Spring 2023
With your help last spring, Keystone Opportunity Center exceeded our $75,000 goal to support needed services for our neighbors!
This Spring, in response to a greater need than ever before, please help us reach an even more ambitious goal of $100,000!
Why? Keystone Opportunity Center continues to see an increase in requests for all types of assistance. The reality is that too many of our neighbors who were already experiencing economic challenges must make increasingly difficult decisions about where to use their limited resources, having to choose between housing costs and providing nutritional meals for their families.
Since February of 2022, the cost of healthy food options have increased to the point where a modest grocery list costs 60% more now! Bananas, fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, and dairy products have all increased, by between 25% and 158%. These increases have led to our pantry seeing a significant increase in the number of people seeking help every month.
Meanwhile, the affordable housing situation continues to be equally dire in our community and across the country. The National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania report that the Commonwealth faces a shortage of over 267,000 affordable and available units. With rents continuing to rise, our housing team is responding to multiple requests for assistance each day. We continue to search for properties and work to develop creative solutions that best support adults and families facing housing instability.
One step that families are taking to increase their financial stability is through enrolling in educational programs. Keystone’s education department is at 107% enrollment for the program year, has supported 22 students become U.S. citizens, assisted 12 neighbors complete their high school equivalency, and has wait of 100 neighbors. Keystone is also exploring additional programming to meet the increased, emerging needs of the community.
Keystone has not been able to do this alone. We have been able to meet the needs of the community THANKS TO YOU! Your generosity makes a difference in the daily lives of our neighbors. We hope that you will continue to support our work and make a generous donation that provides help and hope to thousands of people every year.