WORKSHOPS | Youngstown Wick Neighbors Inc. and Youngstown 2010 are coordinating five workshops as part of a "Neighborhood Reinvestment: How To's" program. The workshops will be at the Butler Institute

Workshop 1: "Reversing Decline: Goals for Neighborhood Investment in Weak Market Cities" on Wednesday. Jamael Tito Brown, community organizer for Youngstown State University's Center for Urban and Regional Studies, serves as moderator. The speakers are Alan Mallach, research director for the National Housing Institute in Montclair, N.J., and author of "Building a Better Urban Future: New Directions for Housing Policies in Weak Market Cities," and Bruce Murphy, KeyBank National Association's executive vice president and president of its community development banking division, based in Cleveland.
Workshop 2: "Vacant Properties: Neighborhood Liability or Asset?" on June 14. Dan Holland, senior adviser of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, serves as moderator. The speakers are Joseph Schilling, director of research policy and an executive committee member at the National Vacant Properties Campaign in Washington, D.C., and Lisa Nelson, associate director for community analysis for Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Sciences Center on Urban Poverty and Social Change. Also participating in the discussion are Mahoning County Treasurer John Reardon and William D'Avignon, Youngstown's deputy director of planning.
Workshop 3: "Financing Neighborhood Reinvestment: The Role of the Private Sector" on Sept. 27. The workshop focuses on the role of national, regional and local foundations, corporations and banking institutions in neighborhood investment.
Workshop 4: "Who Speaks for the Neighborhood? Who Sets the Neighborhood Agenda?" on Oct. 18. The workshop will focus on empowering residents to improve and shape the physical, social and economic conditions in their neighborhood.
Workshop 5: "Financing Neighborhood Reinvestment: How Do Cities Do It?" on Nov. 8. The workshop focuses on the role of city hall in shaping a menu of tools as incentives for potential homeowners and developers.
Source: Wick Neighbors Inc. and Youngstown 2010