Critical Lifeline Gets Support

It’s something you might not think often about — until the very moment you or someone near you needs it: An emergency response vehicle filled with skilled first responders and modern equipment. And, until you have to make that call, or someone is making it for you, you might not have been thinking about the time it takes from when someone answers the phone until trained medical professionals arrive or the level of resources they’ll bring to bear.

Ever since a 2022 reporting trip in South Carolina’s “Upcountry,” it’s something I have thought often about (and something with which I have since had personal experience, having had to dial 911, as I once watched my mom start to have a seizure).

That reporting trip included time in Fort Lawn, a town, like many, with residents celebrating the good and working to address the concerns. Safety was one of the concerns residents shared with me.

From that reporting, I shared:

“We do not have an ambulance stationed in this entire ZIP code,” Libby ( Sweatt-Lambert, the executive director of the Fort Lawn Community Center) told me.

She explained that a 911 call made in the area most often dispatches an ambulance from Chester, nearly 20 miles to the west. Two Community Center volunteers at our table shared that they had lost loved ones before an ambulance arrived. Would fewer miles to go, fewer minutes to count before receiving a response made a difference? We don’t know. But that it is about a half-hour drive from Chester to Fort Lawn remains front of mind.

With that continuing to hang heavy in my mind, I was encouraged, in 2023, to see The Daily Yonder calling attention to the ‘ambulance desert’ crisis in the United States. I wrote about that in July of that year, highlighting Liz Carey’s reporting, which drew on a first-of-its-kind study, published by the Maine Rural Health Research Center, and led by Yvonne Jonk, a deputy director of the center and an associate research professor at the University of Southern Maine at the time.

Jonk, the co-director of the Northeast Rural Health Research Center (NeRHRC), is continuing to call attention to this crisis. The University of Vermont published a short writeup with a video in 2025, which is worth reading and watching.

Sometimes, the issue isn’t just a lack of presence; it’s lack of resources for those who are present. Or, put another way: Lack of funding, which leads to fewer responders and fewer vehicles to respond to crises in and less equipment onboard.

One way to increase resources? Raise taxes. Another? Impact investing.

In Erie County, Pennsylvania, there is an encouraging story of the impact of the latter.

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On Feb. 11, the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA) announced via its Facebook page that: “‘A Lifeline for Erie County’ showcases $4.8 million in ECGRA emergency services grants and over $10 million leveraged through matching support.” The post included a video highlighting the need and investment and a like to the full report and awardee list.

ECGRA is an impact investing organization that supports area nonprofits, municipal governments, and economic development agencies in the spirit of revitalizing the region. It does so through a portion of gaming revenue, drawn from the county’s casino, thanks to Pennsylvania’s Horse Racing Gaming Act. In sum, a portion of gaming revenue generated by the casino goes to the authority, which then injects into various efforts to improve community.

As the “A Lifeline for Erie County” report notes, “impact investing is intentional investing — working to create a positive impact and directly benefit communities — without the use of taxpayer dollars.”

“ECGRA has tackled the Erie County EMS crisis by putting money directly where it’s needed most in the community,” Dean Pepicello, Harborcreek Township Supervisor, shares in the report.

According to the report, municipalities in Erie County have been able to purchase new emergency response vehicles, wheelchair vans, and more — an impressive list detailed in the report.

What’s more, ECGRA did this through its Multi-Municipal Collaboration Grants. A program launched in 2012, the MMC Grants encourage local municipalities to work together to leverage this available funding in addressing a range of issues in the spirit of: Rather than try to go it alone, come together to work together and share available resources.

Yes, of course, not all communities have an ECGRA. But, impact investing isn’t limited to authorities like this one. Communities can and should look to find creative solutions by way of impact investing to address critical issues. This serves as a good blueprint on how to do that while also encouraging municipalities to unite to work together toward the common good to better help and support their residents.

It’s a model worth observing and replicating wherever and whenever possible.

I know the power of these investments firsthand, because, in full disclosure, the think tank I work for is a recipient of ECGRA funding, including for the Civic Leadership Academy I help direct and the the civic education programming I help organize.