.

The Mahoning County Land Bank and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. have partnered to construct their first new home outside Youngstown’s city limits, expanding their reach to Struthers.

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

The Center for Nonprofit Leadership at Youngstown State University, housed in the Williamson College of Business Administration, has been awarded a grant from The Wean Foundation to implement the 2025 Nonprofit Leadership Summer Fellowship Program. The biennial program matches YSU students seeking career-related experience in the nonprofit sector with nonprofit organizations in the Mahoning Valley looking to build organizational capacity.

The program gives 12 YSU students the opportunity to work full time for 12 weeks, for a total of 480 hours, or part time for 300 hours between May 12 and August 1. All fellows are paid $18 per hour.

The students and organizations selected to participate in the program are:

• MacKenzie Harrington, a master of business administration student, part-time marketing and social media fellowship, Andrea Mahone Foundation.
   
• Melea Johnson, a social work major, full-time site instructor fellowship, Inspiring Minds Youngstown.
   
• Serene Awad, an environmental studies major,  full-time program management fellowship, Mahoning County Land Bank. 
   
• Connor Tapp, a history major, full-time community engagement fellowship, Mahoning Valley Historical Society.
   
• Kevin Balella, a marketing major, full-time Panerathon event fellowship, Mercy Health Foundation Mahoning Valley.
   
• Tara Wine, a marketing major, full-time marketing and development fellowship, Meridian HealthCare.
   
• Sujey Navarro Negrete, a business administration major, part-time community engagement fellowship, Northeast Ohio Adoption Services.
   
• Aicha Sawaneh, a communication major, part-time marketing and events fellowship, Oh Wow! Children’s Center for Science & Technology.
   
• Danuneka Cargill, a business administration major, part-time marketing and events fellowship, United Way of Trumbull County.
   
• Haya Farhan, a graduate student studying public health, full-time marketing and development fellowship, YMCA of Youngstown.
   
• Sabrina Johnson, a psychology major, full-time neighborhood stabilization fellowship, Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. 
   
• Miya Brown, an accounting major, part-time accounting fellowship, YWCA Mahoning Valley.

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

A stretch of Glenwood Avenue is looking a little brighter these days thanks to a program from the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Program aimed at improving lighting and cutting crime. Back in January, a pedestrian was hit at the intersection along Glenwood across from the Salvation Army and Southern Tavern. It’s something the YNDC is trying to shine a light on to avoid any more dark situations.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here. 

A groundbreaking was held for new and affordable housing opportunities in Struthers Tuesday. The home is being built at 42 East Wilson Street with the project being funded by a grant, the Mahoning County Land Bank and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.

To read the full story from WFMJ, click here.