SAANDI Meeting - Thursday, April 29

[jay]

Your No. 4 Committee (Businesses, Jobs, and Economic Development) should work to convice south side residents to patronize the businesses on South Avenue.  The committee should also work to promote the South Avenue Shuffle which is on Saturday, May 15.

[jay]

From:  South Avenue Area Neighborhood Development Initiative (SAANDI), Youngstown, Ohio

"Blight to Light" Task Forces Organize For Action
South Avenue Area Neighborhood Development Initiative (SAANDI)

The South Avenue Area Neighborhood Development Initiative (SAANDI) is mobilizing into Task Forces to address specific objectives on Thursday, April 29, 5:00pm at Metro Assembly Church of God located at 2530 South Avenue in Youngstown, Ohio.

Six Task Forces will focus on: (1) Crime, (2) Housing and Blight, (3) Neighborhood and Community Building, (4) Businesses, Jobs, and Economic Development (5) Grants, Financial, and Material Resources, and (6) Volunteer Resources, incorporating the "reward for service exchange" system introduced by Time Bank. Each Task Force will develop projects to benefit the neighborhoods along the South Avenue Corridor in Youngstown, Ohio.

This action plan is to tackle the concerns, needs, and opportunities expressed by neighborhood residents, Blockwatch leaders, Churches, schools, social service providers, real estate investors and other local businesses. Specific projects emerged from a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, with an emphasis on empowering the people living and working in the SAANDI neighborhoods with specific things to that can be done immediately.

The Housing and Blight Task Force will start a "Property Mapping and Inventory" to build upon the vacant property survey done by YSU and MVOC in 2008, noting the condition of owner-occupied and renter-occupied homes, as well as vacant houses. With an emphasis on rehabilitation and property maintenance, the focus is on helping property owners to obtain funds to "save the savable" homes, and prevent abandonment and blight. This inventory will also identify the parties responsible for blighted properties, and prioritize properties for demolition or rehabilitation, using the new "Land Bank" to be established under House Bill 313.

The Neighborhood and Community Building Task Force will be working in the Lansingville area, preparing for the annual July 3rd parade. On June 5th and 26th there will be cleanup events along the parade route. "Adopt a Block" will grow with the youth group from the Metro Assembly of God on South Avenue. "Neighborhood and Community Building will transform our community with the creativity and enthusiasm of our people," organizer Gail Stark explained. "Combining the talents of our children, schools, and residents, there many possibilities for what we can accomplish."

Each Task Force will choose projects, develop their own game plans, and work to make the South Avenue Corridor a great place to live and work.