Accountability. That’s the first word that comes to Matt Martin’s mind when he thinks about equitable community building.

“As a steward of resources, we’re accountable to residents,” said Martin, Executive Director of Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership (TNP), Warren’s community development corporation and a strategic partner of the Wean Foundation. The goal is for “residents to have influence over and access to the systems that change and control the way life is lived in neighborhoods.”

TNP’s mission is to empower residents through programming and projects that improve the quality of life in the neighborhoods of Warren. TNP does this through its management of the Trumbull County Land Bank, an entity created to return vacant and abandoned properties in Trumbull County to productive use. As the managing entity for the land bank, TNP pursues home ownership through renovation and repair of blighted properties. TNP also runs a variety of additional programs like the Emergency Home Repair Program, which assists homeowners in getting basic home repairs, Building a Better Warren, which provides training and full-time employment opportunities to residents, and Garden Resources of Warren (GROW), which provides support for Warren’s community gardens and the popular Warren Farmer’s Market. TNP also assists with park improvements in the city of Warren and plants trees throughout the city as a partner in the Mahoning Valley Tree Corps. 

When TNP was founded 15 years ago, Warren and Trumbull County were reeling from the impact of the financial crisis and the Great Recession. From 2005 to 2011, the number of home foreclosures in Trumbull County increased dramatically, leading to an increase in vacant and abandoned properties. TNP did a citywide assessment of all the properties in Warren and then talked to residents about what they should do about it. 

“We spent the next decade trying to live up to the strategic plans we laid out,” Martin said.

The assessment helped drive the creation of the land bank. The Trumbull County Land Bank is the third county land reutilization corporation (LRC) to be established in the state, after the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation in 2009 allowing for their formation. 

“There’s a reason people left their homes in the first place,” Martin said, citing deindustrialization and job loss. “That also leaves messes to clean up. It’s not always as simple as removing a structure or cutting the grass. … We’ve built capacity over the last 10-plus years to be able to respond.”

Since its inception in 2010, the land bank has demolished over 1,500 properties, renovated over 500 homes, facilitated the sale of more than 2,100 vacant lots to adjacent property owners, and is now building its first four single-family homes on the city’s west side. 

Today, TNP has 12 staff and a budget of $4.5 million, with support from the Wean Foundation, government, and many other funders. Martin is proud of TNP’s growth, but says it remains a grassroots organization at heart. “We’re still responsive,” he said.

In talking to Martin, a Cleveland native, one would never know he was hesitant to call Warren home when he first came to town 15 years ago to help start TNP. The thought of everybody knowing everybody else’s business frightened him a little, he said. But small-town living really grew on him. He lives just outside of downtown with his wife and children.

“Now, we all know each other and it’s beautiful,” he said. “I really respect the resilience of the community. … People are not afraid to get their hands dirty. I just have a deep respect for the working-class ethos that permeates into everything.”