Allentown’s Neighborhood Center looks for community support to preserve after-school programs

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An Allentown nonprofit needs a little help to continue serving young people as it awaits its next round of grant funding. 

The Neighborhood Center offers three free programs for Center City children in the Salvation Army, 344 N. 7th St.

It serves about 150 kids each year, with 15 at the center most weekdays, according to Executive Director Karen Berard.

“Our goal is to keep the kids off the streets, so we provide positive programming for the families,” Berard said.

The center runs an early learner program for 4-year-olds, as well as after-school programs for elementary pupil and teens.

Kids learn art, reading, math, science and team building, and sometimes go on skating and bowling trips, Berard said.

The Neighborhood Center is “a little different” than other youth programs in Allentown “because we’re a little bit more structured,” she said.

“We are uniquely different because we can individualize — because we're smaller,” Berard said. “So we can have more one-to-one contact with the families and the children.”

'Any donation will help'

But the nonprofit has had to scale back its operations from five days to four as it awaits some of its funding from various grants, she said.

“Sometimes grants come and go, and sometimes we're not able to get them, so that puts a little strain on our budget,” Berard said.

That gap in funding prompted Laurie Fatta Cortright to launch a fundraiser on GoFundMe to bolster the center’s programming.

Cortright is urging people to join her in supporting a “cause that means so much to me."

She said she “fell in love” with The Neighborhood Center after first volunteering there last spring. She’s since quit a second job so she can spend more time at the center.

“I quit my second job to do something more meaningful,” she said.

Cortright brings a meal to the center every Wednesday and plays games with the kids, who call her “abuelita” — grandma in Spanish.

The GoFundMe is not the first fundraiser Cortright has held for the center, which she said offers “really, really important” opportunities to learn and play for Center City children.

“I love what they're doing for the community,” she said. “I love what they're doing for these kids.”

Cortright’s GoFundMe page has raised almost $800 for The Neighborhood Center since it was set up about a week ago.

Berard said it’s been “awesome” to see people support her organization through a tough time.

“It's just really great to see that,” she said. “There's just a warm, fuzzy feeling about it.”

Cortright is aiming to raise $15,000 to help The Neighborhood Center, a goal she set based on high hopes and faith in her community.

“My thing is: put it out in the universe, and the universe will give it to you,” Cortright said. “I know that sounds silly. But if I say $15,000, maybe we'll get $15,000.”

"Any donation will help," she said.