People of the region joined forces to support community organizations in good times and bad during 2024.

Organizations serving the homeless of all ages found new shelters. New businesses opened, and events celebrating pride and diversity experienced record turnout and support.
Keystone Mission opens permanent overnight shelter
Keystone Mission opened its Wilkes-Barre Innovation Center for Homelessness and Poverty in June.
The center provides overnight shelter 365 days a year. Previously, Keystone Mission would open a temporary shelter when the weather was too cold or snow-covered for sleeping outside ("Code Blue" nights), which it coordinated with the city of Wilkes-Barre.
Director of operations Kathy Regan said in December, the shelter is filled "to the max" every night.
Read full stories here and here.

Blind Cat Beer Co. brings sustainable brewing to downtown Pittston
With a name inspired by their own blind cat, Cricket, Manny Salvatori and Brittany Grasso-Salvatori opened Blind Cat Beer Co. in downtown Pittston.
They opened in September with the goal of keeping their brewing process and merchandise as sustainable as possible.
The couple plans to use ingredients grown in Pennsylvania, avoid single-use plastic cups, and offer incentive programs for customers who return the plastic can carriers used for packs of canned beer.
Read more here.

PrideFest returns to Wilkes-Barre with parade, wedding ceremony
The NEPA Rainbow Alliance was prepared for its biggest PrideFest yet on Public Square in June.
Thousands attended the parade and day-long event on the square, and couples renewed their vows or said them for the first time with Ceremonies by Lori.
Read more here.

Making a way downtown: Pittston working to make neighborhoods more walkable
Pittston city officials sought the public's help this year as they looked for opportunities to make the city beyond downtown more walkable.
“Over 70 percent of residents said they cannot safely get to Main Street from their neighborhood using active transportation,” said Shannon Bonacci, the city’s director of community development. “That’s what we’re working to combat.”
They released a survey to help form an Active Transportation Plan.
Read more here.

NEPA Youth Shelter loses Teen Center space, finds a new home
When Meals on Wheels of NEPA decided to relocate in May, the NEPA Youth Shelter had to find a new home for its Teen Center in Scranton.
Executive Director Maureen Maher-Gray worked all year to find a new space that would be as accessible as their former building on Wyoming Avenue.
After months of calls from the community, they found a temporary home in August, weeks before they had to move out of the Wyoming Avenue building.
By November, national homeless youth awareness month, Maher-Gray and her staff were preparing to move into their new, permanent Teen Center on Providence Road.

Don't forget to follow along each day at WVIA.org as we publish “Year in review 2024,” a week-long series recounting the top stories of the past year through New Year's Day.