McAuley Ministries awards $1,991,387 in grants to 29 Pittsburgh-area nonprofit organizations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PITTSBURGH – McAuley Ministries, Pittsburgh Mercy’s grant-making foundation, has awarded 33 grants totaling $1,991,387 this year to 29 Pittsburgh-area nonprofit organizations to expand outreach initiatives to vulnerable populations.

The grants support workforce development and summer youth employment, health and wellness, community and economic development, education, and capacity-building initiatives in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, Uptown, and West Oakland communities, as well as ministries that serve in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh.

Since 2008, McAuley Ministries has awarded 499 grants totaling more than $20,428,000 million to local nonprofit organizations. The grant-making foundation awards approximately $3 million in grants annually.

Grouped by category, the recipients of the outreach grant awards are:

Affordable Housing

Action Housing: $37,000 to support young adults who have aged out of foster care and transitioning to self-sufficiency. Supportive services will be provided for 24 residents who are housed at MyPlace in Uptown.

Bethlehem Haven: $100,000 to create 16 units of permanent supportive housing.

Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh: $200,000 to provide critical home repairs for low-income seniors, persons with disabilities, or veterans. Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh will also hire five Hill District residents to gain construction work experience.

Workforce Development

Acculturation for Justice, Access and Peace Outreach (AJAPO): $60,000, payable over three years, to provide 30 refugees per year with resettlement assistance, employment, and case management services to assist them to successfully integrate into the Pittsburgh community and gain self-sufficiency within six months.

Neighborhood Learning Alliance: $30,000 to hire and train 15 Hill District teens as reading mentors for children in elementary summer camps.

Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board: $50,000 for the Learn and Earn Youth Summer Employment Initiative, providing a six-week paid summer training and employment opportunity for 20 youth, ages 14-21.

Health and Wellness

Acculturation for Justice, Access & Peace (AJAPO): $5,000 to provide personal hygiene and educational supplies to immigrants arriving in the Pittsburgh area.

Albert Schweitzer Fellowship: $20,000 to implement an after-school enrichment program to middle school students at the Center that CARES. The “Healthy Minds” project will increase awareness and skills regarding physical and mental health, academic and job success, healthy relationships, environmental issues that influence health, and smart decision-making.

Carlow University: $105,000, payable over three years, to enhance the educational preparation of nurse practitioners and expand women’s health services through a collaboration between the College of Health and Wellness and the Pittsburgh Mercy Family Health Center.

Grow Pittsburgh: $40,000 to provide ongoing technical assistance and infrastructure improvements at the Martin Luther King Garden and develop the leadership capacity of local gardeners.

Jewish Healthcare Foundation: $30,000 to support the Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative and education of providers and residents about the implementation of Managed Long Term Services and Support in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Pittsburgh Mercy: $200,000, payable over two years, to add a nurse practitioner to the Operation Safety Net® health team, enhancing consistency and program sustainability.

Pittsburgh Mercy: $50,000 for three sensory rooms to serve individuals with intellectual disabilities at the Bloomfield, Ross, and Beechview locations. Sensory rooms assist individuals with special needs to develop their senses and skills, relying upon lights and the environment instead of medication. Studies have shown that sensory-based treatment seems to calm agitated clients and decrease assault and self-injurious behavior.

Venture Outdoors: $15,000 to provide 90 children enrolled in the Center that C.A.R.E.S. summer camp with outdoor recreational activities such as hiking, biking, kayaking, geocaching, and fishing.

Community and Economic Development

NeighborWorks of Western PA: $50,000 to provide financial education, credit, and budget counseling to clients of workforce development programs in the greater Hill District.

Northside Industrial Development Company: $25,000 to implement BizFit, an initiative of Riverside Center for Innovation. BizFit will prepare qualified minority, women, veterans, and other disadvantaged business-owners from the Hill District for contracting as a construction prime or subcontractor.

Small Seeds Development: $37,500 to continue Mother to Son, a program providing social support, education, training, and mentoring to single mothers and their sons.

Uptown Partners of Pittsburgh: $13,833 to improve neighborhood aesthetics and perception by adding 13 new trash receptacles along the eastern end of the Fifth/Forbes corridors in Uptown.

Education

ACH Clear Pathways: $20,000 for the 2016 Creative Summer Camp, where 50 youth will participate in music, dance, visual arts, theater classes, field trips, and community service.

Macedonia Family and Community Enrichment Center (FACE): $50,000 for implementation of Girls Circle, an evidence-based, gender-relevant program for girls ages 9-18 who attend University Preparatory School at Pittsburgh Milliones 6-12. The model is designed to increase positive connections, personal and collective strengths, and competence in girls.

Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children: $48,000 to provide technical support to home-based providers of early childhood services who are impacted by certification requirements from revisions to the Child Care Development Block Grant program.

Pittsburgh Public Schools: $50,000 for the Summer Dreamers Academy, a summer learning camp for Pittsburgh Public Schools students who have completed grades K-7. The primary goal of the program is to stem summer learning loss for participating youth.

Capacity-Building

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh: $35,000 to purchase an eight-passenger van for St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality. The van will enable St. Joseph’s to provide transportation services to residents and to pick up donated items more efficiently.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh: $195,000 for the installation of a fire suppression and security camera system at St. Joseph House of Hospitality.

Center that C.A.R.E.S.: $35,000 to improve flooring, furnishings, access, and security at the Centre Avenue after-school program site for students in grades pre-kindergarten through 5th grade.

Hill House Association: $100,000 to expand workforce development facilities and install a new playground for youth-serving agencies.

Mercy Volunteer Corps: $49,254 to recruit and place three volunteers in year-long ministry with McAuley Ministries’ community partners, providing organizations that have few resources with additional capacity to meet the needs of persons served.

Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise: $9,000 to extend implementation of a pilot executive coaching program for nonprofit leaders.

Robert Morris University: $15,000 to provide nonprofit organizations with access to skills-based volunteering by project teams from local corporations.

Shepherd’s Heart Fellowship: $111,800 for critical upgrades to the Veteran’s Home, including a new HVAC system, modernized bathrooms, upgrades to the bedrooms, new commercial gas stove, and reconfiguring the entrance for added security.

Shepherd’s Heart Fellowship: $150,000, payable over three years, for general operating support.

United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia: $5,000 to support voluntary organizations that are active in disaster recovery related to the West Virginia floods.

Urban Innovation21: $50,000 for infrastructure for The Citizen Science Lab. The Lab will employ 16 Hill District teens to work on pharmaceutical drug design and computational modeling of proteins over the summer. The grant will cover stipends for the instructors, and the hardware, reagents, and supplies needed to implement the summer program.

About McAuley Ministries

Named in honor of Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, McAuley Ministries is the grant-making foundation of Pittsburgh Mercy. Established in 2008, McAuley Ministries serves as a catalyst for change, committing resources and working collaboratively to promote healthy, safe, and vibrant communities. Grant-making priorities include health and wellness, community and economic development, education, and capacity-building initiatives for nonprofit organizations which focus on the Hill District, Uptown, and West Oakland, communities historically served by the Sisters of Mercy. McAuley Ministries also provides support to organizations that are sponsored by and/or affiliated with the Sisters. McAuley Ministries is one the largest philanthropic foundations in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Since 2008, it has awarded 499 grants and community support totaling more than $20.4 million. It awards approximately $3 million in grants annually. View a list of grants awarded by year at www.mcauleyministries.org.

About Pittsburgh Mercy

Pittsburgh Mercy, a part of Trinity Health, serving in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy, is one of the largest health and human service nonprofit organizations and is also one of the largest employers in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Mercy includes Bethlehem Haven, McAuley Ministries, Mercy Behavioral Health, Mercy Community Health, Mercy Intellectual Disabilities Services, Mercy Parish Nurse and Health Ministry Program, Operation Safety Net®, and Pittsburgh Mercy Family Health Center. Together, these Pittsburgh Mercy programs and their 1,700 employees serve more than 33,000 individuals annually at 60+ locations in Southwestern Pennsylvania. To learn more about Pittsburgh Mercy, or to make a donation in support of its important work in the community, visit www.pittsburghmercy.org.

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