The Pittsburgh Foundation

Pittsburgh Foundation approves $2.9 million in grants in the first quarter

PITTSBURGH, April 15, 2019 – The Program & Policy Committee of The Pittsburgh Foundation Board of Directors approved $2.9 million for 51 grants in the first-quarter grant-making cycle. Fourteen of these grants totaling $1.6 million directly align with the Foundation’s 100 Percent Pittsburgh organizing principle, which seeks to provide opportunity to those left out of the regional economic renaissance, including residents in economically underserved communities, particularly youth ages 12 to 24, single women raising children, and racial or ethnic groups disproportionately affected by poverty.

Other strategic grants fund a collaboration between the Dance Theater of Harlem and the Pittsburgh Ballet, and provide incentive pool funds to bolster the May 7 #ONEDAY Critical Needs Alert that will benefit organizations that meet basic needs in the community.

“Grants this cycle are indicative of the longstanding commitment of our board and staff to support outstanding programs and services that benefit vulnerable people, particularly younger people, by preparing them to advocate and lead in their own communities,” Maxwell King, president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation, said in announcing the grants.

Notable grants in this cycle – all of which align with the Foundation’s 100 Percent Pittsburgh organizing principle – include:

  • $50,000 to Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts to minimize eviction proceedings by providing guidance for tenants, landlords and the courts. Foundation research revealed that there is no legal representation for landlords or tenants in 95 percent of eviction hearings. With guidance from tenant advocates, magisterial judges and legal experts, the organization developed the first Handbook on Rules and Procedures for Landlord-Tenant Relations in Allegheny County. This grant builds on that work by funding printing and distribution of 4,000 copies of the handbook, as well as workshops for low-income residents, online resources and a hotline to help people prepare for eviction court.
  • $50,000 to the Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania to support program costs for expanding its capacity building services to agencies that mentor youth in the Mon Valley. The grant will support five key services areas: starting new mentoring programs, supporting existing programs, recruiting mentors, training mentors and organizing convenings for staff and volunteer mentors.
  • $125,000 to Hosanna House. Hosanna House, founded in 1989 to empower families and individuals in Wilkinsburg, provides a broad array of services including early childhood education, youth services, health and wellness, supportive housing and summer camps. With this operating support grant, Hosanna House will continue implementing its 2016-2021 business plan with a focus on increasing earned revenue, attacting and retaining talent, improving its financial health, expanding services and improving facilities at both locations, including its Sherwood Ave. kitchen.
  • $180,000 to Point Park University’s Media Oasis Project in McKeesport. This two-year grant will fund a collaboration between the University’s Center for Media Innovation and the YouthCAST (Community and Schools Together) Leadership Network, a McKeesport-based agency that provides high-quality educational programs for youth in grades 6 to 12. Together the agencies will equip 20 to 25 students annually with real-world reporting skills so that they can ably cover local news in McKeesport and combat the “media desert” that has left residents without information about their community.

About The Pittsburgh Foundation: Established in 1945, The Pittsburgh Foundation is one of the nation’s oldest community foundations and is the 14th largest of more than 750 similar foundations across the United States. As a community foundation, its resources comprise endowment funds established by individuals, businesses and organizations with a passion for charitable giving and a deep commitment to the Pittsburgh community. The Foundation currently has more than 2,200 individual donor funds and, together with its supporting organizations, assets of $1.2 billion. Grantmaking benefits a broad spectrum of community life within Pittsburgh and beyond. Learn more at http://www.pittsburghfoundation.org.

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