A quick look at the beginning of the St Ann's Campus and how it fits into the Sarah Reed Childrens Center efforts to work with children with behavioral issues on Erie's East Side..Know as the Pulaski-Lighthouse District. Sarah Reed bought this school from the Diocese of Erie in 1986.Presently we have over 70 children enrolled and have helped over 86 over this 2023-2024 Academic Year.

1. The St. Ann’s Campus at Sarah A. Reed Children’s Center
Sarah A. Reed Children’s Center has full ownership of the site at 1020 East 10th Street in Erie, PA in the
former St. Ann’s School located in the Pulaski-Lighthouse District, which is a very culturally diverse,
underserved, historically disadvantaged community. The St. Ann's School was built in 1925, and the
Children's Center purchased the property in 1986 for $150,000. Up until the 2018-2019 academic year, Sarah
Reed operated two vital education programs at this location in partnership with the Erie City School District.
These programs include Sanctuary Education for Learning Fundamentals Program (SELF) and the Sanctuary
Based Learning Program (SBLP), which serve children in grades 3-12. These programs then moved to
Emerson-Gridley School at the request of the district, but they returned to our St. Ann’s Campus for the
2022-2023 school year following a very successful Pulaski-Lighthouse 2022 Summer Youth Program, made
possible thanks to a $75,000 American Rescue Plan grant through the City of Erie. Sarah Reed Children’s
Center is proud to return as a strong community resource for the St. Ann’s neighborhood, helping to meet
the educational, social and emotional needs of this community. Since the Summer of 2022, we have served
115 children at this campus.
Students from Erie’s Public Schools are referred to the SELF and SBLP programs when they exhibit severe
behavioral challenges and need a therapeutic environment of care to help them learn how to regulate
emotions and behaviors for a safe return to their home school. As mentioned above, in the Summer of 2022
Sarah Reed provided a free nine-week program for children ages 6-15 who live in the Pulaski-Lighthouse
neighborhood and surrounding areas. The Pulaski-Lighthouse 2022 Summer Youth Program was the only
summer program in this region of east Erie to incorporate STEAM activities and it was open to children with
or without mental health/behavioral health challenges. It incorporated several significant components:
education, social/emotional development, mentoring, community engagement skills, mental health
awareness, and offered trauma-informed, evidence-based behavioral counseling to children and families who
expressed an interest. There was a real demand for this summer program amongst the St. Ann's community,
and we were able to serve 25 children through this program.
The Children's Center is committed to enhancing the Pulaski-Lighthouse
neighborhood and holds a strong physical presence in this area. The past four
years we've hosted a free, public event, "Sarah's Great Giveaway," where our
agency collects donations of new and gently used clothing, toys, books,
houseware items, etc. and everyone in the community is invited to come and
take anything they need at no charge. We've seen a great public response to this
event, which was held at our St. Ann’s Campus the past two years and will
continue to be held there for the benefit of our City of Erie residents, especially
those living in the Pulaski-Lighthouse district. This year we had 400+ people
participate in the event on April 29, 2023. Representatives from UPMC
Medicare/Medicaid/Dental and the Erie County WIC Program were also there to
provide information to residents about their
services.
The St. Ann’s Campus
1020 East 10th
Street
Erie, PA 16503

2. Our St. Ann's Campus has a garden on-site that our students and staff maintain. The Lori Eaton Sanctuary
Garden was dedicated on August 22, 2023, in memory of the former St. Ann’s Campus supervisor who
dedicated over 30 years to making a difference for our Sarah Reed children and families. Last summer we
had 30+ volunteers from ServErie who helped clean up the garden space so our 2022 Summer Program
students could plant flowers and vegetables. The garden was a great success - the children really enjoyed
growing their own produce to take home! While we didn't have a 2023 Summer Program at this site, we
formed a partnership with Groundwork Erie in 2022 and are in discussions about collaborative efforts for
future educational programming. Dr. Aaron Kerr, executive director of Groundwork Erie, taught two
environmental classes to our St. Ann's students during the 2022-2023 academic year, which was very exciting
for them, and we are looking forward to more programs like this!
For more information about the St. Ann’s Campus, please contact:
Gary L. Bukowski, MA, CFRE
Associate VP of Development
Sarah A. Reed Children’s Center
2445 West 34th
Street ∙ Erie, PA 16506
Phone: (814) 835-7602
Email: GBukowski@SarahReed.org
Website: www.SarahReed.org
Students at the St. Ann’s Campus engage in a STEAM activity using
microscopes that were funded by Sarah Reed’s community of donors.