Allegheny College gets $15M grant for community impact hub to benefit Meadville

By Keith Gushard

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

Allegheny College has been awarded a $15 million grant to create and fund a community impact hub to strengthen ties between its academic programs and regional economic development.

A gift from an anonymous donor, the $15 million grant has an endowment of nearly $14 million to ensure the community impact hub’s work continues in perpetuity, college officials said.

Establishing the hub builds on Allegheny’s long tradition of community engagement, Jennifer Dearden, the school’s provost, said in a statement Tuesday.

“The hub is a vital component of academic programs, providing our students with experiences working with government and nonprofit organizations as they engage with faculty and community mentors to make Meadville a vibrant place to live and work,” she said.

Each year, approximately $100,000 will be granted to nonprofit organizations through the hub and its five impact teams.

The five impact teams are centered: arts and culture, community and economic development, education and social development, environment and sustainability, and health and well-being. The See HUB, Page A6

Continued from Page A1 teams have community partners and Allegheny faculty, staff and students.

The hub supports community improvement efforts and regional capacity-building — the strengthening of an organization’s ability to fulfill its mission by promoting sound management, strong governance, and persistent rededication to achieving results.

Efforts initiated by community partners are integrated into both Allegheny’s curriculum and student engagement activities. Work by the teams is done both during the academic year as well as during the summers.

Students on the teams get to experience real-world complexities and challenges faced by municipalities and nonprofit organizations, according to Lauren Paulson, an associate professor of psychology who is overseeing implementation of the hub grant program.

Students get opportunities to apply their knowledge in practical settings, develop leadership skills, engage in citizenship, and explore potential career paths, according to Paulson.

The hub’s work dates back to 2019, when the college got a concept grant to established the Allegheny Gateway Network, which has evolved into the hub.

The hub’s early pilot projects done in the past few years already have had a substantial impact, Paulson said.

Those projects include:

• Research on Crawford County’s emergency medical services seeing a significant increase in the number of 911 calls from those with no urgent medical need, but fell and need lift assistance. Evaluation of a project to prepare a feasibility study to determine best practices for local EMS based on research of other Pennsylvania programs.

• A computer science literacy program connecting Allegheny’s Department of Computer and Information Science with Crawford Central School District’s kindergarten through sixth-grade students.

• A 2024 summer project developed a series of community events at the Arc Community Greenspace including live music concerts, local theater, outdoor movies and other family-friendly events.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune. com.