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Change in Rescue Mission location discussed Tuesday night
Proposed location
Facility would be built in same North Side area
YOUNGSTOWN
The Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley wants to change the location of its proposed new shelter, but it seeks the neighborhood’s blessing first.
Nearly 60 residents attended a town-hall meeting Tuesday night hosted by Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, Councilman Nate Pinkard, D-3rd, and John Muckridge, the mission’s chief executive officer, at the Eugenia Atkinson Recreation Center to discuss the potential change.
The mission has been fundraising for a new shelter, which will cost about $4.9 million, because the current shelter, the former YMCA building for black people on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, is outdated, in disrepair and doesn’t have the capacity to handle more clients. The mission is about 10 percent shy of its fundraising goal.
Recently, the Mahoning County Land Bank acquired property a few hundred feet away from the current shelter, along the boulevard, Fleming Street and North Worthington Avenue.
The Rescue Mission proposed purchasing the property for its new building, instead of the 17.5 acres on the South Side it was deeded by the city. Muckridge said the South Side property would return to the city.
“We’ve been in the [North Side] neighborhood since the ’70s. We are asking for the neighborhood’s blessing to stay there, essentially,” Muckridge said.
He suggested the shelter’s more than 1,600 annual clients will benefit from staying near resources such as Mercy Health’s St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and Catholic Charities, plus its available access to Western Reserve Transit Authority bus lines.
“If we owned this property today, from a fundraising standpoint, we could break ground tomorrow,” Muckridge said.
Some residents were concerned about potential safety issues, however.
T. Sharon Woodberry, Youngstown’s director of community planning and economic development, asked what will happen to the current building, emphasizing the city doesn’t need more vacant buildings. Muckridge said one group was interested in buying and restoring the historic building and creating a museum.
Brown said the mission wants to start a conversation with the community and be a good potential neighbor.
The next steps are to address resident concerns and find solutions, the mayor said. He would like to reach out to people who didn’t or couldn’t attend the meeting.
Muckridge invited people to contact him at the mission and tour the current facility to learn more about the mission, its programs and why there is a need for the new building.
Also, Muckridge outlined the plans for the new shelter and showed a blueprint for the project. The new building will be one floor, have its own chapel and will have separate entrances and outdoor social areas for the men and the family-services divisions.
The mission provides short- and long-term shelter and three meals a day for homeless clients and provides social services and programs such as workforce development. Its goal is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and provide resources for those in need.