Wean Foundation gets $200K for neighborhood work

YOUNGSTOWN — The Convergence Partnership, a collaboration of six of the nation’s leading funders plus the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has awarded the Raymond J. Wean Foundation $200,000 for its work in Youngstown and Warren neighborhoods.

Half of the money will go to a program to hold neighborhood markets more accountable and half will go toward new efforts to grow and sell food in urban areas, said Joel Ratner, president of the Wean Foundation.

The foundation was required to provide matching funds of $400,000 to receive the grant.

Ratner said the foundation is assisting the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative with its efforts in organizing urban residents. The group is working to encourage neighborhood markets to monitor what is happening around their stores and to sell less alcohol and more healthy foods.

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