Valley Voice - Fall 2009

MVOC and Its Statewide Partners Met With Attorney General this Summer

In July, over 250 leaders from across the state cheered as Attorney General Rich Cordray announced further plans to pursue legal action against “rescue scam” companies that promise to help people in foreclosure, charge fees of up to 1,800, and then do not deliver. “If this is happening to someone you know, we want to hear about it,” said Cordray, who has been working with members of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC), a network of ten organizations across the state including the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC).

Cordray has been meeting with neighborhood leaders from the Mahoning Valley since the spring; discussing issues ranging from rescue scams to criminal justice reform to foreclosure prevention dollars for non-profits. “We are building a strong working relationship with his office and all of Mahoning Valley has been impacted by the housing crisis – the cities and the suburbs,” said Pastor Michael Harrison, chairperson of the MVOC Sponsoring Committee.

Community Garden in Warren Becomes Model for Valley

Thirty-year dream of local resident comes to fruition

Not unlike other post-industrial cities in the Midwest and Northeastern United States, Warren faces serious problems including abandoned properties, vacant lots, and blight stemming from decades of disinvestment. Apathy increasingly seems to be an appropriate reaction to some of the challenges the city faces.

Mary Ann Franklin of Warren disagrees. Her partnership with the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) through a Wean Foundation Neighborhood Success Grant has allowed her to bring hope into full bloom – literally.

Community Leaders Step up in 7th Ward

The 7th Ward Citizens’ Coalition (7WCC), a non-profit umbrella organization that consists of 11 neighborhood associations operating on the southeast side of Youngstown, has involved hundreds of residents in its work this year.

The group has flourished under the direction of a team of leaders and active participation from Councilman John Swierz. “The 7th Ward Citizens Coalition is partnering with the 12-plus neighborhood organizations in our ward and the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) to bring about change that will raise the quality of life in our area and in the city as a whole. Neighbors coming together with businesses and institutions to rebuild the neighborhood is positive,” stated Patti Dougan, 7WCC President.

In 2009, 7WCC has assisted in obtaining SUCCESS grants for the area, been a key leader in the campaign to get slumlords to clean up their properties, surveyed vacant buildings and land, organized clean-up events, and addressed nuisance issues.

Community Leadership Program to Begin in January 2010

Community Leadership Program to Begin in January 2010

Beginning in spring 2010, the Metro College at Youngstown State University will offer a new certificate program in Community Leadership. This new, non-credit program is designed to provide insight into how communities function, how community organizations can positively impact neighborhood development, and empower program participants to create positive community change. The program will offer hands-on training aimed at building the knowledge base and skill-set necessary to affecting community environments. Classroom assignments and activities will address strategies for networking and understanding leadership principles and how to positively influence others.

East Side Residents Fight for Future of East Side

East Side Residents Fight for Future of East Side

The east side of Youngstown has suffered tremendous loss over the last twenty years. Deterioration and blight have swept through the entire city, but the effects have been most devastating in the neighborhoods on the city’s east side. The loss of major businesses, banks, and countless numbers of homes has not only affected how the community looks, but has caused very proud neighborhoods to lose hope.

Reverend Ronnie Tucker, pastor of We Walk by Faith Church said, “We don’t have anything over here anymore, the grocery stores are gone and now our banks are leaving. It seems like we have been forgotten. I love the east side – that’s what keeps me here, I love it.”

Endorsements

Endorsements

“In just a few short years, The Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative has become a major force in helping to turn the Valley around. It’s not just the elected leaders who need to be engaged in moving us forward, but our churches, our civic organizations, our labor groups and our neighborhoods. The MVOC has done a great job of bringing people together, and I consider them a partner in the work that I am doing to make the Mahoning Valley a leader in good government, high technology and quality of life.” Congressman Tim Ryan, U.S. House of Representatives

“With the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative... is a collective effort of neighborhood groups and churches and labor unions [which] is another example of citizens taking ownership of their community. The Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative is revitalizing neighborhoods, surveying land to determine future economic use, and cleaning up crime-ridden neighborhoods. Ordinary citizens are organizing to make a difference, and it’s working.” Senator Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senate

Clergy Engage in Social Justice Strategic Planning

Congregations set stage for organizing efforts in 2010

Healthy neighborhoods need healthy institutions. Houses of worship, faith leaders, and mobilized congregation members are important elements necessary to bring about change in any community.

“In Biblical terms, faith without works is dead,” said Elder Christopher McKee, of the Community Revival and Discipleship Center and community organizer with the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC). “The economic crisis that we now all face is a further agitation for our congregations to not just provide services to those in need – but to organize for those who have been left out to have a voice.”

Leaders in Belmont Neighborhood Launch Organizing Effort

The Northside of Warren looks to organize

The City of Warren is home to a large number of active neighborhood associations. These groups help to beautify the community, provide an outlet for frustration, propose solutions to neighborhood problems, and build relationships between neighbors that significantly improve quality of life in the city. Unfortunately, there are some areas within the city that are not included in the boundaries of existing neighborhood groups – and the residents in those neighborhoods do not receive the benefits of these organizations. Sharon Cook and Greg Smith live in one such neighborhood, and are determined to change that.

“This whole area is not safe,” notes Cook, a longtime resident of the Mahoning Valley. “I have to walk my daughter to catch the bus for school each morning, and then I clean up my corner from all the trash thrown on it the day before.” Cook has watched her community slip into decline over the past ten years because of rapid emigration and disinvestment.

MVOC Escalates Health Care Reform Efforts

MVOC Escalates Health Care Reform Efforts

“I was a member of the USWA for 38 years. Now I have no job and no health care. They threw me away like an old shoe. I’m gonna fight! It takes more than one person – it's me today. It could be you tomorrow,” said Hattie Wilkins, one of the 100 individuals who attended an August health care rally in front of U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan’s Warren office.

Wilkins is one of 46 million Americans that are now uninsured, as premiums have grown four times faster than wages, and half of all personal bankruptcies stem from medical expenses.

MVOC Wins Ten Point Agreement with Landlord

Initial victory paves way for what will be a long campaign

The Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC)’s campaign to force a local landlord to clean up his problem properties is beginning to see success. Mac Properties Group (Mac) has demolished four of its vacant properties and has boarded up dozens more after negotiating an agreement with MVOC.

Despite these achievements, the committee has expressed that they are not done with Mac, and that the owner has not yet fulfilled his agreement. “We’re sick of having blight in our city neighborhoods. We have to hold these landlords accountable. No one deserves to live by this or in this,” stated Jim London, president of the Idora Neighborhood Association.

Mac owns and operates approximately 300 properties in the city of Youngstown – of which 20 percent were found to be uninhabitable and/or abandoned eyesores. Still, leaders noted that the campaign is just beginning, and that Mac Properties is only one of their targeted landlords.

Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative Puts Down its Roots in the Valley

Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative Puts Down its Roots in the Valley

Launched in March of 2008, the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) is a broad-based community organizing effort that aims to improve the quality of life in the Youngstown-Warren region through the creation and support of healthy neighborhoods.

It is the mission of MVOC to identify and develop grassroots leaders to address issues including vacant properties, access to healthy foods/health care reform, safe neighborhoods, and expanding economic opportunities for low and moderate-income families. MVOC utilizes a multi-issue model that blends a membership base of churches, schools, neighborhood associations, parent associations, and nonprofit agencies with direct door-to-door grassroots organizing to build social capacity and encourage collaboration. Currently, MVOC is an alliance consisting of over 60 churches, neighborhood associations, parent groups, and other community organizations.

MVOC Meets with HUD Deputy Secretary

Leaders made one final push for NSP funds, get commitment for Sims to come to Valley

In September, the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) and Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with Ron Sims, the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This meeting was a part of MVOC’s ongoing regional campaign to address vacant properties and neighborhood stabilization which early this year drew nearly 1,000 people to a local church to meet with Lt. Governor Lee Fisher.

“Ron Sims and a half a dozen officials from HUD heard first-hand the importance of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) application for the Valley, and the strength of our work in Mahoning Valley. It was significant that he made a commitment to travel to Northeastern Ohio to meet and further discuss resources and HUD programs aimed at older industrial cities,” said Pastor Michael Harrison.

Mayor Williams received a standing ovation from the 400 people in attendance as he lifted up one of the only NSP applications in the country that was a collaboration of nine municipalities, described the Mahoning Valley’s vision for revitalization, and called on HUD to work with us to make the region sustainable and allow it to thrive.

New Community College Offers Classes

Governor visits Youngstown for launch

One of the first students of the newly created Eastern Gateway Community College, Brenda Brady spoke to a packed crowd at the launch of the Mahoning Valley’s first community college. “You’re giving me a legacy. You’re giving me a dream…this college is long overdue,”
Brady said.

A licensed practical nurse employed as a case-management nurse at Park Vista Retirement Center, Brady enrolled in the LPN to RN access program. She will be taking anatomy, physiology and chemistry classes this fall, and is able to attend class at night, something that was unavailable before the community college.

“This is a great day for this region of Ohio,” said Governor Ted Strickland, who travelled to Youngstown in order to participate in the opening ceremony. Despite a budget deficit of several billion dollars, the Governor and the State found new money to fund the needed community college.

Newport Neighborhood Association Comes to Life

Newport Neighborhood Association Comes to Life

A newly-formed neighborhood association on the city’s southwest side, the Newport Neighborhood Association consists of more than 70 concerned community residents and leaders.

In May 2009, Newport residents and Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) staff conducted canvassing efforts in the area, reaching out to individuals concerned about the quality of life in their neighborhood. A large number of residents expressed both concern and interest, key leadership teams were established, and a neighborhood organization was established.

“I live in the Newport neighborhood,” says Pastor Paul Heine of Martin Luther Lutheran Church. “Most of the children in our church come from the streets around our church. The time for complaining is over. The time for action is at hand.”

MVOC Delivers Crucial Votes for Valley Projects

With its experience in grassroots canvassing and community outreach, the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) played a critical role in securing over $200,000 for local government collaboration projects in the Mahoning Valley.

This summer’s contest was sponsored by the Fund for Our Economic Future, as part of the EfficentGovNow program. This initiative aims to accelerate government collaboration and efficiency by providing funding to three collaborative government projects located within the 16-county Northeastern Ohio region.

A total of 65 project proposals were submitted; 39 of these projects met the eligibility criteria and nine were selected as finalists. Two of the nine projects were located in the Mahoning Valley. Nearly 13,500 qualified votes were accepted.

Community Regeneration Bill Sponsored by Brown and Ryan Gains Steam

MVOC, other organizations increase grassroots lobbying efforts

Working closely with U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) has been waging a grassroots campaign to garner support for the Community Regeneration, Sustainability, and Innovation Act of 2009 (CRSI). If enacted, this legislation will create a $600 million competitive grant program within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUD). The bill focuses on the provision of funding for assistance in planning and implementing strategies for the redevelopment of older industrial cities like Youngstown and Warren.

“We’ve organized a successful legislative briefing, built partnerships with groups like the Midwest Northeast Institute and NPA, and have made a number of trips to the capital to get momentum on this piece of legislation,” stated Phil Kidd, who has been the MVOC legislative point person on the bill. “Our strategy is focused on building a national coalition of community organizations and development corporations, mayors, members of Congress, and policy institutes representing cities across the nation who qualify for the program,” said Kidd.

SUCCESS Grants Making an Impact in the Mahoning Valley

Neighborhood groups can apply for $500 to $5000 projects

It all started with a dream.
Vacant properties, disinvestment, and blight have plagued the city of Youngstown since the beginning of the region’s economic decline. Not simply aesthetically unpleasant, these abandoned properties pose a threat to the residents of the neighborhoods in which these properties are located.

In a survey completed by the Dream Team Block Watch on Youngstown’s south side, it was noted that at least 95 percent of vacant properties within the neighborhood compromise the health and safety of its residents each year. Because of the high amount of risk these properties pose to the neighborhood, local residents decided to put their foot down and make a difference.

With the financial support of the Wean Foundation through the Neighborhood SUCCESS Grants program and MVOC’s willingness to serve as fiscal agent, the Dream Team has made a huge difference in their neighborhood by maintaining vacant properties on Youngstown’s south side. Mowing, cleaning yards, bagging leaves – you name it, they do it. And they have been able to encourage a close-knit community to remain connected with each other through service (and Ron Collier’s famous chili and cornbread!).

Senator Sherrod Brown - Residents Create Momentum

Earlier this year, I met with about a dozen community organizers and local leaders at Pastor Michael Harrison’s Union Baptist Church in Youngstown. For over an hour, I listened to the stories about people working together through the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) – a coalition of churches, unions, and neighborhood groups. MVOC leaders and organizers gave a progress report on recent successes and future plans to empower citizens, develop local leadership, and build neighborhood groups to serve those in need. Because of this inspiring work, your activism and dedication, MVOC is enriching communities across the Mahoning Valley.

MVOC makes a difference every day by fighting for comprehensive health reform with a robust public option, protecting consumers facing foreclosure, cleaning up corner stores and neighborhoods by surveying property in the community - one parcel of land at a time. MVOC recognizes that a vacant lot is more than just an eyesore; it can damage surrounding property values. Vacant lots are blights on the city landscape that lead to further land depreciation, drain city resources, and that present a series of safety concerns and risks. MVOC developed the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation with a vision to protect neighborhoods in the Mahoning Valley. As the Valley’s Senator, I am committed to providing the resources MVOC needs to continue its important work.

Valley Residents Go Green

800 people attend second annual festival in Wick Park

“It is my belief that everybody, regardless of their economic means, should have access to the same healthy, safe, and affordable food that is grown naturally,” said Will Allen, founder of Growing Power and 2009 McArthur Fellow. “The new generation of farmers are not going to come from rural communities… these new farmers are going to come from folks in the city.” Allen was the keynote speaker at the second annual Gray to Green Festival that drew 800 people from across the region to Youngstown’s Wick Park.

The event raised awareness of the “grey-to-green” model of the internationally recognized Youngstown 2010 plan. While focusing on environmentally sustainable presentations and organizations, the festival also placed emphasis on the Wick Park Revitalization project, an effort initiated and organized by Youngstown Cityscape and Defend Youngstown, with support from the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC).

Year Long Campaign for NSP Funds will have an Answer by December

More than 1,000 people involved in state and national effort

Last October, in front of an abandoned house on the south side of Youngstown, Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) leaders gathered to hold a press conference about Neighborhood Stabilization Program dollars coming to the Valley. At issue was the small and inadequate allocation to Youngstown and the region as a whole....

"When I see numbers that we have the highest foreclosure rate in the state, I’m not happy. We’re tired of getting leftovers,” said Annie Gillam, First Ward Councilperson......This press conference was the formal launch of what is now one of MVOC’s most important campaigns. In February, MVOC hosted Lt. Governor Lee Fisher at Union Baptist Church to discuss the allocation and incoming stimulus dollars for the same program.