“It’s a little bit overwhelming in the best way possible when you have so much support coming at you not only as an individual, but as an organization. With this great dream to reach so many kids it really takes a community coming together, so the overwhelming love and support we feel from this community. There’s really no words to describe it. Heartwarming is an understatement,” said Brightside Project Co-Director Lisa Vittorio.

Brightside welcomed the community into its new building at 1909 N. Ellsworth Ave. for a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony with both the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, and Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber. The new building has a long history with the Salem community, previously being home to an IGA Supermarket and Crossroad Ministries. Memories of both remain within the building including a preserved section of wall bearing the signatures of former IGA staff and a sign from IGA, and the renovation of the former office of Pastor Freddie Rodriguez into “Pastor Freddie’s Sunshine Spot.”

Vittorio said that Rodriguez had visited Brightside to see the renovations on Friday and had been moved to see his legacy memorialized in the building.

“He was so touched seeing it, it was the best part of my day,” said Vittorio.

Tuesday’s event also featured a blessing and dedication by long-time Brightside collaborator Pastor Pete Fowler of Salem Friends Church, left, with Co-Director Scott Lewis. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)

The Brightside Project initially intended to purchase the former Donnell Ford Lincoln building at 152 Continental Drive to renovate it into a youth center for Columbiana County children to meet growing space needs as the organization continues its push to serve 25,000 children annually by 2034. In pursuit of that goal Brightside embarked on a capital campaign to fund the purchase which was ultimately suspended in July after being unable to secure sufficient funding to meet the $3 million purchase price. However, Brightside Board of Directors Member William Dawes said that the funding they were able to secure wound up being enough to buy the North Ellsworth property outright, meaning Brightside will not have a mortgage payment and can dedicate funding fully to programming and serving kids in need.

“While this is a day of celebration, it is also a reminder our work is never done. This building is a powerful tool, but it is the people within that do the work,” said Dawes.

Brightside’s new location continues to prominently feature its hallmark choice pantry, in which children not only receive food and snacks, but choose their own items as part of Brightside’s mission to empower children by giving them agency and empowering them to recognize and make good choices in a safe environment. The expanded space also features a central meeting space with a dedicated sound system, a learning lab which will be used for educational, career exploration and professional development programming, and as a multipurpose space for Brightside events; and the student lounge which features spaces for relaxation and several games including billiards, air hockey, and table-tennis. Vittorio said that the student lounge was specifically designed to serve as a gathering place for middle and high school aged children and teens.

“We know kids in this age range really need a place where they can gather and support each other and get off their phones and really build relationships with their peers,” said Vittorio.

Vittorio said that the renovation process thus far took about 2.5 months from when they purchased the building in September to moving into the building full-time in November, crediting the quick turn-around to God for “sending talented, skilled, amazing people,” to contribute their time and labor. She also said that while having the first phase of the renovation completed and the building open to the community was wonderful, Brightside wasn’t losing sight of the work to come.

One of the new features of Brightside’s new location is a learning lab which will be used for educational, career exploration and professional development programming, and as a multipurpose space for Brightside events. The learning lab is currently set up for use in Brightside’s upcoming youth summit on March 15. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)

“It feels great, but we’re keeping our eye on the end goal with phase two and three, but to have this space available and open for events is amazing. I feel like we can breathe and grow here,” said Vittorio.

Vittorio said that Brightside is still aiming to expand services to 25,000 children annually, and that the organization isn’t “that far off that target,” having served 18,000 children in 2024. In terms of immediate goals, Vittorio said that Brightside’s is working to complete phase two of renovations by the end of the summer, which will transform the choice pantry into Brightside Main Street, an interactive themed shopping experience with wall-mounted interactive displays to allow kids to complete educational programming on nutrition and books which are available to children displayed on shelves and organized by age and height.

“We want them to explore, interact, and learn, we have plans to put a station in Brightside Main Street where they can try new foods and different fruits and vegetables they might not be exposed to,” said Vittorio.

Brightside’s long-term goal is phase three, which will be an addition to the building adding an indoor recreation space for kids to play and exercise, an art studio and adding space to house Brightside’s mobile units including the Sunshine Bus, which was recently vandalized in October. Vittorio said this would be a three-year plan and require future fundraising. Other long-term priorities included growing their team to help increase their outreach.

Vittorio said that as Brightside approaches its nine-year anniversary in October, she never anticipated it growing as large as it has and that she knows there is still room to grow as a nonprofit. Vittorio also said that Brightside was redoubling its commitment to transparency and accountability, recently publishing its biennial report.

The student lounge features spaces for relaxation and several games including billiards, air hockey, and table-tennis, and is aimed at giving middle and high school aged children a space to gather, relax, unplug from their phones and develop supportive relationships with their peers. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)

“The whole journey of Brightside has been one step at a time. There’s a saying that if God lit the whole path and the result, people would take off running because it would be so much to take on, so he lights just the next step for you; and I feel like that is exactly the Brightside story. Over the past eight years it’s been just the next step, one step at a time,” said Vittorio. “We’ve had to build trust with the community and our donors and our partners. The goal was always to be a sustainable resource in the community and now almost a decade later I feel like we’ve accomplished that.”

The student lounge features spaces for relaxation and several games including billiards, air hockey, and table-tennis, and is aimed at giving middle and high school aged children a space to gather, relax, unplug from their phones and develop supportive relationships with their peers. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)