Groups seek funds for neighborhood projects from Wean Foundation

February 1, 2015 at 12:06a.m.

WARREN

Joan Sullivan is looking forward to beautifying and improving a city park that features a large chess board with 30-inch pieces, so one of her opening moves was to try to secure funding for the ambitious project.

“We’re going to add a greenhouse with recycled composting and a fire pit with picnic tables in the back lot,” the Warren woman said about a park near Mercer Avenue and Washington Street Northeast.

Sullivan, president of the Central City Neighborhood Association, is hoping to receive about $4,800 for the undertaking, which is why she was among those who applied for grants and were interviewed during Saturday’s Neighborhood SUCCESS and Leadership program’s two-hour sessions at the Raymond J. Wean Foundation, 147 W. Market St.

Representatives of 41 Mahoning Valley community grass-roots groups and organizations were on hand for funding consideration via the Wean Foundation’s Resident Council of Youngstown and Warren, noted Eres McKee, the foundation’s program officer for resident engagement.

The SUCCESS and Leadership program aims to transform the Valley’s leadership structure “to include meaningful and informed resident participation in the decision-making processes that affect neighborhood and community by engaging residents and cultivating leaders,” McKee explained.

Grants ranged from $500 to $5,000, she said, adding that notifications regarding funding status will be mailed by Friday.

Sullivan’s specific goals for the park include making the chess board wheelchair accessible, adding compost to roughly 20 raised beds for mainly vegetable gardens, using organic seeds that are not chemically altered, and revitalizing the area by providing a source of healthful foods.

Also hoping for a $4,800 grant is the Rev. Shepherdess Thomas, who runs the Warren-based Dandee’s Lion of the Field Ministries and intends to use the funds to move its mission forward.

Goals include helping women who are recovering from trauma such as domestic violence, abuse, homelessness and drug addictions, as well as assisting youngsters in grades three to five with their education. Much of the organization’s work is based on the inspirational Dan Millman book, “The Life You were Born to Live: A Guide to Finding Your Life Purpose,” the Rev. Mrs. Thomas said.

Accompanying her were Julius Barnnet and Beth Williams, who struggled with a drug addiction before getting clean 17 months ago. The ministry-based program helped Williams turn her life around, she explained.

“She’s committed and determined,” Williams said of Mrs. Thomas.

Jewel McMullen and Antoinette Smith applied for about $5,000 on behalf of Just Because, a Youngstown-based coalition dedicated to bringing communities together and eliminating violence largely by promoting good health, educational games and fun.

For the last five years, the group has used Crandall Park on Youngstown’s North Side for a Fun Day gathering in July. McMullen said she plans to use grant money to buy additional toys as well as inflatable houses, books, dunk tanks and other items for that occasion and for a children’s health day.

“We want to bring back some of the old ways to educate the children,” she said. “They [also] still need to learn to have fun.”

Sullivan, Warren’s Central City Neighborhood Association’s president, advised additional grass-roots organizations to apply for grants, saying that the process is anything but daunting and complicated.

“I would encourage others to apply who have a project idea. It’s not hard, and [it] shouldn’t scare them.”

Those who are awarded grants are required to attend an orientation meeting from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Wean Foundation.