A local funeral home is selling one of its downtown properties, but the new owners will continue to serve the Erie community in a different way.
Erie United Methodist Alliance (EUMA) is purchasing the Burton Quinn Scott Funeral Home on West Ninth Street. The organization is hoping to address a growing problem by creating affordable permanent housing.
“We have more families who are experiencing a housing crisis than we have in many many years. Unfortunately, that trend is going up. With this purchase, we’re able to strengthen the work to make homelessness rare,” said Kurt Crays, executive director, EUMA.
After the sale of this property, EUMA will have 32 housing units in the City of Erie.
“We want to continue the legacy that the Quinn family has created in our community. We take that seriously, and we look forward to being an anchor in this community,” Crays added.
The supervisor of the former funeral home said while he’s sad to see the property be sold, he’s encouraged that it will help those in need.
“Generation upon generation has gone through this building and it’s been an honor to serve them, but things do change and so the future looks like we’ll be moving on. We’ll work out of the locations that Burton has and continue to serve our Erie families,” said William Lyden, supervisor, Burton Quinn Scott funeral services.
The funeral homing is selling several properties for about $300,000. Lyden said Burton Quinn Scott will continue operations at their three other locations.
“It just makes sense financially to consolidate into one and that’ll help keep costs down for families in Erie here on funeral services,” said Lyden.