The 2023 Mahoning Valley Eviction Prevention Summit was held on April 20, at the Eastwood Event Centre which was hosted by Community Legal Aid and Youngstown Municipal Court. In the Mahoning Valley, both Warren (77th) and Youngstown (91st) make the list of the top 100 mid-size cities with high eviction rates and Ohio ranks 9th in the Nation when it comes to Evictions.
The event attracted keynote speaker author Matthew Desmond, a Pulitzer Prize winning bestseller of “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” and his latest book, the #1 New York Times bestseller “Poverty, by America”. The event also featured John Pollock, the Coordinator of the National Coalition for the Civil Right to Council and Attorney and Policy Advocate Hazel Remesch.
Eastgate’s Transit Program Manager Mirta Reyes-Chapman served as a Moderator with Youngstown Municipal Court Judge Carla Baldwin, the City of Warren Mayor Doug Franklin, the Trumbull County Planning Commission Assistant Director Nicolas Coggins, and Gina Wilt, Advocacy Director on the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio.
A special surprise award to honor a pillar of the community, Sister Jean Orsuto, Executive Director of the Emmanuel Care Center who works to support permanent housing for those who are homeless, especially single parents’ families with a disability. Sister Jean Orsuto has served on transit committees with Mirta and always advocated the need for transit in the Mahoning Valley.