Burns secures another $350K for Johnstown Women’s Help Center
State grants will help pay for emergency and transitional housing
Rep. Frank Burns June 12, 2026 | 1:33 PM
JOHNSTOWN, June 12 — Leaning on his seniority, experience, and ability to connect state leaders with local organizations, state Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria, today announced the award of $350,000 in state grants to the Johnstown Women’s Help Center to ensure that Cambria County residents have access to safe, affordable housing.
The two grants awarded to the Help Center are as follows:
• $150,000 for shelter services, case management, and support services for its emergency housing program.
• $200,000 for a shelter-diversion program providing short-term housing and rental assistance for people transitioning out of shelters or experiencing a housing crisis.
“A year or so ago, I brought a top aide to the House majority leader to Cambria County to see firsthand the needs of local organizations like this,” Burns said. “I’m very happy to connect state leaders with local organizations like this. This is how we make sure that Cambria County organizations doing important work get the resources they need from the state.”
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“(Rep. Burns) really was our champion, and so crucial to getting this funding. He understands our needs, he listens, and he’s just wonderful to work with.” – Help Center Executive Director Roxann Tyger
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Help Center Executive Director Roxann Tyger said “there is so much real need” for housing assistance right now in Cambria County, and that more families are in need. This week, the Help Center learned of two families with a total of nine children who were living on the street.
Tyger credited Burns for understanding the nature of the problem and for his willingness to work on the Help Center’s behalf.
“He really was our champion, and so crucial to getting this funding,” Tyger said. “He understands our needs, he listens, and he’s just wonderful to work with.”
This marks the second time in the past year that Burns has secured state grants for the Women’s Help Center following a visit from Matt McCarry, special assistant to the House majority leader. Last year, the center was awarded $450,000 toward construction and rehabilitation of a new emergency shelter facility, as well as support for its Emergency Shelter Program for women and their families, and for expanding services to men.
The funding was awarded through the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund. PHARE was established by Act 105 of 2010 (the "PHARE Act") to provide the mechanism by which certain allocated state or federal funds, as well as funds from other outside sources, would be used to assist with the creation, rehabilitation and support of affordable housing throughout the Commonwealth.
More information about the PHARE program is available here: https://www.phfa.org/legislation/act105.aspx.