Two buildings that served West Scranton’s spiritual needs will be repurposed to serve the need for childcare and housing in the neighborhood.
The Agency for Community EmPOWERment, or ACE, purchased the former St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church and its neighboring rectory building in the 1700 block of Jackson Street last month, according to a property transfer recorded by the Lackawanna County recorder of deeds.
The Scranton-based agency plans to turn the rectory into a four-bedroom affordable housing unit, and the church into an early childhood center.
Executive Director Jim Wansacz said the buildings fill a need for housing and childcare in the area.
“We’re looking at this as a way to put in a family in (a home) at an affordable way, and also fill a need for more early learning classrooms,” he said.
A community needs assessment conducted by the agency found a need for both in the neighborhood.
ACE plans to convert the church into an early childhood center with two or three classrooms, serving infants and children up to 5 years of age. The number of teachers will depend on the type of classroom and guidelines for running them. Families will not be charged to enroll children at the facility.
The agency has more than 1,000 children enrolled in early childhood facilities in Lackawanna, Wayne, Pike and Susquehanna counties. Wansacz said they help children get ready for school.
The house will be part of the agency’s Scranton Lackawanna Resources Development Corporation, which matches low- to moderate-income families with affordable housing. ACE has 12 units throughout the county that it rents to families that meet the income qualifications, Wansacz said.
“The housing will be taken care of for families that will be able to live in an affordable, high-quality housing,” he said.
Wansacz anticipates the house will be ready for tenants by November or December, and the classrooms will be up and running next year.
The former St. Michael’s Church on Jackson Street in West Scranton pictured Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (Christine Lee/Staff Photo)
The rectory of the former St. Michael’s Church on Jackson Street in West Scranton pictured Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (Christine Lee/Staff Photo)
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The former St. Michael’s Church on Jackson Street in West Scranton pictured Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (Christine Lee/Staff Photo)
The Diocese of Scranton closed the church last year, with its final Mass taking place last September. In his decree ordering the closure, the Most Rev. Joseph Bambera, bishop of the diocese, said the parish — which is overseen by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and celebrates the traditional Latin Mass — had outgrown the church on Jackson Street and ordered the parish relocated to St. Lucy’s Church on Scranton Street.
The church, originally established for Catholics of Lithuanian heritage, was dedicated in 1942, according to archives of The Times-Tribune.
Felicia Gerrity, manager of Vitali’s Market, which sits next to the rectory, grew up attending the church and was married there, and two of her four children were baptized there. She was sad to see it close but is hopeful its new owner can bring new life to the building.
“I think it will bring more people to the neighborhood, and it’s better than being empty,” she said.
The buildings are the latest project for the nonprofit agency, which is part of a national network of federally funded community action agencies that administers poverty-assistance programs on the local level. Those include housing, early learning, home weatherization, utility, vehicle and food assistance, and workforce and veterans programs.
They received funding last year for a new housing complex for veterans in South Scranton. The building at 601 Prospect Ave. will house up to eight veterans.
It is also not the first former faith-based property the organization has acquired, as it uses the former Holy Rosary School in North Scranton as an early learning center.
Last summer, the city awarded a $125,000 grant via federal funds to convert a vacant, run-down house in North Scranton into two three-bedroom affordable-housing units for two families. The agency is currently rehabilitating the building in North Scranton, which Wansacz said is of particular need in the community.
“The number one need in community needs assessments is affordable housing,” he said. “Not only in Lackawanna County, but in the country. That’s why you hear people talking about that.”
Wansacz sees the buildings’ future uses as good for the community.
“We looked at this as a good deal that could provide a community service to the area,” he said.