Local nonprofits rely on community support to fund their projects and services, and during the last quarter of 2025, the Erie Community Foundation awarded $4.6 million to 734 of those nonprofits.

Of that total, $3.9 million was distributed 715 nonprofits, with $346,000 awarded to 14 nonprofits through its “Helping Today” and $482,000 to 5 nonprofits in its “Shaping Tomorrow” program.

“The Shaping Tomorrow projects are really focused on ecosystem building, really encouraging organizations to work together, so we’re really looking at projects that are shovel ready, and are really able to take ideas into action,” said Pat Herr, Vice President of Community Impact at the Erie Community Foundation.

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Herr said the focus for the Shaping Tomorrow grants is to support systemic changes, rather than organizational improvements, whereas the Helping Today grants address more urgent needs.

One organization receiving money through the Shaping Tomorrow program is the YMCA of Greater Erie, which manages the Erie County Re-Entry Services and Support Alliance (ECRSSA).

“When a person comes out of incarceration, think of yourself. When you get out, what do you have to do? You have to shower, some people don’t have a place to shower. You grab your wallet, a lot of people don’t even have an ID to grab. Then you get in your car, a lot of people don’t have transportation. Where did you go? You went to work today, they don’t have a job. We do all those things,” said Jake Kelton, Program Director of the Erie County Re-Entry Services and Support Alliance.

Kelton said the $100,500 they received will go to help people leaving incarceration with those obstacles, and they’ve been servicing more people now than ever with referrals from the county, state and federal level.

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The alliance served 396 individuals in 2024, and since starting in 2016, he said they have helped 90% or more of their clients find sustainable jobs.

“We all do something wrong. If I don’t get caught, it doesn’t mean I didn’t do something wrong, but those kinds of charges can follow you for the rest of your life, and a lot of people think that just because of a felony or a misdemeanor, they can’t get a job. That’s just not true,” said Kelton.

If you would like to learn more or know someone who might benefit from the ECRSSA’s services, you can head to their website here, and Kelton said the best way is to walk into their office on 1631 Sassafras Street between 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM.

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