Monroe County is one of the areas that will benefit from nearly $3 million in grants awarded by Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. for community improvement and revitalization projects.

PP&L announced Thursday (7/18) that four Monroe County and Stroudsburg area projects will receive grants totaling $130,500 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 Evelyn Soto, 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," Soto said. "And, funding will continue through at least 1997."

Projects receiving 1996 Community Partnership Program grants in Monroe County and the Stroudsburg area are as follows:

• Jacob Stroud Corporation — $65,000
  To rehabilitate about 20 storefronts in the Main Street area of Stroudsburg.
• Monroe County — $3,000
  To repair homes owned by low-income families as part of the "Christmas in April" program.
• Monroe County Habitat for Humanity — $30,000
  To build two homes that will be sold to families at no profit and with a no-interest mortgage.
• Pocono Mountains Chamber of Commerce — $32,500
  To provide collateral that helps guarantee loans for small businesses.