The Pittsburgh Foundation

The Pittsburgh Foundation approves $3.6 million in grants

Funding includes $345,000 in grants to nonprofits serving single women raising children

PITTSBURGH, July 16, 2019 – The Program & Policy Committee of The Pittsburgh Foundation Board of Directors has approved 47 grants totaling $3.6 million in the second-quarter grant-making cycle. The funding supports Pittsburgh regional nonprofits with a wide range of life-improving missions – from providing short-term housing for single mothers to ensuring school board accountability in the city’s public schools system to monitoring environmental health threats to enabling more senior citizens to be independent and actively engaged in their communities.

Five grants in this cycle were made to organizations working to improve conditions for single women raising children, and for girls and young women. “The fact that 72% of households in poverty in Allegheny County are headed by single women raising children is absolutely alarming,” Pittsburgh Foundation President and CEO Lisa Schroeder said in announcing the grants today. “Our Board and staff recognize the importance of building resiliency in girls and single mothers. These grants reaffirm our commitment to support women who may be working two or more jobs but are not benefiting from the region’s economic opportunities.”  

The funding directed to single women with children are among the grants in this cycle – a total of $1.7 million – that align directly with the Foundation’s 100 Percent Pittsburgh organizing principle, dedicated to providing new opportunities for those left out of the regional economic renaissance.

The single-mother and girls- serving organizations and their grant amounts are:

  • $75,000 to Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh to support the Emergency Shelter, which provides a place to sleep and personal care essentials, as well as permanent housing, health care, career and education assistance to guide them toward self-sufficiency. The grant also supports a 24-hour hotline staffed by trained advocates who assess for safety risk, offer counseling and assist women with safety planning. The grant also supports children’s programs, including counseling, health services and on-site child care.
  • $75,000 to Bethlehem Haven of Pittsburgh to support single mothers and their families through the Safe At Home program, established in 2018 to provide short-term, housing-related financial assistance to single mothers.
  • $75,000 to Women & Girls Foundation to develop and advocate for policy solutions for paid family and medical leave in Pennsylvania. The lack of paid family and medical leave is a key contributor to economic insecurity for families, especially single-women headed households. The grant seeks to support the development of a state insurance fund and introduction of a paid family leave bill with bi-partisan support.
  • $60,000 to Gwen’s Girls to support a mentoring program tailored to the needs of girls who are referred or are at risk for referral to the juvenile justice system.
  • $60,000 to Human Services Center Corp. for operations of the Supports for Success program, which promotes self-sufficiency.

Other strategic grants include:

  • $125,000 in operating support to A+ Schools, Pittsburgh’s Community Alliance for Public Education. The organization, an independent community advocacy group for equity and excellence in Pittsburgh Public schools, seeks to address disparities in academic outcomes in individual schools, especially for African American students. This grant supports the organization’s Board Watch program for accountability. It also supports data collection to monitor progress in local schools, influence policymakers and mobilize the community.
  • $75,000 to Hill Dance Academy Theatre to support additional staffing, the creation and re-examining of organizational plans, and new audience engagement strategies. The organization develops and trains young dancers in Black dance traditions to expand knowledge of the contribution of Black dancers and to encourage emerging artists to sustain dance traditions.
  • $75,000 to Women for a Healthy Environment to hire a policy coordinator who will gather evidence regarding environmental impacts on health in the region.
  • $250,000 to Macedonia Family and Community Enrichment Center to expand programming that supports independence and community engagement for senior citizens.

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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MEDIA CONTACT:

Douglas Root
The Pittsburgh Foundation
412-394-2647
rootd@pghfdn.org