Our History
History of Investment
2011 - HHF works with the Erie Community Foundation to establish a school-based health center in Wayne School
2012 - HHF works with Victory Christian on Eagle's Nest program
2014 - HHF is the first Community School corporate partner at Wayne School (and later East Middle School)
2019 - HHF partners with ECF, Erie Insurance and the City of Erie on Count Me In
2020 - HHF partners with neighborhood centers on COVID response
2021 - HHF is the initial funder for the Erie Center for Arts & Technology’s $12M Wayne School Reimagined Project, and is followed by ECGRA and ECF as additional funders
2021 - HHF is invited to participate with other members of the UPMC system in a national summit on healthcare and housing sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
2022 – ECAT forms the Wayne Health & Wealth Equity District and forms a steering committee of area business owners, residents, and students.
2022 - ECAT conducts a Wayne District-wide property survey and publishes a Neighborhood Development Plan that explores work in housing, career training, and community development based on data collected in the District. (East 6th to East 12th; Bayfront Parkway to Pennsylvania Ave).*
* Pulaski-Lighthouse Neighborhood in Erie Refocused is defined as "needing stabilization”
2023 – Daria Devlin is hired by HHF as the Director of Social Impact
2023 - HHF board approves the formation of BUILD CDC in Dec 2023 after a three-month feasibility study conducted by Wyatt Schroeder of Bowling Business Strategies.
2024 - BUILD's board is formed, 501(c)(3) status is filed, and staffing brought on board.
BUILD establishes (4) core pillars of Trusted Access to Health Care; Career & Workforce Development; Affordable Housing; and Thriving Neighborhoods and begins advancing work across each. BUILD leans into Housing First Erie (link) by acquiring a 40,000 sf former school building to be renovated & repurposed as permanent supportive housing for the chronically unhoused.
BUILD also purchases (2) blighted properties on East Avenue through the City of Erie Redevelopment Authority and begins renovation; BUILD collaborates with East Side Renaissance on a (6) unit tenement redevelopment on Parade Street. BUILD secures key state and federal funding, including Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) and PA Housing Affordability & Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE) dollars.
BUILD provides paid On The Job (OJT) Training experiences for ECAT Construction Trades students and initiates planning for the Wayne Campus Expansion.
2025 - BUILD advances its mission of delivering critical affordable housing, activating underutilized buildings, and leveraging strategic partnerships & capital to strengthen neighborhoods & expand opportunity for residents. The Housing First Erie permanent supportive housing project takes formal shape as the Schoolhouse Apartments at Washington Square and joins Mercy Center West & St Paul’s Community Center as the Triangle of Hope.
Within the Wayne Equity District, the collaboration at the UPMC Health Plan Neighborhood Center comes to fruition with a summer ribbon cutting & immediate impact on the neighbors; the Wayne Campus Expansion advances plans for 4,000 sf of additional space for the UPMC Jameson School of Nursing. Renovations at 1032 East Avenue continue, incorporating hands on work by ECAT Construction Trades Students; and the Pay What You Can Market at the corner of 7th & East Avenue distributes more than 4,300 lbs. of fresh produce to about 600 neighbors.
The BUILD Street Outreach Team, in partnership with the Mental Health Association, Upper Room, Erie City Mission, Safe Harbor Behavioral Health, HOME Team, and others, expands coordinated outreach to meet the unhoused community where they are.
ECAT graduates 26 from the Clinical Medical Assistants, 40 from the Freedom House program, and more through Construction Trades. The UPMC Jameson School of Nursing matriculates 61 nurses, placing over 82 percent of them at UPMC Hamot.
2026 - BUILD deepens its place-based work by moving key housing & neighborhood projects from planning into delivery. Within the Wayne Equity District, the Wayne Campus Expansion formally launches with the purchase of the Wayne Park Baptist Temple and construction commences.
The 1032 East Avenue project finishes in Q1 and provide (3) two-bedroom units of affordable housing as well as ground floor commercial space, reactivating a neighborhood store front.
The 833 East Avenue project is the site for the Erie County Department of Planning Whole Homes Repair Contractor Training Program.
In the Parade Street neighborhood, the collaborative project with East Side Renaissance begins construction to provide (6) units of affordable housing.
