YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Several cemeteries in the Mahoning Valley will receive grants for improvements.
In total, the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing awarded $104,000 in grants to 45 cemeteries in 31 counties through the fiscal year 2025 Cemetery Grant Fund.
The program awards grants to properly registered cemeteries, except for-profit corporations, to defray the costs of maintenance or training of cemetery personnel in the maintenance and operation of the cemeteries.
Here are the cemeteries in the Valley that will receive funding:
- Lowellville Cemetery: $2,500 to repair and reset monuments.
- Vienna Township Cemetery: $2,500 to clean, repair and restore monuments.
- St. Patrick Cemetery, Youngstown: $2,500 for the removal of three large, interconnected trees.
- Howland Township Cemetery: $2,400 to repair and restore a maintenance garage.
- Oakdale Cemetery, Leetonia: $2,500 to clean, repair and restore headstones.
“This is the seventh year the division has awarded grant funds to assist registered nonprofit cemeteries in completing critical projects that may otherwise never be addressed due to lack of funding,” said Daphne Hawk, superintendent of the Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing. “We are honored to provide these important funds to help Ohio’s beautiful cemeteries repair roadways, restore monuments, repair fencing, improve signage and enhance visitor safety, all of which helps preserve an important piece of our state’s history.”
The annual grant is funded by $1 of every $2.50 from burial permit fees received by the division. Cemeteries that applied for and did not receive funding this year are encouraged to apply again next year when the application submission window opens July 1.
More information can be found HERE.