YOUNGSTOWN — Shari Nesbitt is among the social workers and health care practitioners dedicated to adding layers of cement to fill gaps in what those who have a variety of challenges need.

“If you’re between birth and age 21 in Mahoning or Trumbull County with special needs, diagnosed with a behavioral health problem or a chronic medical condition, we can help,” Nesbitt, grant manager for Operation Search & Help, said.

Nesbitt was in a position to provide some of those resources, because she was among the health care and other vendors who were part of Saturday’s annual community wide block party at the Boys & Girls Club of Youngstown, 2105 Oak Hill Ave., on the South Side.

Hosting the three-hour outdoor event was the Greater Youngstown Community Dialogue on Racism.

Key sponsors were The Raymond J. Wean Foundation, Mercy Health Community Health and Foundation, Mahoning County Public Health, the Local Office of Minority Health and Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past.

The gathering’s main thrust also focused on infant vitality and healthy pregnancies in a region that continues to have a high infant-mortality rate.

According to a Mercy Health report dated Aug. 10, 2021, Mahoning County’s rate was 9.5 per 1,000 births, making it the third-highest in the state and almost double the national average. Compounding the problem is that the rate is nearly three times higher for black infants, compared to their white counterparts, Leigh Greene, Mercy Health Youngstown’s community health director, said.

For its part, Operation Search & Help, a grant-funded program that debuted in the 1970s and is funded through The Youngstown Foundation, offers assistance to those who are eligible with medication costs and equipment, medical expenses, speech, occupational and physical therapies, specialized baby formulas and reimbursements for gasoline as well as out-of-town medical appointments, Nesbitt noted.

Though she was unable to pinpoint a precise cause for the high infant-mortality rate, Greene said Mercy Health remains committed to addressing a variety of barriers many women of color face with respect to receiving needed health care. Those include racism, poverty, a lack of transportation, food insecurities and biases in the health care system, she noted.

Another challenge is the day-to-day stressors many young pregnant women face — many of which such barriers exacerbate, Greene added.

“This block party is for mothers with young children or mothers who are expecting,” Penny Wells, Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past’s executive director, said.

The event also was the idea of the late Louise Haynes, a Youngstown podiatrist, she added.

Sarah Kent, a Chaney High School junior and Sojourn to the Past member who went on an eight-day Sojourn to the Past traveling American history journey to civil rights sites in the South, said her desire to participate in the block party transcended civil rights.

“We want to put good back into the world, no matter what,” Kent said, adding that her underlying wish was to help anyone who may need it.

Greene said Saturday’s community gathering began to germinate in 2016, when eight to 12 people formed a dialogue group and started having detailed conversations on racism. That led to the start of GYCDOR and, after several weeks of discussions, some members developed an action plan.

Soon, such a plan morphed into the block party, which has been ongoing for several years, she said.

Also happy to assist with Saturday’s gathering was Nancy Wilhelm of Hartville, a retired preschool teacher who brought dozens of stuffed animals and Spanish-English books, along with books on children’s education, nature and the Christmas holiday. All of the items were free.

“I want kids to have a book that tells them to read,” Wilhelm said, adding that she fully supports GYCDOR, the Boys & Girls Club and Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past.

Wells also thanked the Mercy Health and Wean foundations for serving as financial sponsors, as well as the club for providing the space.