Wilkinsburg CDC Receives Renewal, $350K in Funding

Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation recently received a Neighborhood Partnership Program renewal resulting in an additional $350,000 in funding from TriState Capital Bank.

This is the third installment by TriState of a six-year commitment to the WCDC to assist in Wilkinsburg’s Business District revitalization efforts, as well as affordable housing, crime prevention, green initiatives, and youth engagement.

The grant provides funding to the WCDC through The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development’s Neighborhood Partnership Program.

Landmarks Community Capital Corporation will receive a portion of the funds in a collaborative arrangement for reinvestment in the community. TriState’s six-year commitment to the WCDC is conditional upon the annual renewal of the NPP.

“We would not have an economic development group, staff and office in Wilkinsburg today without the leadership and support of A. William Schenck, president of TriState Capital Bank,” said Leslie Patterson, WCDC president. “We are grateful for his ongoing concern in revitalizing our community.”

Schenck said, “Through the NPP program, TriState can continue grants that support the comeback of a once-vital community. We are pleased to be a part of an evolving, successful community redevelopment program.”

LCCC is a development division of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which is doing extensive work in the Hamnett Place neighborhood of Wilkinsburg.

Their efforts have included a community housing resource center, restoration of houses and the recent renovation of the Crescent and Wilson apartment buildings. Landmarks' efforts have seen more than $10 million of investment in this neighborhood, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

WCDC was formed in June of 2008 with a mission to revitalize Wilkinsburg and surrounding areas through business and residential development, organizational and individual civic leadership, and cultural enrichment.

It has a full-time staff at a prominent Wilkinsburg storefront location—Penn Avenue and Wood Street. The corporation has had many significant community development partners, such as Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development, PNC Foundation and Representative Joseph Preston, Jr.