By Roxann Sebest
Vice President, United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – For the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, 2024 presented new challenges and new opportunities.
When an explosion destroyed the Realty Tower in May, our United Way led the downtown recovery efforts. Together with key nonprofit partners, we provided relief to those who lost everything and those who needed to be relocated from International Towers. We are extremely proud of the work done by our nonprofit community to help everyone affected by this tragedy.
In August, our United Way cut the ribbon on the new Centofanti Volunteer Resource Center in Boardman. This second location allows us to expand our programs and the impact we are making throughout the Valley.
Since its opening, we have welcomed more than 1,000 volunteers into the center to help on various projects. These volunteers served more than 3,000 hours in the last six months of 2024. The center is open to anyone looking for volunteer opportunities, whether it’s on your own or with a group. We are also welcoming nonprofits to use the space for their projects. The center is now home to our Saturday of Caring initiative in which we deliver food to 465 households throughout Mahoning County.
The 12,000-square-foot building provides significant warehouse space for our growing Care Closets. Under our Success After 6 initiative, we launched Care Closets in 2022 with four sites. These are resource pantries that provide food, clothing, school supplies, hygiene kits and other essential items students need.
“We [teachers] can teach and they [students] can learn,” says Lisa Fitzgerald, school counselor at Austintown Middle School who oversees the site’s Care Closet.
Thanks to a generous donation from The Youngstown Foundation, we opened Care Closets in every building in the Youngstown City School District, bringing our total to 19 in four districts. We continue to work with funders and school districts to continue this expansion.
The Success After 6 initiative also provides academic support and enrichment opportunities. The afterschool program serves 500 students at seven schools. Mentors are connected with students at six schools. During the summer of 2024, Success By 6, our pre-kindergarten readiness program, increased the number participating to 835 students across 19 school districts.
In 2024, United Way announced its 2023 campaign results – another record-breaking $3.74 million. We are set to announce our 2024 Campaign results in mid-February. Growth is attributed to our programs and the impact being made on those most in need.
The United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley was founded in 1919. We have nine full-time employees and one part-time employee.