McAuley Ministries Awards 13 Grants Totaling Over $1.6 Million to Nonprofit Organizations

McAuley Ministries, Pittsburgh Mercy’s grant-making foundation, awarded in the final quarter of 2022 13 grants totaling over $1.6 million to support advocacy, capacity building, community development, education, and health and wellness initiatives in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, Uptown, and West Oakland communities, its three focus neighborhoods.

Since its founding by the Pittsburgh Sisters of Mercy in 2008, McAuley Ministries has awarded 930 grants and community support totaling $52.6 million to nonprofit organizations that advance its grant-making priorities. The West Oakland-based, grant-making foundation awards on average $3.5 million in grants annually, making it one of the region’s largest philanthropic foundations. View grants awarded by year at www.mcauleyministries.org.

Grouped by grant-making priorities, the recipients of the most recent grants are as follows.

Advocacy

• Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP): $51,000 for a third year of funding for the Get-Out-the-Vote project first funded by McAuley Ministries in 2020. The project focuses on voter engagement, education, participation, and turn-out in Pittsburgh’s two majority-minority County districts – District 6, which covers the Hill District, Uptown, and parts of West Oakland – and District 9, which covers Homewood and the East End.   
  

Capacity Building

• Hello Neighbor: $20,400 for operating support to assist all areas of programming that serve the Hill District, Uptown, West Oakland, and beyond. This area is home to seven recently resettled families and several mentee families. Their program provides Smart Start participants with access to maternal care and supports students in its Study Buddy virtual tutoring program.

• Womanspace-East Inc.: $500,000 to complete a series of urgent facility capital improvements including replacement of the HVAC system in the family apartment, common space, and office areas of the building; window replacements; interior painting; exterior repairs including historic entry stairs for safe building access; and enhanced supportive services programming to aid in its efforts to provide holistic care for families in need of emergency shelter. 

Community Development

• Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh Inc: $102,000 to support St. Joseph House of Hospitality which serves men over 50 who have been homeless or are currently at risk of homelessness. The program provides single room occupancy in private secure rooms, year-round food service, and case management services for residents. The grant will support the case management function.

Disaster Response

• American National Red Cross: $10,000 emergency grant in response to flood victims in Jackson, Miss., and from Hurricane Ian.

• Brother’s Brother Foundation: $10,000 to support victims of Hurricane Fiona and Hurricane Ian.

• Roman Catholic Bishop of Owensboro: $10,000 in response to flooding in Eastern Kentucky. 

Education

• Early Excellence Project: $507,200 to support the launch of the Margaret Washington Early Learning Center (MWELC) in the Hill District. The Center will serve households with infants to children up to age 12, in the Hill District, Uptown, and West Oakland, with an emphasis on families who are surviving poverty and those who have been historically marginalized.

• Ozanam Inc.: $61,200 to continue their Legacy Hill Project which inspires children and youth through culturally specific frameworks capitalizing to excel and achieve through innovative educational experiences that embrace STEM and digital literacy and prepare students with 21st century learning skills.

• Strong Women, Strong Girls Inc.: $20,400 to support high-quality mentorship programs in collaboration with local schools, community centers, and higher educational institutions. Through the partnership with McAuley Ministries, SWSG has been providing out-of-school time enrichment and mentoring to 30 girls at four program sites in the Hill District. 

Health & Wellness

• 412 Food Rescue Inc.: $51,000 to support the distribution of food to the Hill District, Uptown, and West Oakland communities. During the last grant cycle, it expanded from 26 to 35 partners and more than tripled its home delivery services from 12 to 42 households.

• Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank: $51,000 in financial support of its general operations.  It provides food and technical assistance to 14-20 organizations in McAuley Ministries’ focus neighborhoods.

• Pittsburgh Mercy: $267,507 over three years to support the opening of a second comprehensive health center to serve the needs of vulnerable individuals who are experiencing homelessness in the Pittsburgh region. The new, planned 3,500 square feet clinic, which will be located at Bethlehem Haven at 905 Watson Street in Uptown, Pittsburgh, will include two physical examination rooms, three therapy rooms, and one room for dental services. This new space will be operated by Pittsburgh Mercy and will offer much-needed behavioral health, physical health, and dental health services to better address the health disparities that exist within this vulnerable population.

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. 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, the three Pittsburgh 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. Since its founding by the Sisters of Mercy in 2008, McAuley Ministries has awarded 930 grants and community support totaling $52.6 million. It awards on average $3.5 million in grants annually, making it one of the largest philanthropic foundations in Southwestern Pennsylvania. To learn more about McAuley Ministries and the initiatives it supports, visit www.mcauleyministries.org.

About Pittsburgh Mercy

Pittsburgh Mercy, a member of Trinity Health, serving in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy, is a person-centered, population-based, trauma-informed community health and wellness provider. Pittsburgh Mercy includes Bethlehem Haven, McAuley Ministries, Pittsburgh Mercy Behavioral Health, Pittsburgh Mercy Community Health, Pittsburgh Mercy Intellectual Disabilities Services, the Pittsburgh 

Mercy Parish Nurse & Health Ministry Program, Pittsburgh Mercy’s Operation Safety Net®, and Pittsburgh Mercy Family Health Center. It is the region’s only Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) and Integrated Care & Wellness Clinic (ICWC).

We reach out and offer help – and hope – to some of our community’s most vulnerable populations: people who have physical and behavioral health challenges; people with intellectual disabilities; and people who are experiencing addiction, homelessness, abuse, and other forms of trauma. Our mission is to be a compassionate and transforming, healing presence within its communities.

With annual operating revenue of $111.4 million, Pittsburgh Mercy is one of the largest health and human service nonprofit organizations and employers in Southwestern Pennsylvania. We serve more than 18,000 people annually in 60+ locations and employ more than 1,000 colleagues. For more information or to make a donation in support of its mission, visit www.pittsburghmercy.org.