Stories Archive

WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA IS, arguably, the center of the football universe. Now, with a grant from The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Chuck Noll Foundation for Brain Injury Research, the region is poised to become a world leader in the study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease. Scientists hope that the athlete-focused brain bank will help researchers understand if and how traumatic brain injuries on the field may affect dementia, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

ON DEC. 31, 2015, The Daily News rolled off the presses for the final time, and its home city, McKeesport, along with other Mon Valley communities that had been served by the newspaper for 131 years, became a news desert, deprived even of basic obituaries of local residents.

Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh supports excellence in artwork rooted in the Black experience.

FUELED BY AN ABUNDANCE OF TEAMWORK, a group of about 30 high school– and college-age students took part in a seven-week program meant to encourage next generation philanthropy. The Youth Philanthropy Internship — a partnership of The Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, The Heinz Endowments and the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies — brings together young people from across western Pennsylvania to address the most pressing issues in their communities.

PENNSYLVANIA IS AGING and the caregivers are exhausted. That’s because the state offers no paid family and medical leave program when workers need time off to care for elderly or disabled relatives, for newborn babies or newly adopted children, for sick children, or even for themselves after a serious illness.

The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Small and Mighty program awarded Coraopolis Community Development Foundation $15,000 in 2019. The organization primarily serves individuals who are experiencing food insecurity by offering a food pantry and a community garden to provide immediate food relief.

The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Small and Mighty program awarded When She Thrives a grant of $12,000 in 2019. The funds will be used to secure an office space to serve as a central, stable hub for all of their services and to implement an emergency small grants program to provide small one-time grants of $50 to $250 to single mothers.

The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Small and Mighty program has awarded Stem Coding Lab, Inc. a 2019 grant of $15,000. With this grant, STEM Coding Lab will continue growing the knowledge base of students who participated last year by increasing the difficulty of the course load and hiring a part-time staff member to engage an additional 50 to 100 students at the basic level of programming.

The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Small and Mighty program awarded St. Paul's Meals on Wheels a grant of $15,000 in 2019. This grant will be used to increase the number of low-income and homebound clients served by helping to cover the $5 fee for clients who cannot afford it.

The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Small and Mighty program awarded Shepherd Wellness Community a 2019 grant of $15,000. The funds will be used to expand program participation and outreach to engage more individuals living with HIV/AIDS.