Organizations like these often require either a charismatic leader with a vision or a cohort of support folks to revitalize in crises like these. It really isn't something that can be forced (hence an oversupply of MAWWs). Perhaps some of the young people who benefited from Youngstown will step up and make something new and great from the ashes. Other than that, I don't know if there's a way forward.

I had the opportunity to talk, and hang out with Alberto Mejia, he is a great friend and a brilliant leader, he was the one that introduced me to Youngstown, I fell in love with the place. So much energy,it felt like a family in there. Really sad this happened.

Well, first off, I don't think they need turnaround consultants. I know the people that ran Youngstown before Alberto, and according to them, Youngstown made money during their stay. Alberto started leading at Youngstown a couple years back and had also worked there previously, and his predecessors thought he would be a good person to take over. So, unless the numbers changed in some impressively major way before they just up and laid of all of the staff, their game plan should be to hire Alberto and a staff back on, and hope they haven't killed all of the previous momentum.

DNDA proper is losing money. Those huge parties at Youngstown? The money got siphoned out of Youngstown and into DNDA instead of helping out the community. DNDA is mismanaged and combined with that, it seems that nobody in the organization has any vision. What it comes down to is that DNDA chopped off any hope of being an organization for positive change through Youngstown, and instead turned it into an organization that rents out spaces, with no staff to even talk to or help with your event in the space. All I can figure is that DNDA somehow thought hiring the staff was unnecessary when totaling up all of the rents coming in, and didn't realize those renters were there for a reason.

I'm one of the artists living in one of the units above Youngstown. Most of the reasons I moved to the building are now gone.

A goodly number of the criticisms in the article are valid; but many are incorrect.

Youngstown is no longer in danger of closing; and so will be able to resume a focus on mission. During this financial turn around I have not emphasized focus on mission, although I DO emphasize to all, including Jen, the author of this article, that the only reason to undertake a financial turnaround is to return to mission.

DNDA and Youngstown were almost overwhelmed by a host of external issues and internal mistakes.

What has been spectacular about DNDA-Youngstown’s return to financial equilibrium, if not exactly health, is that a large number of people and companies needed to buy into a plan for its survival. What they were really buying into was the reason for DNDA-Youngstown’s survival, its mission. The majority of those required to agree have been gracious and supportive.

The boat is no longer being swamped; so more Delridge kids in the future will be able to grab its lifelines. And that is also pretty spectacular. A steely focus on righting the boat is not the same as losing your way.

Patty Grossman, Acting Director, DNDA-Youngstown

A goodly number of the criticisms in the article are valid; but many are incorrect.

Youngstown is no longer in danger of closing; and so will be able to resume a focus on mission. During this financial turn around I have not emphasized focus on mission, although I DO emphasize to all, including Jen, the author of this article, that the only reason to undertake a financial turnaround is to return to mission.

DNDA and Youngstown were almost overwhelmed by a host of external issues and internal mistakes.

What has been spectacular about DNDA-Youngstown’s return to financial equilibrium, if not exactly health, is that a large number of people and companies needed to buy into a plan for its survival. What they were really buying into was the reason for DNDA-Youngstown’s survival, its mission. The majority of those required to agree have been gracious and supportive.

The boat is no longer being swamped; so more Delridge kids in the future will be able to grab its lifelines. And that is also pretty spectacular. A steely focus on righting the boat is not the same as losing your way.

Patty Grossman, Acting Director, DNDA-Youngstown

@Patty, perhaps you could be more specific (&/or less obtuse). Now, "..a large number of people and companies needed to buy into a plan for its survival.." means... what? Major donors dropped out? DNDA was a victim of the Recession? What?
And "..What they were really buying into was the reason for DNDA-Youngstown’s survival, its mission." What IS its "Mission"? What WAS its "Mission"? Did that change? Is it about the money, now?.. & not the clientele?
AND, "..The majority of those required to agree have been gracious and supportive.." means WHAT, exactly? Agree to What? its "Mission"? Some MUST agree (and some don't have to)?
Please... you're a Director. Just speak simply... honestly. We're STILL waiting... and listening... and, hopeful. ^..^

Have to agree with ridovem....Ms. Grossman, your response was extremely vague and non specific; it actually gave me the impression that you actually are out of touch. You certainly don't seem particularly transparent.

I don't have a horse in this issue, but I can certainly see a disconnect going on here.

I work at Youngstown and I have to say that Jen Graves hit the nail on the head with this article. The question about whether anyone is listening should be directed to the DNDA board of directors. The handwriting was on the wall a couple of years ago and many good people worked hard to raise the problems to the attention of the board to no avail. The members appear to be spectacularly disconnected from the mission of Youngstown and should be held directly responsible for the financial mismanagement that led to the dissolution of vital programming. Youngstown is still a vital asset to the community and the problems can be solved, but probably not by the board that let them happen in the first place. At the very least, tenants should have a representative on the board. Ideally, the board would revitalize its membership with people connected to the community and the mission. Steely eyed resolve to right the boat doesn't matter if there is no one on board who can navigate.

As a long time former employee of both Youngstown and one of its tenant youth organizations, I'd like to also affirm that Jen's analysis is on point. DNDA has done a great disservice to the community in driving away talented Youngstown leadership, including Alberto, Randy Engstrom, and a host of youth leaders and teaching artists.

One thing that's important to understand is that DNDA is larger than Youngstown. It's a low-income housing provider that used to do amazing work under its founding director, Paul Fischburg. Unfortuately, since Paul left, DNDA has been undermined by poor financial decisions, mismanagement, a lack of foresight about the housing bubble, and a lack of board leadership. As DNDA tanked, Youngstown flourished in a semi-autonomous state, bringing in grant money, partnering with artists and youth to do really visionary antiracist projects, and reaching a point where it was financially self-sufficient and youth governed. Really beautiful stuff.

Any take on Youngstown that claims it was losing money is an accounting trick, charging absurd amounts of bloated DNDA overhead and financial losses to a Youngstown financial structure that operated largely independently. DNDA has been dishonest in its recent financial dealings, misappropriated arts and youth targeted grant money, operating with no transparency, and looking to turn a financially self-sufficient community resource into cash cow to cover poor financial decisions outside the building.

A lot of folks in the community, including former employees of DNDA, Youngstown, and Youngstown's tenant organizations, are encouraging DNDA to do the ethical thing and let go of Youngstown. The leadership, financial support, and community support exists for Youngstown to operate as an independent organization. That may mean some restructuring for DNDA and a return to financial transparency and community accountability for them, but they owe that to the neighborhood.

Ms. Grossman: Please try to be more vague.

Lots of great responses. I think Mickie McMushie wrote more of what I had expected from the article itself. One correction I would make from the article is that DNDA is considered a nonprofit. I think just being real about what happened would greatly benefit DNDA. Asking the question about what success looks like is also important. The stakeholders in Youngstown are mostly the Community whom were not consulted when the Ship sank. Creating institutional space for more community involvement would help the DNDA as it reaches equilibrium, which I wouldn't think would be the only marker for success. DNDA had a large staff in the past with some positions that seemed extraneous. I think there were some real Accounting/Mgt. issues the Board failed to deal with. Seems like Youngstown Cultural Center is off managements radar and all that's left is rentals and people that say they engage the community.

Free Youngstown!

As a neighbor and a member of two local CDC's, it seems like this article could be written about most organizations. I've been to Youngstown recently and to say that it's a ghost town or is dead or even allude to that is really incorrect. There has been a more diverse crowd there and the community events in the last quarter were absolutely fabulous. You can't even begin to compare Youngstown then and now. If we want to see the continued success of Youngstown, stop dogging the attempt of the current management to "right the ship" and make Youngstown a viable, financially stable community orgaization for years to come. Let's all dig deep and offer our continued support.
--Artist for Life--

Why are Randy Engtrom and Jordan not quoted in this article, they are big fish in the city scene now but this is there baby.

Ms. Grossman, as a former employee of Youngstown during it's heyday, I find your boat analogy interesting.
Extending the metaphor, we find that the experienced captain and all others who had the map were thrown overboard.
This *entire* conversation was happening 2 years ago, but the director of DNDA at the time and the board did not listen. Now, here we are, and the people who sunk the ship are the only ones left steering it.

I work at at public art-focused high school in White Center. A lot of our students participated in programs at Youngstown that we didn't have the budget or expertise to support, and many students were referred there by teachers to get mentoring for their senior projects (a graduation requirement that suffers constantly from the lack of reliable mentors knowledgable about working with teens). Many of these students have continued to pursue careers in the interests that were first nurtured at Youngstown. As our school suffers more and more from budget cuts and pressures from above to dedicate more time and money to math and literacy test scores, a group of people dedicated to youth-driven arts programs free of those pressures is even more essential. I am sad to see that the momentum behind this project has been replaced by a more piece-meal approach...

Thank you, Jen, for another well written article. Why is it that so fucking inexcusably often the arts suffer? I hope Youngstown can re-open to its full thriving capacity despite the disconnected board of directors who ran it into the ground. All the best.

As an artist/resident here (and a gray haired one at that), I agree with thecomments of V8 Media and M. McMushie. I was told the exact stuff from former staff here. No one has been able to do the job Paul Fischberg did.
Randy Engstrom and his young staff were brilliant. I could see maybe cutting back a bit on paid staff, but DNDA dumped it all.
Altho the MAWWS are doing the best job they can under the circumstances, the circumstances are wrong. They are not young or vibrant, nor do they have a clue what is going on with youth culture.
Sure there has been some cool stuff going on here, but mainly from existing tenants and renters. I do think that Youngstown should be untethered from DNDA. I also think the financial records of Youngstown and DNDA should be made public.

The problem is with those folks who are currently running Youngstown, they are running it based on the corporate model of greed. DNDA management is unresponsive to any problems or concerns of the tenants. Youngstown is a problem waiting to happen. Under the current management there is no security, the building is left unlocked and unattended for hours at a time. There have been fights, OD's, and other problems that are never reported to the board. The DNDA board has no idea what really goes on over here after hours. With out a staff who cares about the community Youngstown is just an accident and lawsuit waiting to happen.

It's sad to see an attack on those trying hard to keep Youngstown doors open. If REngstrom wanted this place to thrive, why did he quit? If AMejia wanted this place to thrive, why was occupancy down below 35% under his leadership? If the coalition of 112 wanted this place to thrive, why did they not offer a viable plan to right the ship? It's easy to lob bombs from the sidelines but unless you're willing to roll up your sleaves and put in the hard work like the current staff which has moved mountains to keep the place alive. Artistseattle, you have no idea what you're talking about saying, "based on the corporate model of greed". Get an education.
--Artist for Life--

The institutions built by the past work of DNDA including low income housing sites, the West Seattle Food Bank & Delridge Library, the restoration of Longfellow Creek, and Youngstown are vital to the Delridge community. I am so grateful to have been a part of the creative and resilient communities inside and around Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

What is unclear and warrants serious community weigh-in, is whether DNDA, now reduced to a consultant/interim Director, 2 overworked employees (whom I respect), and an understaffed board - should remain the steward of these vital neighborhood resources, including Youngstown.

The truth is that DNDA has experienced a steady decline in fiscal and executive leadership since the departure of the founding director in 2007. Glaring mismanagement examples include a turnover of 5 finance directors and more than 3 development directors in the span of 4 years. DNDA largely left Youngstown to its own devices upon opening it's doors in 2006. In that time Youngstown's leadership developed a nationally recognized, steady and accessible rental revenue model, and innovative youth arts and food justice programs.

DNDA's involvement in these successful Youngstown projects as the parent organization was peripheral at best and negligent in many respects. DNDA is now unsuccessfully trying to hinge a "turnaround" on Youngstown's rental revenue and past accomplishments in community engagement and as a vibrant multi-arts space.

A clear vision, mission, strategy for the once innovative DNDA has yet to be articulated. The implications of the current hurry up and wait, approach stretch beyond Youngstown into DNDA's low income housing communities whose connection to DNDA deteriorates like the unaddressed repairs to their homes. With all due respect, I am not certain how Patty gauges DNDA, financially or otherwise, as better off at present.

In the years & months leading up to the layoffs of most Youngstown and DNDA staff in April 2011,management level staff made dozens of verbal and written proposals to the board and executive director to move toward organizational stability with little receptivity to their ground level experience. In August 2011 strategic Patty's predecessor and colleague Jan Glick sent a clear message to me about the value of my experience and contributions to DNDA when I was laid off via phone the day after returning from a personal leave - without a single phone call, email or conversation during the months prior when these consultants were arranging the terms of their contracts with the DNDA board and Derek Bernie, DNDA's Exec.Director since 2007. Patty subsequently requested I come in and explain the FEEST program to her on the day I picked up last paycheck. Finally, my four years of work were reduced to a one-line notice of my layoff (along with the development manager) sent in a DNDA board listerv message from Jan, which he failed to remove me from. These are actions of self-proclaimed "leadership experts". Needless to say, I learned an immense lesson in organizational power dynamics in my final days as the lone staff member at Youngstown and as an employee of DNDA.

Patty's comments key into not only a fundamental disconnect between board and staff as to the mission of Youngstown, but a shaky survival for survival's sake mentality endemic to the non-profit sector. DNDA's roots lay in the strategic involvement and input of the Delridge community. My personal feelings and experiences aside, it's time that DNDA convenes the voices of the neighborhood to guide the future of Youngstown and DNDA - and follows the wisdom that emerges- even if that means calling it a day and seeking new leaders.

In community and appreciation for all those who build it,

Alberto Mejia II, MPA

please see the typo paragraph 6 line 4: remove"strategic" before Patty. Should just read Patty. Apologies.

-Alberto

Hi everyone: I'm back from vacation today; sorry about the radio silence.

I'd like to share with everyone that I sat on this story for several months, hoping there would be progress behind the scenes. I checked in with the players repeatedly. I also requested a financial document from the consultancy where Patty Grossman works, which reportedly was written a couple of years ago and does not describe Youngstown as insolvent but rather encourages the possibility of Youngstown becoming independent of DNDA. The report was promised to me but never delivered.

This story is not a hit piece, it's a cry for help. Youngstown really does need new leadership now. After hearing all these voices, I hope that becomes clear.

Dear Ms. Grossman: it's not often that one proves the point of a critical overview so blatantly. Defensive, obtuse, blurbish language has garnered you less than zero in this, and proven the many fair questions in the article. You've got a willing audience, as Graves points out many times, please take advantage of the situation and be forthcoming...not simply defensive.

That whole block needs an overhaul. I hear that Southwest Family Services is homophobic place that is supposed to be "safe for kids"

Hey, that's Cooper! My great grandpa(when it was originaly called Youngstown) down to my cousin and my older brother went there before it closed. Pigeon Hill represent!
I really hope this place pulls through. It would have been a godsend for me if it'd been around in the late 90's. A very heartfelt goodluck!

oh, really @35? do tell, please.

My personal opinion of the DNDA is it’s a private association that leaches government funds in the name of public development and health to purchase public real estate and establish revenue raking “Affordable Housing” complexes, which gives them nothing but pure profit with exclusion to building maintenance, and faculty expense, being that they only invested government and donated funds, and have no personal financial stake. They purchased Youngstown through a 400,000 dollars in grant fund from the office of housing, and the number of donations was no listed, see http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cms/groups/pa…. It doesn't surprise me that Youngstown programs would be the first thing they let go when they confront financial troubles. Its leading board member is a broker from windermere real estate company, and its treasurer is works in real estate for PSE. Not to mention that most of youngstown's space (about 75%) is used as affordable housing, and the DNDA continues to pose its focus on Arts, and education, but suddenly now that is a deterrent from their mission. If you disagree i'd like to hear your response.

My personal opinion of the DNDA is it’s a private association that leaches government funds in the name of public development and health to purchase public real estate and establish revenue raking “Affordable Housing” complexes, which gives them nothing but pure profit with exclusion to building maintenance, and faculty expense, being that they only invested government and donated funds, and have no personal financial stake. They purchased Youngstown through a 400,000 dollars in grant fund from the office of housing, and the number of donations was no listed, see http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cms/groups/pa…. It doesn't surprise me that Youngstown programs would be the first thing they let go when they confront financial troubles. Its leading board member is a broker from windermere real estate company, and its treasurer is works in real estate for PSE. Not to mention that most of youngstown's space (about 75%) is used as affordable housing, and the DNDA continues to pose its focus on Arts, and education, but suddenly now that is a deterrent from their mission. If you disagree i'd like to hear your response.

@ # 38
My friend works for the city and another is involved with another agency like that one, and what I know is that several people left after an employee beat up another employee while calling him a fag. The president, or director of the place, found out and fired the the gay man. There was more to it that I don't know exactly, but there was a van, some kids from the youth center, some employees and alcohol, a fight and fag calling. It was ignored by the media, I think. If it happened at a private school, people would care... But now everytime I drive down Delridge and see the building with the field I think, anti -gay youth center -- great. Place where the victim gets shit canned for being gay, awesome. Maybe the Slog knows more? ANyone else know more? Jen?

The North Delridge Neighborhood Council on DNDA/Youngstown, incluidng an excerpt from the stakeholder letter written to the DNDA board:

http://www.ndnc.org/2011/12/30/an-open-l…