Press Releases

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative and community leaders left for Washington D.C. today to join thousands in the fight for Health Care.

The group composed of MVOC organizers, community leaders and Take Action Minnesota, left MVOC’s office to join thousands in protest against the health insurance industry in Washington D.C. Over the course of the two-day trip, the group plans to protest America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) – a health insurance lobbying group – as well as deliver a letter to Congressman John Boccieri (OH-16) from several prominent members of the Catholic community. 

AHIP will hold its annual policy conference on March 9 and 10 during which healthcare reform supporters from across the country will come together to make a mass citizens’ arrest of the health insurance executives. The arrests come as a result, protesters say, of the executives denying care, hiking up premiums, and contributing to the deaths of 45,000 people each year.  

“It’s time to put the enemies on notice,” said Hattie Wilkins, one of the leaders making the trek to Washington.  “We will not allow the big corporations and their lobbyists to bully Congress to a standstill. This means confronting the health insurance industry that has secretly spent tens of millions to protect its profits by trying to kill reform.”

Corrine Williams, Warren, will be one of thousands armed with arrest warrants, badges, crime tape, “wanted” posters, and more. The crowd will be deputized as officers to carry out the arrests of the Big Insurance CEOS and AHIP leaders.

Another community leader, Della Hughey of Youngstown, expressed her thoughts on the insurance companies’ negligence as well as their plight to hinder reform through cronyism in Congress.

“There are two sides in this fight, and it is time for members of Congress to pick one,” said Hughey.  “They can stand with us and support real change, or they side with the insurance industry. We’ve had enough, and we’re heading to D.C. to say so.” 

The group plans to return to Youngstown on Tuesday, March 9.
  
Read more about the trip to D.C. at WFMJ.com or WKBN.com.

YOUNGSTOWN   —“Start at the root” was the message brought by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on her Thursday, February 18 visit with Mahoning Organizing Collaborative.

The intimate, hour-long session held at Centenary United Methodist Church brought the Senate hopeful face to face with community leaders and residents of the Mahoning Valley to discuss the issues facing the area.  Among the topics discussed were health care, vacant properties and jobs. Brunner lent some insight into her views on the issues as well as praise for MVOC’s efforts, providing reassurance that the collaborative efforts of the community leaders are on the right track to effect change in the Valley.

Community leaders, such as Pastor Michael Harrison and Patti Dougan, directly questioned Brunner on her plans in dealing with the unique needs of the Mahoning Valley should she be elected to a Senate seat.  After listening to the passionate words of each leader, Brunner provided some hopeful and complimentary feedback.

“What you have here is very aggressive grassroots campaigning, and it is a group I value very highly,” said Brunner. “I see a future here.”

Brunner went on to comment on the importance of collaboration and bringing people together to ask questions and address issues.

"What you have here are very specific problems, and the change is not going to happen overnight,” said Brunner.

“With changes, you have to start small and learn to do it very well,” she added, stressing the importance of taking each issue step by step.  She provided the example of identifying an anchor business in a targeted area, building partnerships from that central location, taking what is learned from that process and reapplying it in other areas again and again.

“There aren’t too many silver bullets, what it takes is people rolling up their sleeves and working together,” said Brunner.

Not only did Brunner take questions from the audience, she also spoke of her own interest in making government and government leadership responsible.  She focused on removing big interests and big money from political campaigning.

“When we take big money out of politics and do the things you’re doing, we’ll be able to elect people who understand…it is about serving,” said Brunner.  She added that our legislators and other government officials must remain vigilant about his or her responsibilities within the areas they serve.

MVOC has invited all the candidates for U.S. Senate for similar meetings and anticipates this event will be the first in a series.

Two familiar names recently appeared in the February 2010 Double Issue of the Business Journal: Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative and Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp.

Both organizations, as the Business Journal put it, merit praise for the work done in recent months to redevelop and rehabilitate the Valley's ailing core areas. The publication cites MVOC's growing role in the area of community building as encouraging.

The full opinion piece is as follows:

Journal Opinion:

Community Organizers Merit Praise

Published in The February Double Issue 2010/Business Journal

 

Community organizing has been the subject of derision, if not scorn, in some quarters since coming to voters’ attention in 2008 when they learned of Barack Obama’s background. Regardless, we can’t help but be encouraged by the growing role that emerging organizations such as the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative and the Youngstown
Neighborhood Development Corp. are taking in our region’s redevelopment efforts.

 

The collaborative, for example, has emerged as a leading voice in efforts to secure neighborhood stabilization funds to rehabilitate and, when necessary, raze properties in blighted urban neighborhoods. The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp.
has focused its efforts on the neighborhoods of the largest city in the Valley. YNDC, as it is becoming known, recently targeted three inner-city neighbor hoods for reclamation. Both organizations have benefitted from financial support from the Raymond John Wean Foundation.

 

We are also impressed with the quality and passion of the individuals who have taken roles in these organizations. Last fall Presley Gillespie left an 18-year career in banking to become executive director of YNDC. Before coming on board as a community organizer at MVOC, Phil Kidd spearheaded the Defend Youngstown movement, a grassroots campaign grown from the heart, not a focus group, to present a positive image of the city.

 

With so much focus on initiatives to create and retain jobs, it is often easy to forget that inner-city neighborhoods also play an important role. Decaying homes are incubators for criminal behavior, which spreads beyond those neighborhoods, and families deserve to live where they can be safe. Crime and decay also deter companies from locating here.

 

Those involved with these initiatives are realistic about the challenges they face. As YNDC’s assistant director, Ian Beniston, notes, it took 30 years for some of these neighborhoods to be where they are today. “Our work will always be a work in progress,” Presley rightly observes.

 

That said, in addition to their vision for the area, these entities must ensure their long-term viability if their leaders intend to continue in their roles and to expand their scope where needed.

 

To date, both entities have depended heavily on the financial support of the Wean Foundation,
a philanthropy that provides some $4 million in grants annually. The foundation should be com mended for supporting these worthy endeavors.  However, the recession, made worse by the near financial meltdown, taught us the consequences economic downturns can have on endowment funds; foundation priorities can shift as well. Still, it is encouraging to see the financial support these organizations have received. Even more encouraging is their community support.

 

Maybe in future campaigns, “community organizer” won’t be a phrase so easily ridiculed. As the 2008 election showed, there is a place for community organizers, even in the White House.

 

The full February 2010 Edition of the Business Journal is available at www.Business-Journal.com