Youngstown Foundation Announces $1.2 Million in Grants

Awards Lift 18 Projects, Including ACLD School Expansion

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Youngstown Foundation today announced $1.2 million in grants, including $250,000 for an expansion project at ACLD School and Learning Center in Youngstown, which serves children who are struggling to learn.

Some 17 other local nonprofit organizations were also awarded grants.

“These awards reflect our emphasis on local nonprofits and the broad spectrum of needs they serve,” said Youngstown Foundation President Lynnette Forde. “Our distribution committee was very impressed with the work going on at ACLD Learning Center, and we are so pleased to be a major supporter of its expansion project.”

ACLD, which has served local children since 1968, plans to build a 4,500-square-foot addition to its building at 118 E. Wood St. north of downtown. The center added outdoor green space and parking space in 2022 with its purchase and demolition of the former First Calvary Baptist Church building on Wood Street.

These 17 local nonprofits also landed grants:

  • Adaptive Sports Ohio, Sports for Youth with Disabilities, $60,000
  • Butler Institute of American Art, Boiler Replacement and Accessibility, $101,800
  • Chickadee Pre-School, Outdoor Classroom Support, $10,000
  • Clothed in Strength, Clothed in Strength Boutique, $20,000
  • Down Syndrome Association, General Staffing Support, $100,000 (over two years)
  • Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, Valley Vision 2050 & Housing, $100,000
  • Help Network, Special Navigator, $125,000 (over two years)
  • Humility of Mary Housing, Food Vouchers for Trumbull, $9,000
  • National Inventors Hall of Fame, Camp Invention, $7,560
  • Ohio Urban Renaissance, Youth Education Project, $50,000
  • Organización Cívica y Cultural Hispana Americana (OCCHA), Renovando OCCHA, $100,000
  • SMARTS, Beats & Empowers Programming, $78,820
  • Veterans Outreach, Transition to Colonial Complex, $50,000
  • Vision to Learn, Expanded Access to Vision Care, $25,000
  • Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, Community Programming, $100,000
  • Youngstown Playhouse (Monday Musical), 2023/2024 Season Support, $20,000
  • Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, Leadership Development, $37,050

About the Youngstown Foundation

Since 1918, the Youngstown Foundation has devoted its resources to ensure the quality of life and sustain a vital and prosperous community in the Mahoning Valley. The Youngstown Foundation has grown from $33,000 in assets at its origins to over $150 million today and has distributed over $100 million back into the community through grants to support nonprofit organizations. The Foundation remains poised to address the most pressing issues — and support actions and ingenuity to ensure that our community continues to grow and thrive, with no one left behind. Further information is available at www.youngstownfoundation.org.

Photo: Teacher Mary Dorney leads a class at the ACLD School and Learning Center in Youngstown. A $250,000 Youngstown Foundation grant is supporting an expansion project at the center.