In The News

According to a recent Pittsburgh Foundation study, “about 72% of families living below the poverty line are headed by single women raising children.” And working hard and long, which many do, does not guarantee security. A single mom can work more than 40 hours a week at multiple jobs and still not get above the federal poverty level.

Lisa Schroeder, incoming president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation, gave the graduation address. 

Back when she was a newspaper photographer – before and even after she won a Pulitzer Prize – one of Martha Rial's tasks was shooting for the publications' big community-news sections. Those were the pages that noted and celebrated the contributions of volunteers and others who made their towns better places to live.

The 29-year-old from Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood is one of 15 artists chosen to receive grant money from “Investing in Professional Artists,” a shared program of The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments. 

Two local foundations have awarded a total of $169,000 in grants to 15 local artists so they can produce new work.

The Heinz Endowments has made a $1 million donation to the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program.

Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow announced the Mac Miller Legacy Fund. Housed within the Pittsburgh Community Foundation who made a donation on behalf of the Miller family, the fund will open its application process to prospects who meet general MusiCares eligibility. The Mac Miller Legacy Fund will be an option on the dropdown menu of the MusiCares website's donation page starting Friday, May 17.

“His music was a part of their environment,” Linda Addlespurger, director of Hope Academy of Music and the Arts, said at a Friday news conference. “His death impacted them significantly. Many of them aspired to be like Miller.” Miller, a star rapper and songwriter who grew up as Malcolm J. McCormick in Point Breeze, died in September. He continues to impact students at Hope Academy, an after-school arts education outreach program. His family chose two nonprofits dedicated to music and the arts to receive grants from The Mac Miller Fund.

The first grantees of the The Mac Miller Fund are the Pittsburgh-based Hope Academy of Music and the Arts and Musicares, a charity of the Recording Academy. The mission of the fund — originally called the Circles Fund and administered by the Pittsburgh Foundation — is to continue the rapper’s vision of providing opportunities to underserved youth to explore the arts and to have a positive impact on communities across the country.

The event included a tribute to Mac Miller, who died Sept. 7 at age 26 from an accidental drug overdose. Neil Portnow, president/CEO of the Recording Academy and MusiCares, announced the formation of the MusiCares Mac Miller Legacy Fund, which Miller's family is sponsoring. Miller's parents were in the audience.