Community Action Development Corporation of Bethlehem announced a pair of new partnerships in its successful Southside Vision 20/20 community improvement project March 10.

CADC and local officials, and residents involved in the community welcomed Provident Bank CEO Chris Martin and Peoples Security & Trust Bank Regional President Neal Koplin as they offered the project $600,000 in new funding through 2022, split evenly between the two banks.

Since its inception in 2002, the project – first called Southside Vision 2012 – has continued to garner additional sponsors and community involvement with an evolving goal of overall revitalization in Southside neighborhoods. This includes everything from public festivities and teaching events to street maintenance and business support.

The new funding is primarily earmarked for facade improvements, maintenance workshops, resident advocacy and landlord training to raise Southside housing stock, Mayor Bob Donchez said.

Meanwhile resident and member of the CADC board of directors Lidia Gonzalez applauded the project expansion from personal experience. She said, “In a way, I am the face of Southside Vision 20/20. I have worked hard, earned enough to buy my own home on the Southside thanks to Community Action’s home ownership seminars, and I am a graduate of their Start Your Business program.

“Now I sit on the board, where my voice is also heard,” Gonzalez concluded.

Southside Vision 20/20 is made possible, in part, by tax credits through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development under its Neighborhood Partnership Program.