For young people living in public housing, the odds are often stacked against them. Racial and socioeconomic inequalities make it difficult to escape the cycle of poverty, and in situations of financial need, many young people can be left unable to take the opportunities open to them.
Gerri Kay wanted to change that. Kay began her career in social justice at Reizenstein Middle School in East Liberty, where she acted as a social worker and actor for desegregation. That commitment to educational opportunity would undergird all her life’s work. She helped start the Beverly Jewell Wall Lovelace After School Program, served on the board of Pittsburgh chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, and served on the boards of numerous local music, theater and arts organizations.
The Jump at the Sun Fund is named for a line of advice from the mother of author Zora Neale Hurston, Lucy Potts Hurston, “Jump at de sun. We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.”
Potts Hurston was a Sunday School teacher who emphasized the power of education to improve lives. This fund combines that spirit with Kay’s vision of civil and social justice by offering grants to young people in public housing who are pursuing higher education. The grants can help cover tuition, books, supplies, transport, and other costs associated with making one’s way through college or technical school.
When Gerri Kay died in 2014, the Opportunity Fund was set up to continue her life’s goal of combating social and economic injustice and combined with the Jump at the Sun Fund, Kay’s legacy offers opportunity to those dreamers, thinkers and doers striving for education and advancement when the odds are stacked against them.
To learn more about Gerri Kay, see Post-Gazette. September 2, 2014
To learn more about the Opportunity Fund established to continue Kay’s work, visit theopportunityfund.org