Throughout 2011, community organizations across the Hill District, Uptown and Oakland received more than $1.7 million in grants from McAuley Ministries, the grant-making arm of Pittsburgh Mercy Health System. The 2011 grants are designed to enhance community health and wellness, community revitalization and development, and expand educational opportunities.
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| KEEP CARING—Rev. Glenn Grayson and a student volunteer from Duquesne University are pictured with children from Center that C.A.R.E.S. The center received $75,000. (Photo Courtesy of McAuley Ministries.) |
“The (McAuley Ministries board of directors) particularly enjoys the site visits we’ve been able to do, because it brings us face to face with the people we’re trying to help,” said Sister Sheila Carney, board chairperson. “We chose the geographical focus we have because those areas are neighborhoods where the Sisters of Mercy typically ministered. There’s a lot that goes on in terms of just being a good neighbor for these organizations. It’s a different kind of work.”
McAuley Ministries was formed in 2008 as a result of the sale of Mercy Hospital to UPMC. To date, the organization has awarded $6.4 million in grants.
“Our purpose is to collaborate with the community to foster safe communities,” said Michele Rone Cooper, executive director. “The very first grant we gave was for a green roof on the YMCA and we’re going to see it this year. So that’s a little seed we’ve planted that we’ve seen grow. Our goal is to be a good neighbor and listen to the community.”
This most recent year’s list of grantees includes more than $700,000 for after-school, literacy and academic enrichment programs. Other grantees include Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, which received $200,000 to restore Cliffside Park in the Hill District and provide a safe space for exercise, outdoor activities and community gatherings.
“We looked at that project (Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy) as contributing to health and wellness because it will provide residents with a safe place to play and gather. For us, because it was a priority for the residents, we felt that was an appropriate investment for us,” Cooper said. “Then we go to the other end of the spectrum and we’ve invested in after school programs. We know after school programs contribute to academic success.”
In March of 2011 McAuley Ministries met with community leaders who identified safe and affordable housing, workforce development and entrepreneurship, and education and youth development as their top priorities. These concerns were visible in the 2011 grants, especially in McAuley Ministries’ focus on education.
“We were awarded a grant to focus and saturate the Hill District with as many of our programs as possible. We had already had a presence in the Hill District with our lunchtime mentoring program and Storymobile,” said Florri Ladov, executive director of Reading is Fundamental, which received $150,000 over three years for a lunchtime literacy program at Pittsburgh Weil PreK-5 School, and the expansion of Storymobile visits to Hill District childcare homes, daycare centers and public housing communities. “So their funding was to allow us to make a real focused targeted project to make sure that a child can receive literacy programming beginning at a very young age and continuing when they go onto Weil.”
Members of the McAuley Ministries board feel pride when they see one of the organizations they’ve helped begin to thrive. One such organization is the Ujamaa Collective, a non-profit organization of women of African descent who are entrepreneurs, artisans and artists, who received an $180,000 grant in 2009.
“Our initial grant to them was at the very beginning of their organization. Now we see that they have both the outdoor market and the indoor retail space, and we worked with them in terms of the Garden of Hope,” Carney said. “So that’s been a great example to us of an organization we’ve been able to help.”
The other grantees from 2011 are Extra Mile Foundation, Boy Scouts of America/Greater Pittsburgh Council, Center that C.A.R.E.S., The Pittsburgh Foundation for the Jail Collaborative, Oakland Planning and Development, Schenley Heights Community Development Program, Daisy Wilson Artist Community, Eye and Ear Foundation, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and Strong Women Strong Girls.
(For more information, visit www.mcauleyministries.org.)