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Nearly $100,000 in grants awarded to local groups
WARREN
Neighborhood SUCCESS, a program of The Raymond John Wean Foundation, has awarded nearly $100,000 in grants to support grass-roots groups.
With grants of $500 to $5,000, the SUCCESS projects affect the neighborhoods of Warren and Youngstown by expanding resident participation and leadership, encouraging communication among residents and building on the resources that exist in the communities, said Jennifer Roller, Wean Foundation spokeswoman.
Several SUCCESS grantees are taking a regional approach, working to combine efforts and bring Warren and Youngstown groups together.
One such program, the Art Outreach Gallery, received funding for its Blight to Light Initiative. The program is a partnership with neighborhood associations, school systems, housing authorities and the cities of Warren and Youngstown aimed at turning blighted properties into works of art by students painting pieces of plywood that will be used to board up vacant properties in neighborhoods, Roller said.
In addition to groups of residents, community, school and faith-based organizations are encouraged to apply for grants.
Examples of programs are the Youngstown Afterschool Alliance, which provides youth activities, meals and parent activities to students at several city schools; and building upon a previous SUCCESS grant, the Upton Association, a group working with fourth-grade students from Warren to inspire them to take ownership of their neighborhood and the historic district. Through the program, students learn about volunteering, litter control, preservation and history.
The grant applications are judged by citizen grant-making committees in Youngstown and Warren, said Gordon Wean, grandson of Warren industrialist Raymond John “Jack” Wean, who created the Raymond John Wean Foundation that annually gives about $3.5 million to nonprofit organizations, a majority of which are in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
One of the things the Wean Foundation particularly values is as broad community input as possible, Wean said.
The real keys to awarding the grants are the grant-making committees, who know their communities and how to address them, Wean said.
“We entrust them with the decisions, and they take the responsibility very seriously,” he said.
Though the money and the projects are important, grant-making committees are more accessible to residents who might come to their neighbors with a proposal but might never come to a foundation to seek money.
“That’s the value. We’re not just giving money away. Our hope is to be creating and supporting budding grass-roots leaders,” Wean said.
Roller said Neighborhood SUCCESS invites applications for its next round of funding, the deadline for which is March 15.
Grant-seeker orientations are Feb. 10 at the Trumbull Metropolitan Housing Authority, 4076 Youngstown Warren Road SE, Room B; and Feb. 16 at Park Vista, 1216 Fifth Ave., Youngstown. The sessions are at 4:05 and 5:35 p.m. both days. To reserve a space online, visit www.rjweanfdn.org, or call 330-394-5600, ext. 106.
The Raymond John Wean Foundation’s Neighborhood SUCCESS has awarded nearly $100,000 in Round VI grants to support nonprofit grass-roots groups in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Warren Grantees
Art Outreach Gallery, Blight to Light in Youngstown and Warren: $2,000. The project brings blight to light by using houses and businesses as art canvasses for students’ artwork.
Pathway Sober House, M.I.N.D. (Mom I Need Development): $2,380. To provide better choices and outcomes to youth from impoverished neighborhoods whose parents suffer from addiction.
Stop One Place Help is Available Inc., Funding Direct Assistance To The Desperate and Needy: $5,000. To provide direct assistance along with packaging assistance from other agencies and churches to meet the most urgent client needs for such things as utility shutoffs, preventing homelessness, medical needs and others.
T.N.R. of Warren Inc., Feral and Stray Cat Spay/Neuter Blitz: $5,000. To address the enormous increase in the number of felines roaming the streets of Warren.
Upton Association, 4th Grade Introduction Into Their Community: $4,500.
Warren City Schools, Jefferson PK-8, LOSS (Living withOut Someone Special) Children’s Support Group: $3,871.
Warren Little Raiders, Deemer Park Revitalization: $5,000.
Youngstown Grantees
4 Square Block Watch, Neighborhood Beautification: $1,950. Boulevard Park Block Watch, Beautify Rush and Euclid Boulevards: $3,700.
Brentwood Block Club, Idora Boarding Project: $500.
Delta Sigma Theta Youngstown Alumnae Chapter/Economic Development Committee, Financial Fortitude ... Do More With Less: $650.
Dewey Block Watch, Beautification, Cleanup and Safety: $1,500.
Idora Neighborhood Association Inc.: $5,000.
Learning Tree: $3,900. To provide after-school tutoring assistance and enrichment opportunities in a safe and supportive environment for Harding Elementary students.
Market Street Muppets: $1,000. A community-based learning program for at-risk youth, using black-light puppetry to improve trade and artistic skills.
Neighborhood Improvement Corps, The Community Tool Shed: $1,000. To lend tools for beautification and home improvement projects to low-income, elderly and disabled individuals and neighborhood organizations throughout the city.
Parkview Community Garden, Neighborhood Tilapia Farm: $3,000.
Rocky Ridge Neighborhood Association, Branding, Beauty, Safety & Security Plan: $4,790.
Sisters of Serenity Mentoring Corp. Youth Development: $2,990.
St. Dominic Church, Lucius Avenue Neighborhood Beautification: $5,000.
St. Patrick’s Church of Youngstown, St. Pat’s 4-H, Youth, & Community Gardens: $3,814.
United City Boxing, Neighborhood of Champions: $3,244.
Wee Can Move, Too, Inc., Wick Park Playground: $5,000.
West Side Community Center, West Side Science Success 2: $2,500.
YCS-Destination ImagiNation, Project Outreach-Band Together: $3,350.
Youngstown Afterschool Alliance Advisory Board, Youngstown Afterschool Alliance: $5,000.
Youngstown Bike Rack Initiative, Downtown Bike Rack Sculptures: $4,990.
Youngstown Striders Parent Club, Youth Exposure: $4,425. To provide youth ages 5-18 a safe and nurturing environment with training equipment and uniforms to train and compete in track and field events.
Source: The Raymond John Wean Foundation