Asha Waterstreet has quickly become a community asset in Warren.

The executive director for the Kinzua Youth Development Center, she is originally from Atlanta, and graduated with a degree in public relations from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Starting her career in an airline corporate office is where she met her husband, Mark and later started their family in Rochester, N.Y. A homeschool teaching mom, Waterstreet found herself having to decide her next steps once her daughters finished school. She opened her own brick and mortar store in Rochester selling flavored olive oils and balsamic vinegar called “Tasteful Additions.” In 2021, the business was brought with her to Warren remotely and currently has been housed in Salsa Soleil Boutique since 2024.

The move to Warren happened in 2021 after husband, Mark retired in 2019 from working as a commercial airline pilot for nearly 40 years and decided to search for a new place to live. Exploring several places nationwide, they stumbled on a home in Warren online and not knowing anything about Warren, decided to take a look. Looking at the property, the couple knew they were in the right place before they stepped foot inside the house.

“Long story short, we put in an offer, and it was accepted. We went back to Rochester, put our house up for sale, sold it within the week, got everything going, and we moved here in October of 2021. This was all the Lord, He knew exactly what we wanted and now has us in the perfect place and where we need to be. It’s a blessing to be here, God certainly opened the doors to get us here. Not knowing a person here at first, we have just fallen in love with it. I find this to be the absolute most friendliest place ever,” said Waterstreet.

Mark and Asha Waterstreet are pictured at a local event.

Upon meeting Salsa Solkowski, owner of the Salsa Soleil Boutique, the Waterstreets took her suggestion to join some local clubs and quickly began meeting more people.

“Everybody in town really seems to know each other, and so it just really creates a very great sense of community. When Lincoln Solkowski found out my love for Warren and the community and for children, the executive committee here of the board interviewed me and asked if this would be something I would possibly be interested in doing.”

Waterstreet shared that the world of nonprofit is very new to her but she is enjoying learning about it.

“I’ve got wonderful mentors in the community too, as well the other directors of the different nonprofits have been so helpful,” she said.

Waterstreet also said she was amazed at how many nonprofits are in the area.

Photo submitted to the Times Observer Asha Waterstreet, executive director of the Kinzua Youth Development Center, is pictured.

“There’s so much industry that is in this small town, the generosity of the people that we have here too, because a lot of these programs rely on being sustained through donations and grants,” she said.

The Kinzua Youth Development Center has been the top recipient of donations through Warren Gives. Waterstreet was hired in 2024 as the organization’s first executive director. She oversees the center’s administrative duties while completing their three-year strategic plan. Additionally, she will support and disseminate the center’s youth development mission and vision.

“Yeah we have been number one, both in the dollar amount and also in the number of donors. Last year, we also received donations from the most out-of-state donors as well,” she said.

Recently, the Zonta Club awarded a grant for the GLOW (Girls Leading Others Wisely) program coordinated by Waterstreet. Currently in its second year, GLOW is a program that builds confidence through goals such that relate to them personally as well as fitness and physical activity exploration. Last fall, the first etiquette class was a success and Waterstreet plans to extend and expand on both of the programs. She handles the non-wrestling programming for the KYDC and also much of the behind the scenes work that is necessary.

“I am always looking for programs that I think would be helpful for the youth in our community, but we never want to compete with the other nonprofits. So that’s the big thing,” she said.

Recently, Waterstreet added some volunteers to help with programs, something that has been helpful, especially when bringing in special skill sets to teach the children different things.

A youth gardening program collaboration with the Master Gardeners of Warren, from the Penn State Extension is beginning this summer and a pickleball camp returns for its second year as well. Community movie nights in collaboration with Family Services of Warren County have been taking place monthly for the past several months. New and exciting for this upcoming fall, the center has been working on an after school tutoring program for middle schoolers.

“As long as I can get volunteers for some of the other programs, we have a lot of great things going on,” Waterstreet said.

Waterstreet said that the center is trying to encourage and support the whole child, through educating them on social and physical well-being as well as nutrition, offering a balance in the variety of programs. The best part of the youth center is that there is never a charge for any of the programs.

As if working as the executive director at the youth center and owning “Tasteful Additions” oil and vinegar business wasn’t enough, Waterstreet keeps busy. Her family in India owns Candytoy Corporate, a candy and toy manufacturing business, in which she oversees the U.S.sales and support.

When not planning programs at the youth center, Waterstreet enjoys traveling, especially to visit her three grandchildren; cooking, reading, and studying through the Bible from start to finish and over again. A fun fact to know is that Waterstreet’s mother had Mother Teresa as her fourth-grade teacher, and her grandmother helped Mother Teresa get started when she started the Missionaries of Charity and left the Loretto nuns.

“Growing up, every year when we went to go visit my grandmother in Kolkata, we always went to go visit Mother Teresa, too,” said.