Harrisburg and surrounding areas will benefit from a share of nearly $3 million in grants awarded by Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. for community improvement and revitalization projects.

PP&L announced Tuesday (7/16) that 14 Harrisburg-area projects will receive grants totaling $592,500 through the company's Community Partnership Program for 1996. (Projects are listed at the end of this news release.)

Across the 29 counties it serves, PP&L is awarding grants to 75 nonprofit agencies and organizations. Funding for the program comes from company earnings. PP&L does not collect any of the cost from its electricity customers.

PP&L created the Community Partnership Program to help local efforts to revitalize urban neighborhoods, promote home ownership, assist small businesses and improve the quality of life in central eastern Pennsylvania.

"We are making an investment in the communities we serve. It's an investment with a real payback for PP&L and the people of the area," said Angela Tracy, PP&L's regional customer relations representative.

The payback, she added, comes in several ways. Small businesses, particularly in the downtown area of cities, can get the backing they need to take root, grow and create jobs. Low-income families have more opportunities for home ownership, which gives them a greater stake in the community. Blighted urban neighborhoods have access to funds for improving their appearance, safety and stability, to attract new residents and new investments.

In establishing the Community Partnership Program last year, PP&L used input from community leaders and social service organizations to identify the region's most pressing needs.

"We believe this effort is important enough to the future of the region that we have contributed more than $5.4 million over the past two years," Tracy said. "And, funding will continue through at least 1997."

Projects receiving 1996 Community Partnership Program grants in the Harrisburg area are as follows:

• Southcentral Pennsylvania Housing Development Foundation — $47,000
  To help write down construction costs for homes to put the purchase price within reach of more low- and moderate-income families.
• Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority — $40,000
  To reduce, or provide grants to reduce, home prices so they are more affordable for low- and moderate-income families.
• Visions International — $60,000
  To rehabilitate four housing units for low-income families in the Harrisburg area.
• Harrisburg Fair Housing Council — $28,000
  To continue to assist a first-time home buyers program for families with limited income, and to pay partial costs of a workshop for these first-time home buyers.
• Capital Region Economic Development Corp. — $60,000
  To continue support of a small business loan program and mentoring workshops for first-time business owners.
• City of Harrisburg — $100,000
  To replace curbing, support the "Adopt-a-Block" program and help revitalize the Mid-town Market District in Harrisburg.
• Newport Revitalization Inc. — $25,000
  To provide grants to small businesses for building exterior improvements in the downtown shopping area.
• South Allison Hill Civic Association — $30,000
  To provide continuing support for completion of the new South Allison Hill Community Center.
• Millersburg Ferry Boat Improvement Project — $15,000
  To assist in refurbishing the flood-damaged wall and ferry boat that serve the community. The Millersburg Ferry is the oldest continually operated mode of transportation in the United States.
• Christmas in April — $2,500
  To refurbish one home through the house sponsorship program, and to assist with support operations. (PP&L also is donating a used computer and printer to the Christmas in April office.)
• Habitat for Humanity — $25,000
  To build or rehabilitate seven homes in the Harrisburg and West Shore areas for low-income families.
• YWCA of Greater Harrisburg — $25,000
  To assist in the refurbishing of the Sylvan Heights mansion as a shelter for domestic violence victims.
• Harrisburg Enterprise Development Corp. — $100,000
  To support development projects in Harrisburg's enterprise zone, particularly in the Paxton Commons project.
• Visions International — $35,000
  To refurbish the exteriors of 25 homes of low-income families in the Uptown and Allison Hill areas of Harrisburg.