Heart Reach Neighborhood Ministries

We exist to impact the lives of youth in the greater Youngstown area by sharing Christ’s love and partnering with others to build relationships that create safe, supportive and empowered communities one person at a time.

Our beginnings go back to 1913 but our focus has consistently remained the same: to share the love of Christ with children from low income families to help them to be all that God has created them to be.

Heart Reach Neighborhood Ministries is the product of the 2018 merger of two organizations: Heart Reach and Neighborhood Ministries.

Heart Reach, Inc.

Heart Reach was founded in 1988 by a group of area church leaders who were concerned about the children of Youngstown. It was started with the purpose of instituting positive change in Youngstown by impacting young people and their families. The early days included street ministry, Saturday Super Kids programming, and partnerships with local ministries to bring the gospel in word and action to children in the Youngstown area. The Super Kids brand continues today and all of our children's program participants are Super Kids. In 2003 Heart Reach moved from a building on Wick Avenue to the former St. Edwards School on Youngstown's North Side.

Neighborhood Ministries, Inc.

Neighborhood Ministries began in 1913 to address the needs of immigrants arriving in the Mahoning Valley to work in the steel mills. In 1967 we began work out of the then new Kirwan Homes public housing development in Campbell, Ohio. In 1984 we expanded into the Kimmel Brook Homes (now Rockford Village) housing development on Youngstown’s east side. These community centers remain active today. Neighborhood Ministries was instrumental in starting several other community centers including the West Side Community Center, which operated from 2009 - 2017, and the Fairview Arts and Outreach Center, which continues to operate under the leadership of Top Hat Productions.