Four years ago, The Erie Community Foundation recognized a need in the community at the grassroots level. Many smaller groups, such as neighborhood watch groups, could benefit from small amounts of funding for their specific projects. As a result, the Neighborhood Mini-Grant was started. Groups are eligible for mini-grants up to $500, and groups can submit more than one grant application.

The response from the community has been very well received. In fact, 2010 marks the fourth year that The Erie Community Foundation has presented these grants. Any neighborhood group in Erie County is eligible. This is the second year of partnering with Stef Chatman and the first year of partnering with the Erie Neighborhood Watch Council.
Applications for the Neighborhood Mini-Grants were accepted for requests for projects such as: community building, recreation, and neighborhood restoration.

Below is the list of the 2010 grant recipients:

1. $500 Bayfront NATO Inc / Martin Luther King Center
2. $1,000 Sisters of St. Joseph: Beautification & Sign Replacement
3. $500 Wesleyville Borough Neighborhood Watch
4. $1,000 Sisters of Mercy: Basic Carpentry`& painting skills
5. $500 Wood Hood NW: Block Party & Newsletter
6. $500 Lincoln Elementary School: Jump start your school year
7. $1,000 Bayfront East Side Taskforce Movies Under the Stars & Ongoing neighborhood beautification
8. $1,500 Bethesda Trinity Center: Horticulture, Waldameer, End of Summer Celebration
9. $1,000 Bethany Multicultural: “Do It Yourself Legal Clinics” & Parenting Classes
10. $500 Booker T Washington Center /Healthy Youth Development: Igniting the Spark
11. $500 SafeNet: Discover our City Teen Scavenger Hunt
12. $500 Multicultural Community Resource Center: Neighborhood Gardens
13. $500 Snoops #13 Neighborhood Watch Group: Park Beautification
14. $1,000 Land Lighthouse Neighborhood Watch: Wild Wednesdays & Emergency Preparedness
15. $500 Garden Court Neighborhood Watch: Erie Alerts Twitter
16. $500 Buffalo Road Neighborhood Watch: Safety Lighting
17. $500 Corry Fest ’09: Corry Community Development Corp.
18. $500 Neighborhood Watch Council: Street Signs
19. $1,500 South East Hills Neighborhood Watch: Farmers Market, National Night Out & Sustainability for the Future
20. $500 Youth for Christ: Wheelchair ramps
21. $500 Central City Neighborhood Alliance: Beautification
22. $500 Elk Creek Recreation & Leisure Board/Girard Borough: Adult Swim
23. $500 Burton School: Summer Basketball program
24. $500 Glenwood Watch Group
25. $1,500 Union City Pride: Lawn Chairs, Art Show, Neighborhood Beautification

"High poverty in Erie County, persistently low educational attainment rates, and a business community challenged to recruit and retain a qualified workforce caused us to take this unprecedented step,” he said. "We know that there is a high correlation between educational attainment and lifetime earnings," explained Batchelor. “Erie County educational attainment rates are dramatically below the state and nation rates. A community college will increase access to education and help strengthen our local economy."

The fund will support ongoing operating and capital expenses and will be available assuming completion of the application to the state for the community college, Erie County Council's sponsorship of the application by September 30, 2010, and the ultimate receipt of the necessary state approvals. The Foundation is also making a second grant at this time to assist in the timely preparation of the detailed application package required by the state.

Trustees of the Erie Community Foundation will also continually review community college operations to ensure it meets the educational and economic development needs of Erie County residents. "This additional level of community involvement should maximize the effectiveness of this important institution,” said Batchelor.

The Foundation is also encouraging local businesses, philanthropists and the general public to make additional contributions to the fund which will remain at The Erie Community Foundation. “We are making the opening and lead gift,” continued Batchelor. “Study after study has documented the need for a community college. Private sector donations will further enhance quality, provide additional assistance to the County and alleviate taxpayer concerns over financial viability,” he said.

In fact, Nick Scott *of Scott Enterprises, *David Tullio *of Custom Engineering and *Bill Hilbert, Sr. of PHB/Reddogg each made an announcement that they too will each pledge $10,000 to the Coaltion for our Community College.

Anyone interested in supporting the community college can send donations to The Erie County Community College Fund, c/o The Erie Community Foundation, 459 West Sixth St, Erie, PA 16507.

The Foundation also announced the creation of The Coalition For Our Community College. “It’s important that supporters of a community college have their voices heard,” continued Batchelor. “We have created a logo and a facebook site. We expect the Coalition to grow organically from there,” he said.

Please join us to learn more!

If an organization does not file this form on time, they may lose their tax-exempt status. The deadline for submission varies. Smaller nonprofits are strongly encouraged to visit the IRS website immediately for specific information.

The deadline for receipt of proposals is no later than Noon on May 21.
Mail (no faxes) an original and two copies of sections A & B of the application to:

Shiloh Turner
Vice President of Programs
The Erie Community Foundation
459 W. 6th St.
Erie, PA 16507

For grant processing information or questions concerning the application, please contact:
Shiloh Turner, Vice President of Programs, at (814) 454-0843.

Guidelines for Application

The following Guidelines for Application provide general information about the grant requirements. To assure the inclusion of all required information, please read each section carefully. When completing, please follow the provided outline and instructions provided.

Click here to download the proposal.

If you have questions about the proposal process or your project, please call Shiloh Turner the Erie Community Foundation at (814) 454-0843.

ReTool Erie named the session: Achieving a Competitive Workforce in NWPA: Understanding the essential role of nonprofits. Speakers, Stephanie Powers, Project Director for the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, Michele Zieziula, CEO of the Regional Center for Workforce Excellence, and Phyllis Eisen, Co-Founder and Sr. Advisor to Business Champions, Inc., provided an overview of trends and needs in workforce training and the essential role that nonprofits play.

Powers told the audience, "Use your community foundation. If you come up with an innovative idea that has a collaborative effort, your foundation can connect you with best practices and more importantly, can leverage outside funding sources for your project."

Participants represented a variety of nonprofits including shelter and housing organizations, women’s services, youth programs, multi-cultural organizations, disability advocates, community development groups, and for-profit businesses. ""Today was well worth my time, and I have a page of notes," said Denise Olczak of Mystic Mountain. "I can feel the energy in the room and I am learning how to connect our project of teen leadership to others here today."

"The take away message from the day was that nonprofits need to reach out to the business community for more than just Board members and donations," said Amanda Brown Sissem, project officer. "We’re partners in moving the Erie region forward by developing services that meet real employer needs and offering individuals the tools to not only secure, but maintain meaningful employment with growth opportunities in their industry."

The next session of the ReTool Erie training series, The Employer’s Voice, will be held July 15th. For more information on ReTool Erie.

"We are thrilled with the results," said Cheryl Bates, director of Erie FREE Taxes. "More than 2,500 low to moderate income working families received free tax preparation services through Erie FREE Taxes, and more than 1,000 of these people received the Earned Income Tax Credit."

Erie FREE Taxes saved the Erie community more than $1/2 million in tax preparation services fees through free tax preparation services.

The Erie Community Foundation and Erie FREE Taxes wish to thank all 2010 VITA volunteers for helping return millions of federal tax refund dollars to the Erie community as follows:

Tax Preparers:
Terry Adams
Kristen Angelo
Emily Artello
Fatima Baker
Chris Beardsley
Therese Bihler
Julie Brown
Shawn Browne
Tecumseh Brown-Eagle
Lynette Burkhart
Liz Butler
Sara Cammarata
Kevin Campbell
Sue Cenfetelli
Stephen Collins
Gail Cook
Yvette Cunningham
Laura Davis
Mark Decker
Georgia Del Freo
Steve Drabant
Aaron Dunmyre
Jessica Durbin
Patrick Durkin
Holly Ferruggia
Linda Foll-Johnson
Randi Ford
Angela Frantz
Lindsay Geibel
Kelly Gibbs
Tina Gilmore
Steven Gresh
Jen Groves
Preston Harris
Diana Hatfield
Charles Hatfield
Penny Hetrick
Jennifer Hibar
Ray Horton
Ron Howze
Kim Huyck
Josh Jaeger
Terrance Jeffress
Jameson Jenkins
Paul Jericho
Lisa Jones
Christine Kessler
Elizabeth Kidd,CPA, CMA
Cheryl Kindle
Diane Kirik
John Krakowski
Toni Kuneman
Beverly Lazar
Stephanie Long
Paula Mabins
Kelsey Merry
Cheryl Miller
Kevin Miller
Linda Misevski
Gregg Mitcho
Chris Monaghan
Hardin Moss
Diana Mullen
Eric Neal
Jacob Nesgoda
Adrienne Paul
Brian Payne
Craig Phelps
Della Presley
Zac Reese
Rita Robinson
Teresa Rodgers
Cheryl Sanders
Tom Schuyler
Donna Shirley
Rodger Smith
Paul Stormer
Alan Strub
Michelle Szabat
Garret Tadda
Deidre Tate
Tracey Thomas
Tracey Tonty
Jim Vogt
James Walker
Mike Walz
Andrea Wingard
Lori Ann Zampogna

VITA Host Sites:
Booker T. Washington Center
City of Erie
Community Health Net
Corry School District
EdinboroYMCA
Erie Federal Credit Union
Erie General Electric Federal Credit Union
Family Services ofNWPA
Greater Erie Community Action Committee
Girard School District
John F. Kennedy Center
Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial Center
Multicultural Community Resource Center
North East 4NINE Thrift Store
St. Benedict Education Center
Union City Area School District

Erie FREE Taxes Coalition:
Booker T. Washington Center
Early Connections, Inc.
Greater Erie Community Action Committee
St. Martin Center, Inc.
WQLN Public Media

To meet the mission of The Erie Community Foundation, each quarter the board of trustees reviews grant applications and distributes unrestricted dollars to meet local nonprofits’ needs. The board also approves the donor advised and donor designated grants each quarter. At a recent press conference, The Erie Community Foundation distributed $1,984,227 as follows:

• $199,887 to seventeen Arts & Culture nonprofits
• $1,784,340 from 346 donor advised grants

The nonprofits that received Arts & Culture grants for 2010 were as follows:

• Arts Erie – Culture Spark Implementation – $10,000
• CAFÉ – Celebrate Erie 2010 – $10,000
• Dafmark Dance Theatre – Professional Lighting System – $30,000
• Dan Rice Days Committee – Day Rice Days Entertainment – $1,970
• Downtown Edinboro Arts & Music Festival - Downtown Edinboro Arts & Music Festival – $5,000
• Erie Art Museum – Blues and Jazz Festival 2010 – $5,000
• Erie County Historical Society and Museums – Erie Heritage Festival 2010 – $10,000
• Erie Playhouse – Front Lobby Renovations – $20,000
• Erie Summer Festival for the Arts – Erie Summer Festival for the Arts 2010 – $10,000
• ExpERIEnce children’s Museum – Capital Campaign Continuation – $50,000
• Young Artists Debut Orchestra – Performance Supplies and Scholarships – $8,000
• Presque Isle Partnership – 2010 Sunset Music Series – $5,000
• The Young People’s Chorus of Erie – Choir Camp and Scholarships – $10,000
• United We Stand Theatre Troupe – 2010 Theater season- $6,500
• Urban Erie Community Development Corp. – Walking in Black History 2010 – $7,500
• YMCA – John Horan Garden Apartments – Youth Theatre Program – $5,517
• YMCA – Downtown – Teen Mural Painting Project – $5,400

In 2010, the Erie Women’s Fund has $7,500 in funding available to address the climbing rates of violence in our community. We seek to support up to three projects with $2,500 each to provide safe communities and nonviolent outlets for children and adolescents in Erie County.

We give preference to programs that address one or more of the following areas:

• Economic Stability
• Education and Training
• Health Status and Disparities.

For the RFP and details, please click here:

Proposals are due to The Erie Women’s Fund of The Erie Community Foundation no later than Friday, April 30th, at 12pm.
Mail (no faxes) or hand-deliver an original and ten (10) copies of the application to:

Donna Buseck
Recording Secretary
The Erie Women’s Fund of The Erie Community Foundation
459 W. 6th St.
Erie, PA 16507

For questions concerning the application, please contact Donna Buseck, Erie Women’s Fund Recording Secretary, at 814.454.0843.