United Methodist Community Centers are closing

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

It is unlikely that the recently shuttered United Methodist Community Centers in Youngstown and Warren will ever come back to life as UMCCs.

Services were suspended indefinitely at the UMCCs at 2401 Belmont Ave. in Mahoning County and at 309 N. Park Ave. in Trumbull County, by their board of directors effective Sept. 15 because of a lack of sustainable funding.

In a news release, the board said it “regrets to announce that the United Methodist Community Center will suspend services indefinitely. Every effort is being made to connect our clientele with other area agencies. We are hopeful that we will serve the communities of the Mahoning Valley again in the future.”

The board said it is proud to have followed in the footsteps of the Pearl Street Mission of Youngstown and the Rebecca Williams Community Center of Warren, established in 1924 and 1926, respectively. A plethora of people passed through their doors to utilize the available services, to find employment, to become a volunteer, or find a haven for themselves and their children, UMCC directors said.

The legacy centers hosted basketball leagues, style shows, mother’s groups, boxing, karate, gymnastics, child care, transportation and other activities.

“The board started a couple of years ago tapping cash reserves to keep programs going,” said the Rev. Abby Auman, Mahoning Valley District superintendent of the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church and member of the UMCC Board of Directors.

A variety of grants had provided excellent program funding, but they did not cover administrative and overhead costs. The East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church and national office of United Methodist Women have provided, and continued to provide, significant funding for decades, the Rev. Mrs. Auman said.

Tayana Pannell, UMCC executive director, and the rest of the staff worked very hard to find new grants but were unsuccessful, thereby forcing the board of directors to suspend services and officially close the UMCCs at the end of October.

“It was agonizing because we know how much the services positively impacted people,” said Mrs. Auman.

The emphasis of the UMCC programs was on women, children, veterans, seniors.

The staff made every effort to connect clients with other agencies during their last days at work, said the Rev. Richard Smith, pastor of Brookfield United Methodist Church and chairman of the UMCC’s board of trustees.

“A lot of people worked very hard to save the Centers. But, they had a 90-year run and were no longer sustainable,” Pannell said. “We will keep our eyes open for new opportunities.”

It would have to reorganize in different form with a different name, both yet to be determined. The UMCC was heavily supported by Methodist churches. “We have exhausted our assets,” she said.

“The move from downtown Youngstown to Belmont Avenue did not cause the problem. We had to move because the rent was raised there and also by First United Methodist Church, where the program was housed in Warren. Also, the people we served that generated revenue was lost,” said the Rev. Mr. Smith.

“We looked for another facility, but without success.”

“We suspended services and laid off most of the staff. We are still operating but working out a timetable to close, likely by the end of October. We are almost out of money,” he said.