YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Organizers of Youngstown’s first National Community Development Day celebration say the event will spotlight resources offered by the city as well as other area organizations and businesses.
The event is being put on by the community development division of the city’s department of community planning and economic development, according to Beverly Hosey, Youngstown community development director. It will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, with activities at the Covelli Centre, Wean Foundation Park and Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre.
It will take place during National Community Development Week, which runs Monday through Friday.
“What we’re looking to highlight is that we’re here and we want people to know that we’re here for them and we care about them and about their quality of life,” Hosey said.
The community development division is “the people portion of the heartbeat of the
city,” said Wendy Robinson, assistant compliance officer in the community development division. It interacts with people, connects people with other agencies and funds subrecipients, which “are basically like our hands that reach into the community” to provide assistance.
“We want them to know that there are agencies under and within our department that have resources available, but there are also agencies and organizations as well as groups within the city of Youngstown who provide services that they can access as well,” she said.
Among the division’s activities are administering and distributing funds from the federal Community Development Block Grant program, Hosey said. In addition, it administers programs such as the At Home in Youngstown program to promote home ownership in the city through assistance with down payments and property upgrades, and provides services such as housing counseling and educating people to help them perform maintenance and build credit.
“We just don’t want to build houses. We want to strengthen the families that will occupy these houses,” Hosey said.
As of last week, more than 100 organizations and individuals – including local businesses and nonprofit entities – had signed up to participate in the event, Hosey said. It also will feature food, games, competitions, music and vendors.
“We meet people where they are and help them to begin to meet the needs that they have. A lot of times, people need to know that someone is listening,” Robinson said.
Among the issues people bring to the department staff when they go out into the community are concerns about litter, homeowners versus renters and finding out who to reach out to about their specific needs, she said. When the division releases its annual and five-year action plans, they see that their concerns are addressed in those plans. And when grants come up, the division looks for agencies that might meet the identified needs.
Organizations participating in Thursday’s event include banks, economic development organizations, civic organizations, social agencies and entities that do home repairs and provide household services.
The engagement piece of the event is going to be particularly important, Robinson said. In many cases, people aren’t familiar with everything that an organization or business does.
“That’s another reason we’re inviting these organizations, agencies and businesses to this event – so that they can show people everything that they do,” she said. In addition to learning what various entities do, people can make personal connections with the individuals in those organizations.
The community development division also is working on developing various advisory boards, including a youth advisory board, a professional advisory board and a community advisory board.
“If we don’t interact with them, it’s going to be hard for us to hear from them about what their needs are, and then to begin to direct them and assist them and strengthen their families and meeting these needs,” Robinson said.