Wean Foundation grants benefit nonprofits

Staff report

WARREN

The Raymond John Wean Foundation approved $135,000 in grants to three nonprofit organizations.

They are Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, Virginia Polytechnic and State University’s Metropolitan Institute and The News Outlet, a program of Youngstown State University’s Department of Journalism.

Closely aligned with the foundation’s commitment to creating economic opportunities, MAGNET’s Work-Based Learning Project is designed to address the “skills gap” and the “dramatic decline in the ability of adolescents to find work.”

The project, which received $40,000, will support programs at Choffin Career and Technical Center and Chaney High School to work with up to 40 secondary-level, as well as unemployed young adults (age 18-25); six teachers and 15 employers seeking qualified applicants in promising, high-wage, manufacturing careers.

Other grants funded this quarter:

$75,000 to Virginia Polytechnic and State University’s Metropolitan Institute — or MI — for its city of Youngstown Code Enforcement & Blight Remediation Technical Assistance & Capacity Building Project.

Phase I of the project will identify civic-sector leadership and engagement opportunities for citizens to be more involved in monitoring and addressing blight in their neighborhoods.

$20,000 to The News Outlet in Youngstown State University’s Journalism Department. The News Outlet is a collaborative effort founded in 2009 between Youngstown State University, WYSU-FM radio and The Vindicator.

For information on the grants or the foundation, go to www.rjweanfdn.org.