YOUNGSTOWN — The YWCA of the Mahoning Valley is well on its way to making new affordable housing available, and a grant from a local agency is helping them along the home stretch.

The Youngstown Foundation, as part of $300,000 in grants it awarded in July, is giving $75,000 to the YWCA.

YWCA President and CEO Leah Merritt said the money is helping the organization finish renovations to a house at the corner of Illinois Avenue and Wick Avenue on the city’s North Side. The 4,200-square-foot home has been split into six apartments.

Merritt said when YWCA purchased the three-story brick house in 2022, it was stripped to the studs.

“It was gutted,” she said. “There were plans there to make it into apartments, but it had been abandoned for so long, everything needed to be updated.”

Built in 1910, she said the house had been a private residence and a doctor’s or dentist’s office. Now it will house two apartments on each floor, including a one-bedroom Americans with Disabilities Act compliant unit on the first floor. That unit will include “all the amenities,” like lower cabinets, an ADA standardized shower and a wheelchair accessible sink. Merritt said they also added a concrete ramp to the front of the building. The other five apartments will all be two-bedroom units.

“Taking a building that was just sitting there and had a lot of life left in it, and being able to place it back into service and bring life back to it, we’re really excited about it,” Merritt said.

Merritt said the YWCA already provides living space for the city’s homeless populations and those who need supportive housing. She said the new units will accommodate low- to moderate-income residents.

“We envision a mixed population,” she said. “Working people or students, who may be rent burdened. Possibly non-traditional students with a small family, or professionals working in the area, like police or fire.”

She said applicants will have incomes that do not exceed 80 percent of the area median. Merritt said YWCA will run background checks on all applicants.

Merritt said the overall project is valued at roughly $1 million, which is about double the YWCA’s initial investment expectation.

She said they encountered several additional costs they did not anticipate, including a new roof, a plumbing overhaul and removal of a dilapidated fire escape.

Merritt said they still need about $150,000 to push the project over the finish line, and continue to fundraise toward that end. She said units still need appliances, and the building needs an alarm system, among other necessities.

She said they also included a hook-up for solar panels which they plan to add later to help offset some of the costs of electricity.

“We’re still pushing for the last quarter of this year,” she said. “Once we get our occupancy permit, and have our ribbon cutting, then we’ll start accepting applicants.”

Merritt said the YWCA hopes to do that in late October or early November.