Center renamed for longtime community improvement leader

YOUNGSTOWN

Eugenia C. Atkinson has always preferred to remain in the background as she spent years spearheading numerous community-improvement efforts.

For one special occasion, however, she was very much in the foreground.

“I feel so blessed. I’ve always wanted to be the person who makes things happen for other people,” said Atkinson, who retired in 2007 after having worked nearly 20 years for the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority.

Suffice it to say many other people watched something happen for Atkinson, as she was the guest of honor during a dedication ceremony Thursday in which the Arlington Heights Recreational Center was renamed the Eugenia Atkinson Recreational Center.

The move was largely the result of Atkinson’s leadership skills and community-outreach efforts.

More than 130 people that included community leaders, clergy, elected officials and numerous family members and friends attended the one-hour ceremony at the center, 903 Otis St., on the North Side, to honor Atkinson and rename the facility after her. Since the late 1980s, she served in several capacities at the YMHA, including human-resources director and executive director.

Read more about the matter in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.