Community groups | What they do

Congregation Rodef Sholom and the North Side Interfaith Partnership focused on the theme “Bringing the Dream Home: Taking Action” during its interfaith service and program celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community organizations offered information on their purposes and how people can get involved.

ACTION: Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods is a multifaith, multiethnic, faith-based community organization whose aim is development of strategies to reduce concentrated poverty, improve the quality of life in the Mahoning Valley and fight racism and inequalities. Contact: Lisa Freeman Williamson, (330) 744-7979 or e-mail to ACTIONOH@aol.com.

Beatitude House/Potters Wheel: Sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown, the program provides transitional housing, education, counseling and supportive services for homeless women with custody of children, aiming to achieve permanent housing and economic stability for their families. Contact is Kelly Elko, (330) 792-3644.

City of Youngstown Community Development Agency: 2010 Wick Park Neighborhood Plan is one of the strategy areas for development in the city’s 2010 plan. Contact is Bill D’Avignon, (330) 744-0854.

Common Wealth Inc.: The nonprofit community development corporation develops affordable housing including project managment and financial planning. Contact is Pat Rosenthal, (330) 744-2667.

Defend Youngstown/Wick Park Revitalization Project: The collaborative initiative is spearheaded by nonprofit groups, citizens and the city in an effort to be the catalyst for revitalization of the surrounding neighborhood as well as to create a model that other communities can use to help implement elements of the Youngstown 2010 plan. Contact is Phil Kidd, (330) 519-8712.

Ethnic Heritage Community: The organizations plans to develop a museum to celebrate the ethnic diversity of Youngstown. Contact is the Rev. Joseph Rudjak, (330) 743-0490.

Heartreach Ministries: Programs focus on young children to instill in them life skills, values and character traits that will help them to be successful in life. It also offers preschool day care and activities for school-age children. Contact is Paris Yanno, (330) 744-2000.

Richard Brown Memorial Methodist Church Food Shelf: The church provides a food distribution last Wednesday of each month. Contact is Don Rotar, (330) 545-4189.

Lien Forward: The agency returns vacant, tax-delinquent land to productive use by assisting neighboring property owners to acquire tax-delinquent, abandoned properties. Contact is Deb Flora (330) 259-1040.

TimeBank of the Mahoning Watershed: The program in Columbiana, Mahoning, Trumbull and Shenango counties is marketplace of services where one person might teach another how to play the guitar and then banks time dollars to buy another service. Contact is Tony Budak, (330) 568-7002.

Treez Please: The group encourages the reforestation of Youngstown’s urban landscape by acquiring vacant, lien-free land in the city to convert to greenspaces and by helping homeowners install and learn to maintain tree-lawn plantings. Contact is Debra Weaver, (330) 744-1748 or e-mail to debraweaver2000@hotmail.com.

Youngstown Northside Weed and Seed: The program is a neighborhood revitalization strategy that involves citizens, government and businesses in efforts to increase public safety and improve the quality of life in the Northside communities. Contact is Terri Bryant, (330) 717-6218.