About UNC

Whether it’s the tiniest child, the teenager at risk, the single parent or a family just struggling to remain a family in the best sense of the word, United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania is about helping real people – in the real world.

UNC is a voluntary, non-profit organization dedicated to assessing and meeting the needs of low-income families, youth and senior citizens in Northeast Pennsylvania. We have been providing people with the tools necessary to integrate into the community and attain self-sufficiency since 1923.

THE MISSION: To work together with neighbors to provide services and create opportunities which empower individuals and build strong interdependent communities.

THE VISION: To address emerging social needs and be an innovated leader in building strong interdependent communities based upon our traditional commitment of partnering with individuals, families and neighborhoods.

The agency accomplishes this mission through a network of ten community centers and numerous programs and services. Community Services provides general advocacy, crisis intervention, HIV/AIDS prevention and education and housing/homeless programs to community members in need.  Through a network of three childcare centers, The Bellevue Center, The Progressive Center, and The Green Ridge Childcare Center, UNC provides before and after school care, as well as all day programming for preschoolers and school-age children in Lackawanna County. UNC’s Youth Programs cover a broad range of services from evening drop in programs to arts and leadership training. The goal of our youth programs is to foster independence during the teen years, a crucial point in a person’s development. UNC also provides programming for Older Adults at four senior community centers: Carbondale Senior Center, Mid Valley Senior Center, South Side Senior Center, and West Side Senior Center. In addition to providing socialization opportunities and programming such as exercise and entertainment, each center supplies a nutritious noon-time meal to its members and guests.

United Neighborhood Centers has also created a subsidiary, the United Neighborhood Community Development Corporation (UNCDC) to work toward the acquisition, rehabilitation and revitalization of neighborhoods in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Through this process, UNCDC increases housing opportunities and provides safe, affordable and decent places to live and work throughout the community.

In 2011, United Neighborhood Centers merged with SCOLA, Volunteers for Literacy as the tutor-based organization was facing federal and state budget cuts that threatened its ability to sustain operations. UNC is proud to welcome a new initiative, Adult Literacy, to its wide-range of programs for the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

HISTORY OF UNITED NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS: The agency’s beginnings date back to 1923 when a small settlement house was opened in central city Scranton along with a center in the Bellevue area of Scranton.  Like other settlement houses, the centers were located in poor neighborhoods where problems were severe and help most needed. In 1970, these two independent centers joined to form United Neighborhood Services, later renamed United Neighborhood Centers of Lackawanna County.  UNC’s childcare programs began in the early 1970’s to provide services for working parents. In 1977, the senior center programs were added. In the 1980’s the childcare program was expanded to include a new center location in Green Ridge.  In 2007, United Neighborhood Centers of Lackawanna County officially changed its name to United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania to better represent the six counties it serves. UNC continues to embrace the settlement-house vision to aid in the solution of problems at the neighborhood level.

United Neighborhood Centers is a member agency of: