Scranton Awards Nearly $1 Million in ARPA Funds for Wellness Programs
Grants will support behavioral and physical health, overdose prevention, and more
IMPORTANT
- ARPA funding to address underlying impacts of the pandemic.
- Nearly two dozen organizations to receive support from the City of Scranton.
- Funding to target impacted groups including children, veterans, cancer patients, and more.
SCRANTON, PA. – The City of Scranton awarded nearly $1 million in support of various wellness projects and programs on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. Nonprofits applied in August and September for the grants that are part of the City’s $68.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
“The programs we’re supporting today will address many of the underlying issues that Scranton faces as we continue to emerge from COVID-19,” Mayor Paige G. Cognetti announced at the Children’s Advocacy Center of NEPA’s Teen Advocacy Center, 316 Wheeler Ave., Scranton. “The groups receiving support today will help us to combat issues like food insecurity, behavioral and mental health, youth violence, drug abuse and overdose, and so much more.”
Through a spending plan approved by City Council in May 2022, the City allocated a total of $950,000 to address the overarching issues of behavioral health, drug overdose prevention, violence prevention, and wellness. Community organizations responded with a desire to expand food service programs for children and the elderly, provide cancer screening for low income and underserved groups, and offer mental health services to multiple target groups, among other projects. After a thorough application and review process, 23 organizations ultimately received assistance.
Applications were weighed based upon the City’s ARPA mission, which aims to give people access to resources, rebuild infrastructure systems that impact everyday life, and foster equitable wealth generation targeting residents’ needs.
All applications were reviewed by the City, including its Public Health Coordinator Dr. Rachna Saxena, and compliance consultants from Anser Advisory to ensure that organizations were not receiving duplicate federal benefits, per the guidelines set by the United States Department of the Treasury. Applications were also reviewed for project sustainability, service to City residents, and more.
At Tuesday’s announcement, Mayor Cognetti was joined by grant recipients including the Children’s Advocacy Center, the NEPA Youth Shelter, and the Lackawanna County Treatment Court.
“This grant from the City’s ARPA program will help us expand staffing and pursue critical certifications for counselors at our Mulberry Center, where we provide therapy for victims of child abuse and their families,” Children’s Advocacy Center Executive Director Marsha Pigga said. “By offering new group and family support and additional trauma therapy for our clients, we can continue to heal children throughout northeastern Pennsylvania.”
“An emergency shelter was always the driving concept behind the founding of NEPA Youth Shelter,” added Maureen Maher-Gray, executive director and founder of the NEPA Youth Shelter. “The ARPA funds will propel this plan to the forefront of our goals for 2023. I am so thrilled that the City of Scranton also believes that we can bring the idea to life.”
Grant recipients and the funding they will receive, in alphabetical order by category, include:
- Wellness Grants – Six grants totaling $240,000
- Bhutanese Cultural Foundation of Scranton Association, $25,000
- Center for Health and Human Services Research and Action, $50,000
- Child Hunger Outreach Partners, $50,000
- Meals on Wheels of Northeastern PA, $15,000
- Northeast Regional Cancer Institute, $50,000
- The Wright Center for Community Health, $50,000
- Behavioral Health and Violence Prevention Grants – Fourteen grants totaling $590,500
- Children’s Advocacy Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania, $98,379
- City of Scranton, $100,000
- Integrative Counseling Services, $40,798
- Lackawanna College, $15,000
- Marywood University, $13,411
- NAMI PA Scranton Area Chapter, $40,000
- NEPA Youth Shelter, $60,000
- North East Pan African Coalition, $30,000
- Scranton Counseling Center, $12,912
- Telespond Senior Services, $25,000
- Treatment Court Advocacy Center of Lackawanna County, $10,000
- Valhalla Veterans Services, $75,000
- Valley In Motion, $25,000
- The Wright Center Medical Group, $45,000
- Drug Overdose Prevention Grants – Three grants totaling $119,500
- Lackawanna County Treatment Court, $20,000
- Treatment Court Advocacy Center of Lackawanna County, $49,500
- The Wright Center for Community Health, $50,000
Additionally, the City will award a grant for $48,404 to Hometown Health Care of NEPA. Hometown Health applied for funding to support a vaccine clinic in the City. Funding will be provided through the City’s COVID-19 vaccination allocation.
The City continues to issue funding opportunities through ARPA. Applications are currently open for four separate small business grants aimed at either façade improvements, small business development and expansion, increased employee wages, and financial recovery. Information about Scranton’s ARPA plan I online at scrantonpa.gov/arpa.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT (ARPA) OF 2021: ARPA is a $1.9 trillion federal economic stimulus bill. The City of Scranton has been awarded $68.7 million in ARPA funds to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its economic impacts. The mission of Scranton’s ARPA program is to give people access to resources, rebuild the infrastructure systems that impact their everyday lives, and foster equitable wealth generation that targets the needs of Scranton residents.
Last modified: August 2, 2023
