The City of Scranton has been awarded a total of $68.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its economic impact.

“This pandemic has impacted the quality of life for way too many of our residents over the past two years,” said Mayor Paige G. Cognetti. “Our hope is that this program will help those organizations, businesses, and residents who saw the greatest impact from COVID-19 and give them a boost to getting back on their feet.”

Scranton City Council has approved that this funding be made available as grants to community organizations, nonprofits, and small businesses that have faced economic hardship resulting from or worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first of these grant programs opens July 18 to assist nonprofit organizations who have been negatively impacted by the pandemic, either through difficulties raising revenue or an increase in the need for their services.

During the month of August, the city will open additional grants that prioritize funding for programs for:

• Nonprofit grants for literacy/finance programs
• Nonprofit grants for educational catch-up programs
• Drug overdose prevention programs
• Behavior health response and violence prevention programs
• Wellness programs
• Affordable childcare programs

Other programs including those for businesses, homeowners, homebuyers and more will become available over the next several months and more information will follow.

As a subrecipient of the ARPA grant program to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its economic impact, Scranton Area Community Foundation is working with the City of Scranton to administer the ARPA program. Beginning on Monday, July 18, nonprofit organizations seeking ARPA funding will apply through SACF’s online grant management portal.

The Scranton Area Community Foundation’s role as community stewards allows us to leverage resources and work in partnership with city government to develop allocation strategies to maximize the use of ARPA funding in the region. Availability of ARPA funds for nonprofit organizations serving the residents of Scranton and surrounding communities presents an incredible opportunity for the region. Our role as a community foundation positions us to help other community leaders and decision makers balance the critical needs of assisting those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, while simultaneously encouraging the creation of sustainable, lasting solutions to improve the quality of life in our communities.

Please review the instructions on the online grant portal homepage PRIOR to creating a new account. For additional questions about creating a login, please email Grants@safdn.org.

At the grant portal login page, please follow the appropriate next step:

1. If you have already created a login: you must login using the credentials you’ve utilized for previous grant applications. NOTE: username is always an email.

2. If someone else in your organization has already created a login: please email grants@safdn.org to have a new user added to your organization.

3. If your organization has never accessed our online grant portal, create your account using the following information: username that is an email address; Your contact information; Your organization’s information, including the EIN/Tax ID number (required); Contact information for the organization’s executive.

Once logged in:

1. On the applicant dashboard, select “Apply” along the top menu to view available grants.

2. Select “City of Scranton ARPA Nonprofit Grant Program:

Questions and Additional Resources:

We have provided additional resources, including a written tutorial, to help you with our new grant application process. To access the written applicant tutorial, visit the Applicant Tutorial – Grants.