ECGRA Awards Erie County Community Centers Grant
At the Boys & Girls Club of Erie today, the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA) awarded more than $180,000 of funding to Community Center grant recipients.
"Improving the quality of place is vital to advancing community and economic development strategies being implemented across Erie County," said ECGRA Executive Director Perry Wood. "Investing in community centers helps provide stable and accessible third spaces for residents while revitalizing neighborhoods - vibrant neighborhoods make Erie County a more attractive place to call home."
Community centers in Erie County have provided residents with basic health and well-being, job training, mentoring, education, nutrition and other benefits to a large cross-section of the community. Startegically located, community centers are vital to rural and urban areas alike. ECGRA considers community centers to be neighborhood or community hubs whose primary focus is social, educational, cultural and recreational activities serving a segment of the community, such as children or senior citizens.
"This ECGRA grant is helping all of Erie County, but in historically underinvested and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods like City of Erie's lower east side. ECGRA investments are moving the needle faster and further," said Erie County Councilman Andre Horton (District 2). "ECGRA grants are strategically and transparently invested, which makes an impact for residents by provding a more accessible community with a stronger sense of place."
"The Boys & Girls Club of Erie has a mission to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens," said Boys & Girls Club of Erie Director John Popoff. "ECGRA is supporting access, tangibly and intangibly, to the young people that rely on our facility."
An impact investing organization, ECGRA's mission is to empower the nonprofit sector, municipal governments, and economic development agencies to revitalize Erie County. ECGRA is endowed with local share gaming revenue from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania via the Horse Race Gaming Act. Local share gaming revenue is an assessment of the licensed gambling industry in Pennsylvania. ECGRA administers local share gaming revenue on behalf of Erie County.
To see the full list of 2024 Community Center grant recipients, click here.
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