Relativity Gives Geek Grant Provides $2500 for Robotics at Erie House

Erie Neighborhood House received a Geek Grant in the amount of $2,500 from Relativity Gives, the community outreach program of Chicago-based software company Relativity.

The grant will provide supplies and other support for a robotics initiative for middle and high school students in the Youth Options Unlimited (YOU) program at Erie House.

“Our students are thrilled to learn about robotics and how to code and program their robots,” said Maria Muñoz, assistant director of Youth Options Unlimited. “It gives them the opportunity to have fun while discovering new ways to engage in STEM learning.”

Relativity awards these $2,500 Geek Grants on a monthly basis to a technological or educational organization nominated by one of their team members. Since 2012, they have invested $30,000 each year through Geek Grants to support STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning.

“The sole focus of Relativity Gives is to give back to the community. Erie House seemed like a good fit for a Geek Grant.”

– Lourdes Plaza, Relativity Senior Sales Operations Specialist, Erie House TEAM Mentor

Lourdes Plaza, a volunteer in the TEAM mentoring initiative at Erie House and senior sales operations specialist at Relativity, nominated the YOU program for a Geek Grant.

“The sole focus of Relativity Gives is to give back to the community,” said Plaza, who discovered Erie House through a mutual friend who had volunteered as a TEAM mentor several years earlier. She began tutoring in the fall and values the level of commitment students bring with them each week as well as the strong framework Muñoz and others have established for the program. “Erie House seemed like a good fit for a Geek Grant.”

She worked alongside Muñoz to identify a program need Relativity could address and after completing the application and follow-up interview process, Erie House was selected as the December recipient of a Relativity Gives Geek Grant.

To learn more about the YOU program at Erie House, please visit www.eriehouse.org.