{"id":195438,"date":"2026-05-18T09:41:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/195438\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T09:41:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:41:02","slug":"shapiro-administration-tours-affordable-housing-project-site-in-erie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/195438\/","title":{"rendered":"Shapiro Administration tours affordable\u00a0housing\u00a0project site in Erie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hagerty\"<\/a>Charles “Boo” Hagerty welcomes those gathered at the Schoolhouse Apartments project in Erie, May 15, 2026. Photo by Joel Natalie, TalkErie.com.<\/p>\n

The Triangle of Hope is three total projects designed to address homelessness in Erie \u2014 offering services for unhoused populations and the community through\u00a0housing, food bank partnerships, community spaces, and job readiness<\/p>\n

Today,\u00a0Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Rick Siger\u00a0visited the Washington Square Schoolhouse Apartments\u00a0housing\u00a0project in the City of Erie to highlight the critical need for\u00a0housing\u00a0infrastructure investments across Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under current projections, Pennsylvania will face a shortage of roughly 185,000 homes by 2035 without further action.\u00a0Housing\u00a0costs continue to rise at a rate faster than wages, with over one million households in Pennsylvania spending more than 30 percent of their income on\u00a0housing, and more than 50 percent of the Commonwealth\u2019s\u00a0housing\u00a0stock is over 50 years old \u2014 making it increasingly more expensive to maintain.<\/p>\n

To address these issues,\u00a0Governor Josh Shapiro\u00a0created Pennsylvania\u2019s first ever\u00a0Housing\u00a0Action Plan<\/a>,\u00a0which will build and preserve more homes, modernize housing regulations and zoning rules, and break down barriers preventing people from finding stable housing \u2014 all to grow the Commonwealth\u2019s economy and improve Pennsylvanians\u2019 quality of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Washington Square Schoolhouse Apartments project is a great example of what can be accomplished when people come together to achieve a common goal \u2015 making sure every Pennsylvanian has access to a stable home that sets them up for success,\u201d said\u00a0Secretary Siger.\u201cGovernor Shapiro has proposed a bold\u00a0new $1 billion critical infrastructure fund to invest in projects like\u00a0this one, and to ensure we\u00a0increase the number of\u00a0housing\u00a0units\u00a0across the Commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the Triangle of Hope Initiative, the former school will be converted into 22 units offering rapid-response\u00a0housing\u00a0to chronically unhoused men who have been without a permanent home for at least one year. This project, which could potentially expand to 72 units, will also provide support services for mental health, physical healthcare, addiction recovery, and case management spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Triangle of Hope projects are in an area with a 14%-18% poverty rate and are designed to offer services for homeless populations and the community at large through\u00a0housing, food bank partnerships, community spaces, and job readiness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cErie County is feeling the same housing strain seen across Pennsylvania. We need common-sense solutions to expand housing options and make communities more affordable,\u201d said\u00a0State Representative Ryan Bizzarro.\u00a0\u201cGovernor Shapiro\u2019s plan is such an important step. By investing in development and giving communities the tools they need to address shortages, we can help more families find places to live while strengthening our local economies. If we fail to address the\u00a0housing\u00a0shortage, we risk losing economic gains we\u2019ve already made.\u201d<\/p>\n

The additional two projects in the Triangle of Hope initiative include the Sacred Heart School through the Mercy Center for Women and St. Paul\u2019s neighborhood Center through the Mazzini Charitable Foundation. The Sacred Heart School will offer supportive\u00a0housing\u00a0for 20 to 40 women, men, and children, and the St. Paul\u2019s neighborhood Center through the Mazzini Charitable Foundation will serve the greater community through partnerships with Second Harvest Food Bank Marketplace, and offer social services, nutrition and adult learning, and trade and skills training programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Commonwealth previously invested<\/a>\u00a0in the Mercy Center for Women through the\u00a0Neighborhood Assistance Program<\/a>\u00a0(NAP) to expand the Center\u2019s efforts to provide safe and supportive\u00a0housing\u00a0for those affected by domestic violence, addition, and mental health challenges.\u00a0The NAP awards tax credits up to 95% across five subprograms for projects that serve distressed areas and support neighborhood conservation like affordable\u00a0housing\u00a0programs, community services, crime prevention, education, job training, or neighborhood assistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Governor Shapiro\u2019s\u00a0Housing\u00a0Action Plan\u00a0calls for new affordable\u00a0housing\u00a0options and reforms that will help meet the demand across the Commonwealth\u2019s\u00a0housingmarkets and outlines a plan to address the\u00a0housing\u00a0supply, improve affordability, and stabilize\u00a0housing\u00a0outcomes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Governor\u2019s\u00a0proposed 2026-27 budget<\/a>\u00a0calls for targeted investments to support the\u00a0Housing\u00a0Action Plan by:<\/p>\n

Investing\u00a0$1 billion through the Pennsylvania Program for Critical Infrastructure Investment\u00a0to build and strengthen Pennsylvania\u2019s critical infrastructure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Launch a\u00a0$1 million\u00a0Investments in Health pilot program\u00a0to expand stable\u00a0housing\u00a0options and reduce homelessness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reducing barriers to residential development by\u00a0modernizing local planning, zoning, and permitting\u00a0processes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Protecting homeowners and communities from sudden cost increases\u00a0of manufactured\u00a0housing\u00a0options.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Strengthening\u00a0housing\u00a0leadership, coordination, and data sharing\u00a0across the Commonwealth, increasing partnerships and collaboration at every level to address the critical\u00a0housing\u00a0need.<\/p>\n

For more information about the Pennsylvania\u00a0Housing\u00a0Action Plan or\u00a0DCED, visit the agency\u2019s\u00a0website<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0X<\/a>, and\u202fLinkedIn<\/a>.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charles “Boo” Hagerty welcomes those gathered at the Schoolhouse Apartments project in Erie, May 15, 2026. Photo by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-195438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}