ECGRA’s support fuels the Sarah Reed Centennial Restoration | Opinion
By: Gary Bukowski, MA, CFRE
Dec. 11, 2025, 4:45 a.m. ET, GoErie.com
Key Points
- The Sarah A. Reed Children’s Center received a $55,000 grant from the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA).
- This grant supports the Centennial Restoration Project at the center's historic St. Ann’s Campus in Erie.
- The campus is located in one of the nation's poorest ZIP codes, with an average household income of $14,579.
- ECGRA's Anchor Building Program aims to revitalize underutilized historic buildings in the community.
At Sarah A. Reed Children’s Center, our mission has always been to help children heal, learn and grow — but that mission extends far beyond the care we provide. It lives within the spaces that nurture and care: the buildings that hold our history, our programs and our community’s sense of hope.
Erie cannot achieve meaningful growth without including projects that uplift our most underprivileged areas. The 16501 ZIP code, home to our St. Ann’s campus, has an average household income of $14,579, one of the poorest in the nation. This area is also the site of the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority’s (ECGRA) Anchor Building investment.
Sarah Reed Children's Center is a center of excellence in Erie, specializing in mental and behavioral care for children, teens and families. We specialize in trauma-informed care by providing innovative evidence-based treatment and services through research, clinical practice and professional training. Each year, we serve a diverse population of over 1,700 individuals from 55 counties across Pennsylvania.
For more than a century, Sarah Reed has been deeply rooted in Erie, striving each day to make a lasting difference in the lives of children and families. That impact continues to grow thanks to the support of ECGRA.
We are proud to share that ECGRA has awarded $55,000 through its Anchor Building Program to support the Centennial Restoration Project at our historic St. Ann’s Campus. This investment marks another exciting step in a multi-year effort to restore and revitalize this remarkable community asset.
The Anchor Building Grant Program is an adaptive reuse initiative designed to breathe new life into underutilized or vacant structures — the kinds of historic buildings that define our neighborhoods. These buildings, often located in the heart of the community, carry with them stories, memories and architectural craftsmanship that can’t be replicated. But they also come with challenges, including costly upgrades to meet modern codes, limited funding options and appraisals that make private financing difficult.
That is why ECGRA’s investment is so transformative. Their vision aligns perfectly with ours — to strengthen Erie’s neighborhoods by preserving the places that make them unique and by putting them back in the community as assets.
For Sarah Reed, that place is the former St. Ann’s School at 1020 East 10th Street. Built more than a century ago, it now serves as the St. Ann’s Campus of Sarah A. Reed Children’s Center, where over 100 children, teachers, behavioral counselors and staff gather every day for education and healing and where we help over 400 families annually through Sarah’s Great Giveaway.
After the building was vacant for three years, we launched a $1.4 million renovation plan to bring it back to life and put the “soul” back in that building. Piece by piece, we have been restoring not only the bricks and mortar, but the sense of energy and purpose that St. Ann’s once brought to this East Avenue neighborhood. The transformation has already earned recognition — including the 2024 Greater Erie Award for Adaptive Reuse from Preservation Erie — and, with that momentum, it has helped bring jobs, services and positivity back to the Pulaski-Lighthouse area. Our progress would not have been possible without ECGRA’s continued partnership. In December 2023, a separate $86,000 Community Facilities Grant from ECGRA’s Building a Better Future program helped us replace our outdated 30-year-old steam heating system with a modern, efficient HVAC system.
Thanks to their support, we were able to complete this essential upgrade just in time for the winter — ensuring a warm, safe and comfortable learning environment for our children and staff.
As we continue our St. Ann’s Campus Enhancement Project, we are deeply grateful to ECGRA’s Board of Directors for their belief in our mission and their investment in Erie’s future. Through their Anchor Building and Community Facilities programs, ECGRA is proving that when we invest in places that matter, we build more than buildings — we build hope.
On behalf of our staff, children, families and neighbors: Thank you, ECGRA, for helping us preserve Erie’s rich past while creating a brighter future. Erie cannot continue to develop without this type of inclusive growth.
Link to GoErie article: https://bit.ly/ECGRA_GBukowski