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The Erie Arts and Culture Purposeful Placemaking initiative now includes completion of the second mural along Pfeiffer-Burleigh Elementary's Safer Walking Route to School. Leveraging art, United Way's Safer Walking Routes to School and our connections to neighborhoods through the Community Schools Model, this placemaking project is an investment in neighborhood beautification. The theme for the Remnant Store mural (pictured right), which was informed through community engagement and information gathering, is togetherness and a collective approach to building home.

Officials from United Way of Erie County in partnership with Erie’s Public Schools have announced Grover Cleveland, Jefferson and JoAnna Connell Elementary Schools will be transformed into the next three community schools, bringing the total number of schools included in the partnership to 16 countywide.

The expansion of the transformational student success initiative is being made possible by a once-in-a-lifetime infusion of federal funding over a three-year period. Once this period ends, United Way will assume financial responsibility for continued funding of the Community Schools Model at these schools.

Officials are announcing the hiring of a community school director (CSD) at each of these schools.

Erie Arts & Culture, United Way of Erie County, Our West Bayfront and additional supporters and community members gathered at the site of the first completed mural in the Purposeful Placemaking project. The press conference was held July 11, 2022 at 10 a.m. at the corner of 11th and Weschler Streets, along United Way’s Safer Walking Routes to School route for Strong Vincent Middle School students. Strong Vincent is a United Way community school.

When I was first settling into my office about a year ago today, I decorated the windows that face the hallway with plants I had made from construction paper along with the message, “Look at You Grow.” After I set it up, I didn’t think much about it, until school began. A certain 3rd grade student would walk past it almost every day and read it out loud to himself. Every few weeks, he would stop and tell me that he really liked that saying and my paper plants.

United Way of Erie County has been a proud sponsor of local National Night Out (NNO) events since 2004. In the past, NNO events have taken many forms including but not limited to block parties, cookouts, parades, visits from emergency personnel, rallies and marches, exhibits, youth events, safety demonstrations and seminars. NNO also aligns with the prevention portion of the three-pronged Unified Erie Violence Reduction Initiative.

By now, you’ve likely heard about Community School Action Plans: the data-driven blueprints designed for each community school as a basis for barrier identification, removal and strategy implementation. Action Plans are completed during a school’s first year in the model and take between 8 and 12 months to complete.

United Way of Erie County was well represented last week at The Institute for Educational Leadership’s 2022 National Community Schools and Family Engagement Conference in Los Angeles, California. The conference theme, Uniting for Every Child's Opportunity, was both a reminder and a call to action for conference goers.

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 2-6, 2022, and we are celebrating all teachers, instructors and educators past and present. We asked United Way staff who their favorite educator has been and to reflect on the impact they made on their life. Please see the responses below.

In early March, the 2020-2021 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) scores were released to the public, issuing stark evidence of the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our most vulnerable students and schools.

Today, McKinley Elementary School "Home of the Mariners" Captains visited Edinboro University of Pennsylvania for their end of year retreat.

United Way of Erie County serves as a required member of the Erie County Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) Board. The Emergency Food and Shelter Program was established on March 24, 1983, with the signing of the "Jobs Stimulus Bill," Public Law 98-8. That legislation created the National Board which is chaired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and includes several social service organizations in addition to United Way. Phased funding has continued the establishment of the EFSP.

When students can see they can learn.

In the wake of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24, more than five million Ukrainians have fled the country, creating what United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi describes as "Europe’s largest refugee crisis in more than a century."

Today, the two new leaders of The Erie Community Foundation and United Way of Erie County teamed up to launch #ErieUnitedForUkraine in support of the international effort by United Way Worldwide, a multinational effort to direct much-needed donations to United Way organizations in the countries welcoming Ukrainians fleeing the horrors of war.  President and CEO of United Way of Erie County Laurie Root along with President and CEO of the Foundation Karen Bilowith announced the Erie United for Ukraine campaign at a press conference held March 30. 

United Way of Erie County is on a MISSION to CRUSH poverty. And, we know the key to ending poverty is education. Join us May 19 at the Bayfront Convention Center to learn more about United Way's efforts to break the cycle of poverty in Erie County.