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Bank’s $60,000 donation to help rejuvenate city neighborhoods
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BANK GIVES BUCKS: JP Morgan Chase Bank donated $60,000 to Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp.’s homeownership and Lots of Green programs. YNDC was launched in February 2009 in partnership with the city of Youngstown and Raymond John Wean Foundation. From left are Cinnamon Pelly, Deborah Eppinger and James Pitzer, all of JPMorgan Chase; Presley Gillespie, YNDC executive director, and George Garchar of YNDC.
Bank’s $60,000 donation to help rejuvenate city neighborhoods
STAFF REPORT
YOUNGSTOWN — A donation of $60,000 to the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. by JPMorgan Chase Bank will help revitalize and strengthen Youngstown neighborhoods.
“We are honored that JPMorgan Chase has chosen to invest in the early development of Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. It demonstrates the bank’s commitment to YNDC’s vision and Youngstown. We are looking forward to forging a strong partnership with JPMorgan Chase as we continue to build a national model for neighborhood development in a post-industrial context,” said Presley L. Gillespie, YNDC executive director.
This is one of the funding sources YNDC will use in 2010 to help fund initiatives related to homeownership and vacant-land reuse.
One, a homeownership initiative, will provide homeownership training and financial incentives to purchase homes in YNDC-focus neighborhoods, Gillespie said.
The other program, Lots of Green, will reactivate formerly blighted vacant land to stabilize neighborhoods, he said.
“Through philanthropy, JPMorgan Chase encourages community revitalization efforts that help strengthen communities where we do business,” said Ted Walter, president of the Youngstown market for Chase.
Eugenia Atkinson, 2010 YNDC board chairwoman, said the organization is grateful for the JPMorgan Chase contribution and hopes it will enable YNDC to leverage additional investments from local and national financial institutions.
YNDC is a neighborhood- development organization launched in February 2009 in partnership with Youngstown and Raymond John Wean Foundation. Its goal is to transform neighborhoods into meaningful places where people invest time, money and energy into their homes and neighborhoods; where neighbors have the capacity to manage day-to-day issues; and where neighbors feel confident about the future of their neighborhood, Gillespie said.
YNDC will focus on intervention in three neighborhoods in 2010 including a comprehensive demonstration project in the Idora Neighborhood.
Gillespie said YNDC has a $1.6 million operating-and-programming budget for 2010, which includes major contributions of $400,000 from the Wean Foundation; $200,000 from the Youngstown Community Development Block Grant program; $350,000 from the federal stimulus program’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program; $305,000 from the U.S. Department of Labor, through U.S. Rep. Timothy Ryan’s office, to create a Green Jobs Training Program; $50,000 from Policy Link, a national private nonprofit organization, and $5,000 from PNC Bank.