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

"This is a group we've needed for a long time. They couldn't have formed at a more critical time."
Mayor Jay Williams, City of Youngstown

"The City of Warren is in a truly unique position to execute our comprehensive plan due to the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative helping to build capacity to implement the neighborhood strategies to work as a united front." Mayor Michael O’Brien, City of Warren

“The MVOC has been a great help advancing the cause of the Youngstown-Mahoning County Vacant Property Initiative. The Collaborative and its energetic understand that properly coordinated vacant property reclamation will lead to a more effective reuse of thousands of vacant parcels in the City of Youngstown and Mahoning County.” Commissioner John McNally, Mahoning County

"Our recent success with MYRIS and government IT collaboration would not be a reality
without the hard work and dedication of MVOC." Auditor Michael Sciortino, Mahoning County

“The Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative is working on grassroots neighborhood revitalization action plans for the cities of Youngstown and Warren that promise to be models for the nation. The Regional Chamber has already partnered successfully with MVOC to mobilize grassroots activity to better the Mahoning Valley, and we look forward to future collaborations.” Tom Humphries, Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce

“MVOC has been so valuable to our community. They’re listening to our concerns, and helping us address and solve our issues, which is something that we really needed. MVOC helped us to identify and prioritize the issues in our neighborhood, and then helped us reach out to our neighbors through canvassing. Being able to reach out to the community – that’s what we really needed.” Henrietta Dixon-Collier, Dream Team Block Watch President

“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. That’s why I’m glad that MVOC is standing up and shouting out!” Hattie Wilkins, Youngstown resident

“MVOC provides a direct conduit that connects the neighborhood groups to each other, and then in turn connects those groups to their local, state, and federal legislators as a single, unified voice for change.” Janet Hazlette, Warren Resident

Click Here to Return to Valley Voice Fall 2009