YOUNGSTOWN - Family & Community Services Inc. are working to turn an empty lot on Youngstown's southside into a 14 bedroom facility for homeless veterans. 

It’s a place where veterans would be able to stay for a few months while staff helps them find a job, get connected with health resources and secure permanent housing. 

“Mahoning County is the largest county with veterans and the largest county that our veterans are experiencing homelessness,” Brandi Parker Assistant Director of Veteran Services for Family & Community Services said. 

Almost 100 veterans are referred to the Family & Community Services veterans assistance program a year, according to Parker. Since the program started in 2021, they’ve successfully transitioned 75 veterans in Mahoning County into a better life. 

“With that, being able to expand to a larger facility and a stand alone facility will really help,” Parker said. 

The new building will mostly be made out of storage containers, but developers said once it is completed people won’t be able to tell.

“We believe it's going to cut our cost, it's going to speed up the production and it's going to create a long lasting beautiful facility for our vets and that’s the least that they deserve,” Matthew Slater, Director of Development for Family & Community Services said. 

 

It will replace the space they’re renting at Meridian Healthcare on Chalmers Avenue. That facility is all one shared room where up to 10 veterans can live at a time. The new building will have individual bedrooms and bathrooms for up to 14 veterans to call their own. 

The organization submitted a proposal to the Youngstown City Council to allocate $100,000 of ARP funds to the project. Council will vote on that at its meeting on Wednesday, September 20. If approved, Family & Community Services still needs to raise $200,000 from the community to fund the rest of the project. They are hoping to meet their goal and break ground by the end of 2023.