Erie Together Unlocks Pathways to Prosperity, Safety, and Service

I started writing this piece at Thanksgiving, when I was thinking about Erie Together celebrating its 10-year anniversary. That milestone is a big deal, because Erie Together is a citizen-driven movement whose priorities are identified and advanced by the community, not a “traditional organization” with an established board of directors and predictable, stable funding.  The progress Erie Together has made and its longevity to date is a testament to the hundreds of people who have committed their time, expertise and resources to this movement.

With that commitment, Erie Together has fostered widespread, cross-sector collaboration among citizens, organizations, schools and businesses that’s made a palpable community impact. We can proudly point to several successes – creation of Career Street, the Erie County Re-entry Services and Support Alliance, and the annual Youth Civic Engagement Symposium, to name a few. Just as exciting is the collaborative momentum that continues, through our focus on two life- and community-changing initiatives. One is expanding opportunities for students to prepare for their futures, and the second is focused on reducing domestic violence here.

Let’s start with the first. For too long, children’s success has depended not only on their own hard work and ability, but also on the tax base of their schools and their parents’ (or caregivers’) socioeconomic status. Adults with connections can easily share them with their kids. People with enough money can move into a school district that excels and provides extra enrichment opportunities. But in families that lack sufficient resources, caregivers often struggle to help their children. While exceptional students may still succeed in class, without experienced adults to guide them, it can be very difficult to explore, and ultimately secure, family-sustaining jobs.

Erie Together’s Career Street and Erie County Career Pathways Alliance (ECCPA) are leveling the playing field for students across the county. With the input of strategic industry advisory groups, the active engagement of local employers, and the clear commitment of educators, we are opening doors, creating resources, and developing new opportunities for students to explore careers and prepare for their future.

The ECCPA is identifying, prioritizing, and standardizing age-appropriate career exploration experiences to be placed on the Career Street website for implementation. What that means is that no matter what school a student attends, or how many times they move around, they have access to a variety of professionals, employers, and experiences that can help them prepare for their future. Since its launch in 2014, Career Street has facilitated more than 40,000 student experiences and now, with the ECCPA’s influence, these experiences and related informational resources are becoming even more relevant and robust.

All of this is important, but we cannot, as a community, adequately prepare future generations if we don’t also address other barriers to learning and family stability. One such barrier is domestic violence, the second big project in which Erie Together’s engaged.

Because of our prior success in the reentry arena, in 2019 Erie Together was asked to help develop a cross-system domestic violence reduction strategy. Together with law enforcement, domestic violence agencies, hospitals, universities and other key entities we formed the Domestic Violence Action Alliance and have taken on this priority that will have far reaching implications for students, families and our community.

Domestic violence is not just a family issue—it’s a community crisis that tears families apart, harms adults and children, and impacts everyone. In 2018, Erie County was second in the state in numbers of domestic violence homicides. This simply can’t continue.  

The effects of domestic violence on involved children are severe—causing depression, PTSD, and anxiety in the short term. Over the long term, kids who have experienced domestic violence are more likely to drop out of high school, become addicted to alcohol or other drugs, suffer from unemployment, and develop significant health challenges. Erie’s children deserve better, and we are working together to provide it.

Erie Together leads the way for individuals to make a difference in others’ lives, our community, and local economy, and it is through projects like these that we continue to help make the Erie region a community where everyone can learn, work and thrive. We are thankful to all who have played a part in it.