The Limbach Community Center has served the Manchester neighborhood of Pittsburgh for more than 100 years, providing in-home training to families in crisis with the expressed goal of keeping families together.
Located on the corner of Tripoli Street and Turtle Way, the Center was opened in July of 1985 by the Neighborhood Centers Association, now the NorthShore Community Alliance. This fund, established in memory of Emil and Sarah Limbach, has helped make this possible.
Emil Limbach was the son of Frank, the Founder of the Frank Limbach Company, later Limbach Facility Services, providing roofing, mechanical and sheet metal services to clients in Pittsburgh since 1901.
Emil took over the company in 1919, following his father's retirement, and with a $6,000 loan from him, succeeded in growing the business and weathering the Great Depression. The company went on to serve as the HVAC contractor for the Pittsburgh Civic Arena and was the mechanical contractor of Three Rivers Stadium; the company was eventually acquired by Vivendi of France and finally Enron Corp.
Sarah was a lifelong civic leader in Pittsburgh. Beginning in 1919, she helped to organize relief for Homestead steelworkers striking against U.S. Steel Corp. In 1940 and 1941, she chaired the Independent Citizens for Franklin Roosevelt, a group that lobbied for aid to the European democracies before U.S. military involvement in World War II.
She was a longtime Director of the Health and Welfare Federation and was Chairwoman of the Allegheny County Board of Public Assistance from 1952 to 1956.
The fund continues to support community development, urban planning education and social services with preference to the North Side and innovative programs.
Type of Fund
- Field of Interest