Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility Cepeda-Freytiz applauds $1.7 million in funding coming to Reading

Cepeda-Freytiz applauds $1.7 million in funding coming to Reading

Rep. Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz    October 20, 2026 | 10:01 AM

READING, Oct. 20 – Eight projects located in northwest Reading will receive funding through the Neighborhood Assistance Program, totaling $1,776,291, announced state Rep. Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz.

“This funding will go a long way to addressing many of the most pressing issues in our community – education access, food insecurity, healthcare coverage and more,” said Cepeda-Freytiz, D-Berks. “I look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition, and I continue to work to see funding like this come back to our district.”

The projects supported in this funding include:

  • $594,000 to GoggleWorks Art Park to transform distressed space into safe green space with arts, food and education opportunities for residents and visitors.
  • $459,000 to Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank to remediate a blighted historic building that houses the food bank’s community kitchen and Berks County Intermediate Unit Head Start classrooms.
    • Helping Harvest will also receive $113,750 to purchase and distribute food to low-income residents in Berks and Schuylkill counties.
  • $178,750 to the Olivet Boys & Girls Club of Reading and Berks County to renovate their Blue Mountain Camp to expand safe, affordable, structured summer programming for low-income youth.
  • $174,166 to the Habitat for Humanity of Berks County for the launch of a six-year plan to revitalize a distressed neighborhood, transforming 40 blighted buildings into affordable homes.
  • $157,500 to the Reading Hospital Foundation for its Street Medicine program, which provides healthcare services, medication and referrals for the most vulnerable in Reading and Berks County, including the homeless community.
  • $60,125 for United Way of Berks County to expand its Read Alliance program, which will increase reading and early literacy proficiency rates for children in Reading.
  • $39,000 to Centro Hispano Hispanic Center for the purchase of 1%, 2%, and lactose-free milk for youth and seniors served by the Feeding Families program.

Funding for these projects came through the Neighborhood Assistance Program, a tax-credit program administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development that encourages businesses to invest in projects that improve distressed areas.

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