Governor Tom Wolf announced the approval of $4.75 million in funding through the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP), to promote community participation and collaborations among nonprofits, businesses, and residents while producing outcomes that assist a distressed area or the low-income population in a neighborhood. The credits will support 17 community revitalization projects across the commonwealth.
“The Neighborhood Assistance Program demonstrates the value of public-private cooperation in ensuring the health of our communities, and the benefits that Pennsylvanians see through these partnerships,” said Gov. Wolf. “The continually strong applicant pool and participation levels of this program demonstrate both its demand and the importance of the positive impacts it creates across the commonwealth.”
NAP encourages private sector investment into projects that will help improve distressed communities by providing tax credits to businesses that donate capital to support projects that address neighborhood and community problems. NAP can be used for projects in categories including affordable housing, community services, crime prevention, education, job training, charitable food, blight, special population issues, veteran’s initiatives, and long-term community revitalization.
The recently approved funding will support:
Two community investments in the northwest region in Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, McKean, Venango, and Warren counties. One approved project in Erie County will provide micro-grants to homeowners to complete façade repairs and tear down blighted properties. The project will also install bus shelters, turn vacant lots into greenspaces, and install public art within the neighborhood.
The new approvals raise the total amount of funding under the Wolf Administration to nearly $102 million in NAP funding supporting 694 projects statewide. The investment will result in more than $15.7 million in additional funds leveraged through corporate contributions.
“Pennsylvanians take great pride in their communities, and the Neighborhood Assistance Program is a way to encourage public-private partnerships to improve the neighborhoods we all call home,” said Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin. “From improving community health to combatting food insecurity, renovating properties and addressing blight, these projects will improve the quality of life in communities across the commonwealth.”
The program has five main components: The Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP), Special Program Priorities (SPP), the Neighborhood Partnership Program (NPP), the Charitable Food Program (CFP), and the Enterprise Zone Program (EZP). A description of each of these components is available within the NAP fact sheet.
For more information about the Wolf Administration’s commitment to community development, visit the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) website or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
