Centre County United Way helps families feel ‘more rooted’ in the community

UNIVERSITY PARK – When the Wideman family moved to State College from the Philadelphia area in 2013, they weren’t sure how long they were going to stay. Now, nine years later, the family has grown from four to five, added an assortment of animals – chickens, a rabbit and a dog – and made their house on Walnut Street a home.  

The Widemans were initially brought to the area when Ben Wideman got a job as a campus minister with University Mennonite Church. Ben and his wife, Meredith Wideman, wanted to find a place to live where Ben could walk to work and they would have space to raise their young family.  

They weren’t sure if purchasing a home in State College would be possible on a pastor’s salary, until a congregation member connected them with the State College Community Land Trust (SCCLT), which helped them buy their first home. 

“We’ve never owned a home before, and this really helped us feel much more rooted and connected to the town than in any of the other four cities we’ve lived in,” Ben Wideman said. “It was sort of surprising to me, too. We weren’t really sure if this was the right fit or not but owning a home in the borough has made us feel like this is where we feel comfortable settling into.” 

Providing ‘safe, affordable housing’ opportunities 

The State College Community Land Trust is a local nonprofit organization and partner agency of the Centre County United Way that provides affordable homeownership options for lower-income households. The SCCLT does this by purchasing and rehabilitating homes in the borough for energy efficiency and code compliance, selling only the home to qualified applicants and leasing the land to the homeowner in a long-term agreement.  

The SCCLT has been able to help nearly 80 families like the Widemans purchase homes in State College since its inception in 1996.  

“Having safe, affordable housing available to a range of people has a positive impact on the community,” said Colleen Ritter, executive director of the land trust. “It’s beneficial for neighborhoods and the area where community land trusts are because you diversify who is living in the neighborhood. I also think it’s important that lower-income households can afford to live close to a major employer like Penn State. Then you have people living in the community who are involved and able to give back.” 

This has been the case for the Widemans, who, in addition to being within walking distance to work, also enjoy being able to walk or ride bikes to school at Easterly Parkway Elementary and to check out downtown happenings such as the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.  

Their daughter Anika said one of her favorite things about living in their neighborhood is being able to walk to Schlow Memorial Library.  

“When they were little, I really valued having lots of parks and walking to the library,” Meredith Wideman said of her children Anika, Alethia and Jonas. “And as they’ve gotten older, we’ve been able to encourage the independence of walking to your friends’ house by yourself or walking to the library by yourself. And giving them that space for them to spread their wings a little bit.” 

As a nonprofit, SCCLT receives funding from a variety of sources, including federal and state-level grants and funding, donations from community members and local businesses, revenue from the land leased to homeowners and the Centre County United Way. Funding from the United Way specifically goes toward the operational costs of having staff members work directly with existing homeowners, applicants and those going through the purchase and sale process.  

Every year, one in three Centre County residents access the services provided by the Centre County United Way’s network of partner agencies — services that are supported by the Penn State United Way Campaign. Donations from the Penn State community make up approximately 40% of the total dollars raised for the Centre County United Way each year. University community members are encouraged to visit UnitedWay.psu.edu to learn more, and to consider supporting the Centre County United Way through a monthly payroll contribution. 

'A good community investment’ 

After six years in State College, Ben Wideman resigned from his job as a campus minister, and the family had a decision to make.  

Should they continue to live in State College? 

One of the biggest reasons why they said they decided to stay was because of the connectedness they felt to the community by being homeowners in a neighborhood and location they enjoy.  

"This community often has many people coming through and staying for several years before leaving, and the land trust allows you to be able to put down roots," Ben said.  

The involvement of the SCCLT with its families continues even after the sale of the home closes. Homeowners become members of the land trust and can be part of the board of directors, where they can give input to ensure that the land trust continues to provide beneficial services, such as budget and estate planning.  

As a first-time homeowner, Meredith Wideman appreciates that the SCCLT shares seasonal maintenance checklists with all its members through its newsletter.  

“The community land trust model that the house will always be affordable is unique, sustainable and a good community investment,” Ritter said. “It helps, obviously, the people who buy that house, but then it helps the next person, the next person and the next person as well. It helps the neighborhoods because it provides stability and diversity in income range and what people do.” 

Another benefit of being a homeowner rather than renting, according to the Widemans, is that they’ve had the freedom to transform their house into a home.  

The kids got to be a part of planting a garden and installing a chicken coop in the yard. They added a Little Free Library in front of the house and hung up a swing. Inside, they helped build a built-in bookshelf and put up a rock wall in the basement.  

“It provides stability, at least it has for us,” Ben Wideman said. “It’s good for our community to have young families be a part of the legacy of the town, too.” 

Learn more about how you can support the Centre County United Way at the Penn State United Way campaign website. Penn State employees are asked to consider supporting the United Way through a gift, no matter the size, using the University’s online payroll contribution donation form.