WKBN is honoring Remarkable Women in our Valley. After dozens of submissions, we narrowed it down to four finalists.
Patti Dougan may not consider herself remarkable, but the people who come in contact would say different.
“Some people are really, very powerful and remarkable and amazing in one aspect of their life. They may be great moms, or they may be great in their profession, or they might be big in the community, but Patti just kind of jumped out at me. She’s all of those things,” said Shirley Christian.
Patti is housing attorney in Youngstown – you’ve heard from her before on WKBN. She’s making sure people have a roof over their heads and utilities turned on.
While the job may stop there, Patti doesn’t.
“Sometimes you have to get a little more involved and find out what led to this. What was the final issue that pushed you over the edge? What was the last straw? Sometimes it was losing their job and they couldn’t get unemployment,” said Dougan.
Outside of work she has been making her neighborhood a better place to live for years.
When her kids were young, she was campfire leader. When they got older, she joined the 7th Ward Citizens Coalition and the Youngstown Leadership Council.
She also put together a community tool shed. The shed became so popular to staff that they turned it over to YNDC.
Patti is always looking at ways to get involved to this day, always saying “It’s just what I do.”
