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Block party planned to celebrate Youngstown's Taft neighborhood
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
It’s a party with a promise for a purpose.
Taft Promise Neighborhood plans a block party Saturday at Taft Elementary School.
Events begin at 9 a.m. with a volunteer work day to clean up the neighborhood surrounding the school.
The party begins at noon and runs until 4 p.m.
“We expect about 300 people — mostly folks from the neighborhood — just to come out and have a good time and learn,” said Rebecca Soldan, Americorps Vista volunteer with the Taft Promise Neighborhood. “We want to try to get their input. We want to make sure the plans we’re making to bring wrap-around services to the neighborhood makes sense to them.”
Promise Neighborhoods are an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education and last August, a Strong Cities, Strong Communities Americorps VISTA team began working in the 15-block area around the South Side school.
Saturday’s block party at Taft will include food, music, games and prizes.
The United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley is one of the organizations involved in the effort.
It will launch a Success After 6 program at Taft this fall similar to the program started this year at Youngstown Community School.
Besides the academic piece including tutoring, Success After 6 offers physical fitness, arts and warm meals to kindergarten through third-graders at Taft, said Bob Hannon, United Way president.
“We want to build relationships with the families, build trust with the families,” he said. “We really want the families to take ownership.”
Mercy Health and Compass Family and Community Services, both partners in the Taft Neighborhood Promise, are sponsoring Saturday’s activities.
Roxann Sebest, United Way’s director of marketing and communications, said the organization wants to register more families for the program.
Hannon said families have to commit to allow their children to stay after school until 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday during the school year. Parents can either pick up the children or the children will be transported through the program.
A staffer has been hired to work in the school, helping families.
Hannon said United Way wants to enroll 85 to 100 children in Success After 6 and 33 have signed up so far.