Neighborhoods

Some friends and I are having a backyard party Saturday, and you’re invited.

Breakfast, lunch, music, beverages and more. But fair warning, it’s not a normal gathering, yet it might be a tad more rewarding than most.

How it came together is the best story for me to tell because it showcases the talent and will of a corps of Valley residents I’ve seen all over our news pages, but have not been blessed to work with. Until this.

Saturday, we are cleaning up the backyard of the Boys and Girls Club on Oak Hill Avenue.

It’s a landscape cleanup as much as it is a trash effort.

The trash is the easy part. The landscape cleanup is, um, substantial. An area the size of three football fields has, over the years, gotten away from our group. We live on a slim budget of a nonprofit and have had our hands full just providing for 100 kids each day.

So thick is the backyard growth, people are stunned to realize The Club sits just off Market Street. Even the most frequent of Market Street drivers have no idea The Club sits behind a thick mass of trees and overgrowth. The 600 or so trees that need to come down are nuisance ground growth that have been allowed to grow to 20-plus feet high.

To a board of folks largely inexperienced with such work, it’s been an intimidating yard. But it also is to us a place that can be so much better for the kids and the neighborhood. The area was formerly Kyle Park. About 30 years ago, the park was given to the fledgling Club group.

Kyle looks like it was a special park at one point. Oddly, there is no reference to it in Vindicator story files. And not oddly for modest nonprofits, the Club has no records of the park or the handover.

Under 80-year-old trees are old posts that are as solid into the ground as the trees above them. They were tennis courts. An old basketball court is easy to find amid the weeds – its posts cut at ground level. Concrete pads for maybe a tetherball setup are there too, as is an old cement firepit. Well – that’s what we use it for now. Lord knows what it was used for 60 years ago. A gated entryway has been rusted closed for what looks like 40 years.

We aim to bring some of that back.

A basketball court is desired, among other things. That’s a dream. The reality right now is eliminating this mini forest that has grown up around us.

To the Club board, it was daunting.

But to the friends we did not know we had, this is a normal day in Youngstown.

Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., CityScape, YSUScape, Community Corrections Association and the City of Youngstown parks and codes staff and Mahoning County Green Team have been this brilliant assembly of urban tacticians who dissect such an effort down to a suburban backyard lawn mowing.

When we first stepped into the backyard to digest this, we were just a few car lengths from Market Street, yet invisible to any passer-by.

CCA boss Dave Stillwagon was the first to look at the mess of landscape and say something special could be done back here. YNDC’s Ian Benniston, CityScape’s Phil Kidd and city Parks Director Bob Burke would follow suit with the same belief.

By so many measures, Youngstown neighborhoods are a behemoth of blight – especially in the area the Boys and Girls Club calls home. Our city is like so many other aged manufacturing cities from Massachusetts to Michigan. I say that to frame that our situation is by no means unique, despite people wanting to moan “only in Youngstown.” If you say that, it’s more a sign that you need to read newspapers more often to know we’re not alone.

The blight is surmountable in some ways, even though it will never completely disappear. It’s about finding that gem of a homeowner or, in our case, a nonprofit, who wants to change.

What’s clear after just a few weeks of planning: It takes a hardy soul to weather the mass of challenges in cleaning up a landscape like our city. And through the groups above, we’re blessed with not just one soul, but an army of them. I mentioned three names just in the order they appeared. This effort goes 10 specialists deep. And each of them knows someone else to resolve every curve thrown. There are many when dealing with tires, brush, trash, volunteers, Dumpsters, 70-foot trees, excavating, wood-chipping, volunteers, clippers, gloves, chain saws, volunteers.

The needs go on. With this unique team of leaders, answers always come.

A national PBS news program just last weekend featured Benniston and his team and their urban prowess.

It’s a great piece. Google it.

 But if you can, sit at a table with them. It’s even more impressive to see.

To read the whole story from Vindy.com, click here. 

Monday, April 25, 2016

On Saturday, April 23, volunteers and representatives from the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber, Green Youngstown, City of Youngstown, Youngstown Police Department, YSUscape, Brier Hill Cultural Center, Defend Youngstown, and other neighborhood and community groups joined together to fight blight in Brier Hill along the US422 Corridor.

The workday resulted in the board up of 10 vacant homes, the removal of over 500 tires, the removal of 30 cubic yards of debris and trash. FIGHT BLIGHT.

Community members interested in learning about what is happening in Youngstown are invited to attend a City Council meeting.

The public is welcomed to speak and meet with city leaders, including Mayor John McNally, administration department heads, members of City Council, C.I.R.V. and representatives from Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation and YSU-Regional Economic Development Initiative.

Youngstown City Council is asking members of the community to come prepared with questions.

The goal of the meeting is to let citizens know about what is happening in Youngstown.

It will be held Wednesday, April 27 at 6 p.m. at McDonough Museum on Wick Avenue.

To read the whole story from WFMJ, click here. 

People interested in the workings of the Youngstown city government filled the main gallery of the McDonough Museum of Art on Wednesday evening.

What they heard was a detailed explanation of how the city works from the people working for the city. The evening, however, started with a birthday.

Youngstown Mayor John McNally was among the first speakers at the town hall meeting. He told the crowd it was his birthday, and song and balloons followed. A cake was even brought out, with the mayor blowing out the candles with one breath.

Then, over the next hour and 10 minutes, came a succession of city hall department heads and others with interest in the city. There were nine speakers total, including Economic Development, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, Code Enforcement and Demolition, Green Youngstown, the police chief and AmeriCorps VISTA.

Guy Burney, of the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence, talked about a meeting last week with 18 gang members.

“Unfortunately there was a chair empty, and that chair was a young man who had just been released from jail 36 hours prior to committing a murder,” he told the audience.

Questions were then collected from the audience and read aloud.

People questioned whether more businesses would be brought to town and who is holding outside landlords accountable for upkeep on their property.

The city says it has been working on a proposal for riverfront development and that fining mechanisms are in place for absent landlords.

To read the whole story from WKBN, click here. 

Once again, struggling Youngstown, Ohio and other Rust Belt communities like it are in the political spotlight.

Like clockwork, once every four years, the candidates for the nation’s highest office descend on cities like this one to commiserate with its residents over what has happened to the American manufacturing economy and the millions of middle-class livelihoods it made possible.

“The politicians always come, because Ohio is a swing state, but nothing ever changes,” says Sean Posey, a local community college professor and author of the new book Lost Youngstown. “In fact, it gets worse.”

On a recent visit to the once-bustling steel town, however, local residents told us they’re no longer waiting for a new president or a big new employer to help their town.

In the video report above, co-produced with the NewsHour Weekend as part of the series, “Poverty and Opportunity: Chasing the American Dream,” producer Karla Murthy found a kind of DIY recovery effort underway.

She talked to Youngstown residents who, with the help of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, are trying to rebuild their town, one blighted home at a time.

The Youngstown residents are hoping that a more attractive community will help attract jobs, long the missing ingredient in the city’s recovery.

In 1980, when Ronald Reagan made a celebrated visit to woo the local union Democrats, the layoffs that would decimate the local steel industry had just begun a few years before, but the mills were since running. By the time then-Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry visited in 2004, he had abandoned factories for a backdrop.

Since the late 1970s, Youngstown has lost 40,000 manufacturing jobs and the tax revenues that went with them. The city’s population, which the US Census calculated at just north of 65,000 in 2014, is half of what it was in the 1930s, when Youngstown was part of the proudly gritty Ohio Valley steelmaking complex — the smithy on which the armaments that won World War II were forged. Of the people who remain in Youngstown today, 41 percent live in poverty — more than double the national average.

President Barack Obama visited in 2010 to hail one of the few bright spots on the Mahoning Valley landscape: a new specialty steel mill. Since then, however, a drop in oil prices has led to a drop in demand for the mill’s pipes, used in fracking, and the plant has had several rounds of layoffs. “It’s a tenuous existence,” Paul Sracic, a political science professor at Youngstown State University, said when asked to describe the mood in town.

Perhaps because of that, the area still retains its symbolic appeal to politicians: During last month’s Ohio primary campaign, Youngstown played host to Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump all dutifully trooped there this year, along with, of course, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, another contender for the Republican nomination.

Across the Rust Belt the story repeats over and over again: One-time auto boomtown Flint, Michigan, now the home to an infamous water crisis. As in Youngstown, more than 40 percent of the population there lives in poverty. In depopulated Braddock, Pennsylvania, which has lost 90 percent of its population, Mayor John Fetterman is campaigning for Senate on the strength of his Sisyphean effort to revive the town that was home to Andrew Carnegie’s first steel mill.

Braddock’s poverty rate is 36 percent and the median value of a home is one-fifth of what it is in the rest of the state. In Reading, Pennsylvania, the decision by the corporate progeny of Western Electric to move to Taiwan quashed the Silicon Valley of its day and the town is now the setting for a highly acclaimed play about the toll outsourcing takes on a community. Reading’s poverty rate: Almost 39 percent.

Since the late 1970s, the number of Americans working in manufacturing has dropped by half, according to data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And while the highest concentration of the nation’s most distressed zip codes remains in the South, the shuttering of factories has created pockets of grinding poverty in places that no longer have the political clout to cope with it.

Across the nation’s one-time industrial heartland, “many cities have lost one-third of their population or more,” says Michael Goff of the Northeast-Midwest Institute. “That affects everything.” It’s one reason unemployment numbers can’t fully describe the extent of the losses. Another figure which comes closer: Thirty years ago, Goff says, the 18 states represented by his institute boasted half the members of Congress. Today, their representatives make up just one-third of the nation’s legislature.

At Moyers & Company, we have decided to make communities like these a focus of our political coverage in 2016. We want to know why the residents of America’s Youngstowns have been failed by the politicians who quadrennially come calling for their votes. Understanding this seems fundamental to understanding the anger fueling so much of this year’s politics (Donald Trump won the Republican vote in Ohio’s Mahoning County, where Youngstown is located). If these communities are where some of the problems plaguing our body politic began, they seem to be the places we should begin seeking solutions.

Have a facet of this story you’d like to see us explore? A community you’d like us to feature? Write to us via email or in the comments below. Let the conversation begin.

To read the whole story from Moyers & Company, click here.

Youngstown City Council brought community leaders from across the city to the McDonough Museum of Art on Youngstown State University’s campus Wednesday night to talk about the positive things they’re doing.

The first citywide town hall meeting featured all seven members of the city council, Mayor John McNally and seven other featured speakers.

First Ward Councilman Julius Oliver and Seventh Ward Councilwoman Basia Adamczak introduced the event.

“We feel it’s really important to come together as a city and as a council,” Adamczak said.

McNally was the first featured speaker and, following a rendition of Happy Birthday complete with cake and candles, talked about infrastructure repairs coming to many parts of the city.

He discussed the improvements coming to Wick and Lincoln Avenues, as well as several resurfacing and ADA compliance efforts on McCartney Road, South Avenue and Meridian Road.

“It’s going to be a hassle,” McNally said. “But it’s a good hassle because this means progress.”

He also mentioned that the city would return to in-house garbage collection beginning Monday.

Sharon Woodberry, director of community planning and economic development, explained the function of her office to attendees and outlined a few big projects on which they’re currently working.

These include a local corporation that will potentially invest in Wick Avenue, demolitions of the Wick Six car dealerships north of McCartney Road and also bringing someone into the former Bottom Dollar Grocery store on Glenwood Avenue.

“It’s something we believe is going to have a significant impact on the area and provide a valuable service,” Woodberry said, while noting that they tried to attract a grocery store to replace Bottom Dollar.

She said every year city departments get a little leaner and need to collaborate more, but they’re working hard to do what they can.

Robin Lees, Youngstown’s chief of police, talked about the community policing unit that was launched last year. Lees said bringing community policing back was one of the first things he wanted to do when he came into office.

He said they’re developing a new path for the unit rather than relying on models from other cities.

“There was a disconnect between the needs of some of the neighborhoods and the community policing unit,” Lees said.

He said the unit’s officers — one assigned to each ward — work with council on a day-to-day basis to address problems across the city. They recently started working with the department of justice to provide training to the officers to help them meet the needs of the communities in which they work.

Guy Burney, coordinator of the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence, opened by talking about an experience he had recently.

“Last Thursday I sat in city council chambers with 18 gang members,” Burney said.

He said he told them the violence in the city has to stop, but if they want to change their lives CIRV will help them.

CIRV is scheduled to hold a Re-entry Hope Conference at YSU on May 13. In addition to helping reduce violence, the organization also helps people re-enter society following incarceration.

Ian Beniston, executive director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, talked about the many efforts his organization is involved in across the city, including neighborhood planning and housing and lending programs.

“In some places in the city, the challenges we have are immense, so we really do have to just chip away to make progress,” Beniston said.

He also said they work on healthy food access and drew attention to a double up program that allows those receiving food stamps to get double their value when they use them at farmers markets.

Abby Beniston, the city’s code enforcement and blight remediation superintendent, reported that her department recently completed a survey of vacant homes in coordination with YNDC.

“We have a large number of out-of-town, out-of-state and out-of-country owners that need to be held accountable and fix their properties,” Beniston said.

She informed residents about demolition efforts, grass-cutting services, a foreclosure bond program and the department’s dedication to improving quality of life in the city of Youngstown.

Rebecca Soldan, an Americorps VISTA, WORKING WITH STRONG CITIES STRONG COMMUNITIES, spoke about the Taft Promise Neighborhood, which ties many of the efforts across the city together.

She said they chose the Taft School neighborhood because it has the largest number of children attending school living in the same neighborhood as the school. They worked with the community to develop a plan.

“We didn’t want to come into the neighborhood and make plans without talking to the people that live there,” Soldan said.

She said they have a United Way leading an education council, YNDC working with a neighborhood council. They also have a business council to improve employment and a health and wellness council that helps with physical and mental health issues as well as drug addiction.

They are scheduled to hold a block party on May 21 to introduce the effort to the community.

“The idea is that this will be able to be replicated in different neighborhoods throughout the city,” Soldan said.

Dominic Marchionda also spoke to the community about the ongoing efforts of YSU’s Regional Economic Development Initiative and Jennifer Jones of Green Youngstown spoke about recycling efforts, disposing of hazardous materials and services they offer to help residents adopt vacant lots in their neighborhoods.

Following the presentations, the panelists and city council fielded questions from attendees.

To read the whole story from The Jambar, click here. 

You don't need to be at a museum to see beautiful works of art.

That's why the non-profit group Museum Without Walls has taken art to the ballfield.

The Mill Creek Junior Baseball League has 550 children ages 6-18 playing on the West Side Youngstown ball fields.

It's not exactly a place you would expect to see works of art to be displayed, so that's exactly why Museum Without Walls wanted them here.

Jack Carlton, from Museum Without Walls says,"I like the idea of putting art in unusual places because people don't expect it, and when people see it, they look at it, and maybe they will go to the art museum to see the actual works themselves."

There are eight pieces of art displayed all around the Mill Creek Baseball Complex off Bears Den Road, all of them with baseball as the subject matter. The originals can be found at the Butler Institute of American Art.

And what's more American than baseball?

Bill Helsel, President of the baseball league, says "It gets to show the action of the children playing, and it makes it look nice. The players imitate the art."

"Within the art it's very inspirational. We have heroes like Roberto Clemente and some unnamed legends. But it takes talent to make these art pieces, and it takes talent to become a great baseball player and all those things come together to do what Mill Creek Baseball is trying to do and that's to form great kids to become great adults," says Rocky Ridge Neighborhood Association member, John Slanina.

Sports help to build character and art helps to build creativity.

It's hoped the fusion of both in one spot can inspire a generation.

To see the full story from WFMJ, click here. 

Among the life lessons high-school students who participate in Sojourn to the Past learn are the importance of reaching beyond themselves for the greater good and building a deeper sense of community, and working cooperatively with others.

For the 10 students who recently returned from the weeklong traveling American history journey through the Deep South to learn about the civil-rights movement, those lessons were aptly on display Saturday.

Beforehand, the 3-acre parcel behind the club had been the site of several decades’ worth of overgrowth and neglect that made it invisible to those on nearby Market Street. The cleanup, however, was the first phase of a project to make the area increasingly viable and productive for the more than 800 youngsters age 6 to 18 who belong to the Boys & Girls Club, noted Germaine McAlpine, executive director.

Early last week, the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department cut down about 600 trees, said McAlpine, who’s also known as “Mr. Mac.”

Plans for the property include converting much of it to green space, planting grass in several muddy areas, painting portions of the fence surrounding the huge yard and installing basketball and/or tennis courts, he said.

Participants such as Phil Kidd, associate director of CityScape and founder of the Defend Youngstown website and movement, removed tree stumps, raked and bagged numerous clusters of leaves and twigs, picked up litter and debris, added topsoil, trimmed weeds and fed branches into a wood chipper to convert them to mulch. Over the years, many piles of leaves and much trash had accumulated next to the fence.

“It’s a good example of what is possible when the community comes together on all types of levels in Youngstown,” said Kidd, who spent much of his time raking leaves and getting rid of excess branches and tendrils.

Kidd predicted that Saturday’s five-hour hands-on effort would add greater visibility to and awareness of the club and its offerings.

Clearing a portion of the property line of overgrowth, some of which had grown into and compromised part of the fence, and pulling weeds were a major part of Sue Marshall-Jones’ tasks.

Marshall-Jones, who also was part of CityScape’s founding committee, said she learned of the cleanup via social media and wanted to contribute.

In addition, she plans to take part in the organization’s annual Streetscape on June 4, in which people plant foliage and beautify downtown Youngstown. That effort also has acted as a prelude for CityScape to spread into many Youngstown neighborhoods and participate in projects such as Saturday’s cleanup, Marshall-Jones explained.

Don Duda, a YSU sophomore and chemical engineering major, was happy to use a weed trimmer to make the perimeter of the marshy area in front of the Boys & Girls Club a bit more attractive.

“Living in Youngstown, you just want to make the community a better place,” said Duda, who’s also a Sigma Chi fraternity member. “I just want to get out here and do as much as I can.”

Duda added that his fraternity hosted a recent philanthropic event that raised more than $800 for the Boys & Girls Club, money that likely will be used to renovate a home.

“This is a great day to support [the Boys & Girls Club],” said Penny Wells, Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past’s executive director, who noted that Sojourn’s themes include giving back to and improving communities.

McAlpine, the club’s executive director, expressed his gratitude to those who participated Saturday. He also thanked the community for its support.

“Without all of these people coming together, this would not be possible,” he said.

To read the full story at Vindy.com, click here. 

Friday, April 29, 2016

On Friday, April 29, Farmers National Bank presented YNDC with a $5,000 contribution supporting the organization's Healthy Homeownership programs.

Thank you, Farmers National Bank for the generous contribution!

Friday, April 29, 2016

In the month of April, YNDC sold two fully revitalized homes at 3402 Lenox Avenue and 3215 Neosho Road to first-time homeowners.

Both homes were acquired in 2015 -- 3402 Lenox through the City of Youngstown Land Bank and 3215 Neosho through the Mahoning County Land Bank -- and fully rehabilitated by YNDC. Both new homeowners participated in YNDC's HUD-Approved Housing Counseling program in preparation for homeownership. To see YNDC's current list of homes for sale, click here.