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Brightside is looking to raise $3 million

The Brightside Project plans to purchase and renovate the former Donnell Ford Lincoln building

By MORGAN AHART 9 min read

SALEM--The Brightside Project is looking to raise $3 million to purchase and renovate the former Donnell Ford Lincoln building at 152 Continental Drive.

"As we embark on this capital campaign, we do so with a sense of purpose and a bold vision for the future. We are here to ignite a spark, to rally behind a cause greater than ourselves, and to pave the way for transformational growth and impact in the lives of the next generation," said Brightside Project Co-Director Lisa Vittorio.

Based in Salem, the non-profit the Brightside Project has worked to support the physical, mental, and emotional awareness of Columbiana County Children, not only providing children in need with food, sanitary products, school supplies, backpacks, coats, and even Christmas and Easter presents, but empowering to make their own decisions about what they feel will most benefit them. Also, to explore their sense of self and discover their "spark" the thing that they're most passionate about which "lights them up inside."

Since their first distribution in 2016, using a borrowed van, Brightside has grown exponentially and expanded its services to new families in need with each expansion, in 2023 alone Brightside served more than 14,000 children across Columbiana County living below the poverty or living with trauma and is looking to expand that support even further, hoping to reach and serve 25,000 children annually by 2034, and to begin serving communities in need outside Columbiana County to surrounding communities in the Mahoning Valley.

"For our first distribution, we borrowed a van from a local car dealership, packed 50 bags with donated food items and distributed them on the streets of Salem. What we learned is that children needed exactly what we were offering: basic necessities, love and safety," said Vittorio, "Over the past eight years we have seen God work and shape The Brightside Project, and we have experienced Luke 16:10, 'If you are faithful in the little things, you will be faithful in the big ones.' The more faithful we have been, the more God has entrusted us with and so we find ourselves here today with a God-sized vision."

Vittorio and Brightside Project Executive Director and Founder Scott Lewis, say that to meet that goal Brightside must expand. The current office on East Pershing Street simply is not large enough to meet the needs of all those children, which is why they're looking to purchase the vacant Donnel Ford Lincoln building and renovate it into a new youth center which they say "will equip and empower children to reach their full potential by building and giving hope." The cost to purchase and complete immediate, necessary renovations to the building is estimated at $3 million, with a minimum of $20,000 already committed in support by Encino Energy.

Brightside has already begun preparing for the hoped expansion, securing, and expanding partnerships with several Salem organizations including the Salem Public Library, Sustainable Opportunity Development Center, and First Christian Church with speeches of support outlining the benefits the youth center would provide children in need offered from each of these partners at a funding campaign launch event April 19.

Library Director Brad Stephens said that he was "excited, hopeful, and even a little jealous," of the prospective youth center which he felt would "meet many of the needs of the community and do a great job fulfilling the mission of the Brightside Project." Stephens said that the youth center could offer children a safe, welcoming, and enriching after-school space, which he feels Salem has needed since he himself was a child in the 1970s, and that as a parent he feels is needed more than ever. Stephens said that through their partnership with Brightside the library would be able to offer targeted, educational after-school programming to students at the center which it is currently unable to serve due to space restrictions.

"Our library serves thousands of visitors each week with a wide range of services, programs, books, movies, and more books, unfortunately there's still segments of the community that are left out. Those we won't connect with as much as we want to. Kids without a ride, or adult willing to bring them to the library to miss out," said Stephens. "We don't want children who come from home where reading and literacy are uncommon to be left alone, it is our goal to reach out to all children and provide them with the opportunity and access to information and resources that give them a chance to succeed in school and in life."

Stephens said that through the collaboration the library would bring its mobile library, tutoring and after school stem programming to the center as part of the library's ongoing efforts to overcome educational delays caused by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We started an after-school tutoring program last March, staffed by licensed teachers where students are able to get the help they need to get back on track. In the last quarter we provided 400 free tutoring sessions for students totaling 237 hours. Our biggest problem though is not finding families who want this service, our problem is meeting the demand for tutoring because we have space limitations and as a result we have to turn students away every week," said Stephens. "By partnering with Brightside in this new facility we could reach more children, and we could offer more to the community, more tutoring services, more opportunities, and we could have a larger impact, each student we reach is a student whose life we help to improve. A child with more confidence, more skill, and a better chance to thrive."

SOD Center Executive Director Julie Needs highlighted the potential economic development benefits the youth center could offer, particularly in the area of workforce development as a way to introduce students to "alternatives to college," and help replenish the rapidly depleting pool of skilled trade workers as the Baby-Boomer generation retire. Needs emphasized the importance of introducing children to potential careers was important, as they begin to develop their perspectives on potential careers early in childhood.

"Young people start to develop expectations about careers as early as eleven, and those expectations can be positive or negative, and [at the youth center] youth will be provided with an opportunity to explore a positive environment that encourages them that anything is possible," said Needs.

Needs said that research by the United State Chamber of Commerce showed that there were more available jobs in the United States than unemployed people at 9,500,000, and 6,500,000 respectively, while the National Association of Manufacturers report that by 2030 there will be 2,100,000 manufacturing jobs unfilled. However, Needs said that in providing not only a space for Brightside's community partners to conduct youth engagement and outreach work, but a space where "connection, exploration and imagination take on a new life." Needs also said that the center could act as a space where children could be offered an introduction to potential careers "in a safe comfortable environment where youth are provided a myriad of opportunities allowing them to find their spark."

"To be successful as a community it takes collaboration and the convening of partners, each one's unique skills, talents and areas of expertise. By building on the outstanding work and the vision of the Brightside Project, imagine the incredible impact this space can make," said Needs.

First Christian Church Salem Student Director and Anti-Human Trafficking Advocate Amy Bordonaro emphasized the value of the youth center as a venue for children to develop relationships with trustworthy adults in an environment where they feel safe and empowered to share their feelings and seek adult help. Bordonaro said that this was particularly important in the modern age of human trafficking and online exploitation of minors. Bordonaro said that human trafficking generates an average of $150 billion annually, three times more the Coca-Cola, and four times more than the global recorded music industry. Also, that there are an estimated 50,000,000 people enslaved today, or one out of every 150 people, and of that 50,000,000 one in four is a child. Bordonaro also said that Ohio is fifth in the nation for human trafficking, with the fourth worst ratio of trafficking victims per 100,000 residents at 3.84 for 100,000, and that from 2021 to 2022 alone there was an 82.4% increase in online child enticement reports from 44,145, to 80,524.

"Imagine if we had a safe place with safe people where our children could build relationships with adults they could trust, where they could talk, where they could tell, and get the support and protection they need," said Bordonaro.

Closing remarks were offered by Brightside Board of Directors Member William Dawes, who championed the youth center as a potential "a beacon of hope and a place of possibility for," for children in need, and part of a larger vision to create "a community where every child has the space and support to grow into the best versions of themselves."

Dawes echoed the sentiments of the guest speakers and that "the potential of the project extends beyond physical walls--it's about enriching and elevating our educational landscape, accommodating learning experiences that the conventional classroom setting cannot always host." Dawes also said that raising the full $3 million would allow Brightside to take on the project without "the burden of a mortgage," allowing them to continue "focusing every possible resource on the children and their futures."

Brightside has several campaign pledge levels which can be paid over a three-year period, each with their own unique benefits ranging from $9,999 and below, to $1million and above. Those interested in supporting Brightside's campaign can contact scott@brightsideprojectohio.org, or call 234-320-4005 for questions or additional information.

"None of this will be possible without the support of individuals like you. Your generosity and your commitment to the wellbeing of our community are the driving forces behind this initiative, together we have the power to transform lives, to uplift spirits, and build a brighter future for generations to come," said Lewis.

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