United Way of Erie County
United Way of Erie County's mission is to mobilize resources to break the cycle of poverty and improve our community.
United Way of Erie County at a glance
In short: United Way of Erie County gave $714K across 9 grants in 2025 (avg $79K), mostly in Pennsylvania. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $714,353
- +193.7% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 9
- +80.0% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $79,373
- +63.2% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $30,102
- Total assets
- $40,746,068
- +7.5% vs 2024
- Primary geography
- Pennsylvania (100% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated September 2026.
Who United Way of Erie County funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 9 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Safe Harbor Behav Health ($429K). Together the top 9 received $714K.
Grant Size Distribution
63 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 45 grants of 63 (71%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 9 itemized grants.
States
Cities
How United Way of Erie County gives
- Giving grew 72% from 2022 to 2025. Method
From the foundation's IRS Form 990 filings. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $243K (2024) to $2.5M (2019). In 2025 it made 9 grants totaling $714K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Safe Harbor Behav Health Erie, PA | POC | $429,174 |
| United Way of SW PA Pittsburgh, PA | POC/DD | $116,412 |
| Achievement Center Erie, PA | POC/DD | $67,560 |
| Erie Civic Theatre Associatio Erie, PA | POC/DD | $40,212 |
| Gannon University Erie, PA | POC | $30,102 |
| Erie Community Foundation Erie, PA | POC | $10,000 |
| Cystic Fibrosis Assoc of Erie Erie, PA | DD | $7,686 |
| Girard School Dist Foundation Girard, PA | DD | $7,656 |
| Second Harvest Food Bank Erie, PA | DD | $5,551 |
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Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Net Investment Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $40,746,068 | $8,083,340 | $5,918,066 | $714,353 | 9 | $1,988,203 |
| 2024 | $37,920,017 | $12,482,664 | $5,219,102 | $243,244 | 5 | $1,130,118 |
| 2023 | $29,437,984 | $6,093,880 | $5,378,722 | $683,735 | 13 | $751,990 |
| 2022 | $28,190,253 | $2,451,156 | $2,721,019 | $414,686 | 12 | $336,075 |
| 2021 | $30,478,984 | $7,495,049 | $4,580,348 | $1,237,194 | 24 | $1,173,105 |
| 2020 | $25,069,141 | $4,396,769 | $4,289,111 | $1,880,807 | 32 | $286,810 |
| 2019 | $23,588,153 | $4,807,415 | $4,980,328 | $2,453,891 | 33 | $370,111 |
About United Way of Erie County
Based on IRS filings
United Way of Erie County is a public charity, based in Erie, PA. IRS filing data is available from 2019 through 2025. As of 2025, the organization holds $40.7M in total assets. In 2025, it awarded 9 grants totaling $714K. Net investment income was $2.0M.
Focus Areas
Leadership & Key People
Officers and directors from IRS filings
United Way of Erie County is led by Laurie B Root, President since 2021 (on filings since 2019); 4 of 22 officers listed in 2025 are compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Laurie B Root
President
Senior Vice President → President, 2021
On filings since 2019
37.5 hrs/week
$107K (2019) → $159K (2025)
Lisa Slomski
Finance Chair
Director → Finance Chair, 2024
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Katie Jones
Board Chair
Director → Vice Chair, 2024
Vice Chair → Board Chair, 2025
On filings since 2022
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Christina L Bernatowicz
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Robin Scheppner
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Brian J Polito
Director
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Seth Carter
Director
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Chrisitine Drabic
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Dana Zaphiris
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Eric Weislogel
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Rhonda Matthews
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Anita Kuchcinski
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
April Murphy
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Corey Cook
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Karen Surkala
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Kevin Otteni
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Lisa NeCastro
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Patricia Kennedy
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Sally Opferbeck
Vice President of Finance & Administrator
On filings since 2022
37.5 hrs/week
$83K (2023) → $90K (2025)
Julie Chacona
CDO
On filings since 2023
37.5 hrs/week
$93K (2023) → $99K (2025)
Michael Jaruszewicz
Senior Vice President
On filings since 2024
37.5 hrs/week
$96K (2024) → $99K (2025)
Mark J Kuhar
Governancechair
Secretary → Governancechair, 2024
On filings since 2022
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (35)
- Former: James B Ohrn (2019–2024) — Director
- Former: James W Grunke (2019–2024) — Director
- Former: Lorianne Feltz (2019–2024) — Board Chair
- Former: Charles Hagerty (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Gail J Cook (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Jack Lee Jr. (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: James C Nuber Jr. (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: James P Teed (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Janel Bonsell (2019–2023) — Treasurer
- Former: Kathryn A Ruffa (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Marcus Atkinson (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Terry L Cascioli (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Thomas A Tupitza (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Nicole Reitzell (2021–2023) — Director
- Former: Colleen Moore-Mezler (2022–2023) — Director
- Former: Marybeth Smialek (2022–2023) — Director
- Former: Christopher C Clark (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Alan R Hamilton (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Colleen Moore Mezler (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Debbie A Iavarone (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Keith Taylor (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Matthew J Zonno (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: William G Jackson (2019–2021) — President Emeritus
- Former: Tesha L Nesbit (2020–2021) — Director
- Former: Gwen White (2021) — Director
- Former: Chanel Cook (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: David Gibbons (2019–2020) — Board Chair
- Former: Kelli Gambill (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Mark J Shaw (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Nicholas A Austin (2020) — Director
- Former: Bernadine M Habursky (2019) — Director
- Former: Eric Rollins (2019) — Director
- Former: Gwendolyn White (2019) — Director
- Former: Jennifer Schade (2019) — Director
- Former: Tesha L Nesbit Arrington (2019) — Director
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Compensation Overview
From 2025 IRS filing
The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $159K, to Laurie B Root (President). 4 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.
Frequently asked questions about United Way of Erie County
How much does United Way of Erie County give each year?
United Way of Erie County gave $714K across 9 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $243K across 5 grants.
What is United Way of Erie County's typical grant size?
United Way of Erie County's median grant in 2025 was $30,102, and its average grant was $79,373, across 9 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990.
Where does United Way of Erie County give grants?
United Way of Erie County gives mostly in Pennsylvania: 100% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990 went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were Erie, PA (7 grants).
Does United Way of Erie County give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 9 grants with a stated purpose on United Way of Erie County's 2025 IRS Form 990 were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "POC/DD" (3 grants), "DD" (3 grants) and "POC" (3 grants).
Who are United Way of Erie County's largest grantees?
United Way of Erie County's largest 2025 grantees include Safe Harbor Behav Health ($429,174), United Way of SW PA ($116,412) and Achievement Center ($67,560), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. Together they received 86% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is United Way of Erie County?
United Way of Erie County reported $40.7M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $8.1M.
What is United Way of Erie County's EIN?
United Way of Erie County's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 25-1053091. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings.
Data update history
(7)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS December 17, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS March 16, 2026)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS May 7, 2020)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS April 28, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS April 28, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS February 28, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS December 14, 2023)
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in United Way of Erie County's focus areas in our free grants database
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Figures come from United Way of Erie County's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.
United Way of Erie County down — hundreds of funders to go?