Wean doles out $1M to Valley groups

Staff report

WARREN

The Raymond John Wean Foundation distributed about $1 million this month to Mahoning Valley organizations that are concerned about issues such as economic development, child growth and welfare, the environment and poverty.

The largest grant from the June allocation meeting was $575,000 awarded to D&E Counseling Center, 711 Belmont Ave., Youngstown, which plans to operate a kindergarten-readiness program for preschoolers living in the Youngstown City School District.

The D&E Counseling Center program, SPARK, will mirror the Warren SPARK program and is aimed at helping preschoolers and their parents develop habits that will improve the children’s success in school, said Joel Ratner, foundation president, in a press release.

The Warren SPARK program, launched in 2009, already is showing strong results with SPARK-trained children outperforming those who did not go through the training. The SPARK program pairs 4-year-olds and one of their parents with a learning partner or mentor, who visits every month with a new book, game and activity for them to do together, Ratner said.

The foundation, dedicated to helping strengthen the Valley, its organizations and its people, awarded eight grants at its June meeting, deepening its commitment to helping area organizations that are trying to improve the quality of life in the area, Ratner said.

The June awards closely follow foundation’s actions in March when it gave a total of about $800,000 to 10 area nonprofit groups.

“We invest in organizations, projects and individuals that we believe are best positioned to do the most good,” Ratner said.

In addition to the D&E Counseling Center, the foundation is deeply invested in the work of the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative and has supported that group’s efforts with numerous grants, including one for $500,000 in March.

The MVOC, formed in 2008, has been the driving force behind numerous neighborhood-improvement projects in Youngstown and Warren, including an active campaign to identify and then address the serious problem of vacant homes and land, Ratner said.

In addition to its large grants to these two organizations, the foundation also awarded smaller grants to organizations dedicated to environment and social-justice issues, Ratner said.