YNDC kicks off $750,000 home rehab program

By GRAIG GRAZIOSI

ggraziosi@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation kicked off a $750,000 multi-home rehabilitation campaign Tuesday morning at an event on Miltonia Avenue in the East Side Sharonline neighborhood.

Twenty homes owned by individuals with low income in the first, second and sixth wards will receive upgrades and repairs through the YNDC and its partnership with PNC Bank and The Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh.

Tiffany Sokol, the housing director at YNDC, said those wards consistently have the highest number of individuals applying for assistance, so the program will focus on those wards initially, but is open to engaging outside of those bounds.

Bradley Young lives on Miltonia Avenue and has already received new windows and new exterior paint, with more to come.

“I had a bike accident and had to go on disability. I was encouraged to apply for help through the YNDC and they stepped in and did everything,” he said. “I got a new hot water heater and they’re going to do the floors, ceilings, glass block, roof — there’s a whole laundry list.”

Sokol said that YNDC is partnering with a number of organizations to offer the program participants additional services.

MYCAP will offer employment training, Easter Seals will offer Meals on Wheels to senior participants, the American Red Cross Lake to River Chapter will provide free smoke detectors and Aspire will provide educational services.

Mayor Jamael Tito Brown thanked YNDC and its partners for launching the program and working toward neighborhood revitalization.

“I want to thank them for thinking of the future,” Brown said. “If we want to keep people here in Youngstown, we’ve got to focus on neighborhoods and people’s homes. It’s all about neighborhoods, neighborhoods, neighborhoods.”