The Susan Hirt Hagen Center for Community Outreach, Research and Evaluation (CORE) at Penn State Behrend will host a free public open house from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20.

CORE, located at 4909 Jordan Road, is an outreach effort of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Penn State Behrend. The center works to promote positive youth development by providing and supporting school-based events, community activities and public training sessions across Erie County.

During the open house, guests can enjoy food, meet the CORE staff, learn about current projects, and see how they can get involved.

Visitors will need a parking pass for the open house, which can be attained at this link. A parking map can be viewed here. Guests should plan to park in the Jordan Road Lot.

Founded in 1998 through the generosity of Susan Hirt Hagen, CORE was designed to provide research, evaluation and proposal development services to teen pregnancy prevention providers. The center has since broadened its original focus to encompass positive youth development. Its work in the Union City school district has cut truancy and drop-out rates by more than half and has knocked the district’s teen-pregnancy rate to a 10-year low.

For more information about CORE or its upcoming open house, contact Nicole Rosen, director of community outreach, at 814-898-6515 or email nlr17@psu.edu.