PITTSBURGH (April 21, 2020) — The Trustees of the Richard King Mellon Foundation have awarded $3.15 million in emergency operating support grants to 44 Southwestern Pennsylvania nonprofit organizations to continue their important work amid the impacts of COVID-19.
The emergency grants are a key component of a $15 million package to combat the pandemic, approved by the Foundation April 13. The Foundation is taking a three-pronged strategic approach to the pandemic, funding healthcare innovation and technology initiatives; economic development grants to support recovery and prevent further job losses in the region; and the emergency operating support grants announced today, to help the Foundation’s struggling nonprofit grantees.
“Our nonprofit partners have been hit hard by COVID-19,” said Richard King Mellon Foundation Director Sam Reiman. “It is essential we help them to continue their important work at this difficult time.”
Here are the 44 emergency operating support grants:
- Allegheny Health Network – $250,000 to procure supplies including ventilators and personal protective equipment for staff and patients.
- Saint Vincent College – $250,000 to bridge the funding gap to maintain core operations and seek longer-term recovery support from government sources.
- Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank – $200,000 to provide additional meals and related services to people in the region who have lost jobs and are no longer able to afford food.
- Innovation Works – $150,000 to invest in and provide strategic support to regional startups impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
- Carnegie Institute – $100,000 to maintain essential staff and cover other fixed operational costs.
- Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania – $100,000 to provide bridge support as Goodwill seeks federal disaster loan relief and other financial options
- Holy Family Institute – $100,000 to provide bridge support until larger relief funds are secured.
- National Aviary Pittsburgh – $100,000 to support critical support staff to feed and provide veterinary services to 550 birds and nine primates, and to cover fixed building costs.
- Poise Foundation – $100,000 to support small- and mid-sized African American-led organizations through the creation of the Critical Community Needs Fund, which targets community-based organizations that serve vulnerable individuals.
- Seton Hill University – $100,000 to provide scholarships and related services to retain at least 20 pre-med students currently enrolled and being educated by the institution.
- Washington City Mission – $100,000 to provide food, clothing, and safe housing for homeless men, women, and children.
- Western Pennsylvania Conservancy – $100,000 to support critical staff, maintenance, and operations at Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece that has seen visitation and earned income disappear due to the COVID-19 crisis.
- Westmoreland Museum of Art – $100,00 to address a pressing need to replace a failing heating and cooling system, and to support critical staff and other fixed costs associated with its facilities.
- Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania – $75,000 to underwrite salaries for essential personnel, to support maintenance of facilities, and to cover other fixed costs of operations.
- East Liberty Development, Inc. – $75,000 to maintain critical administrative staff and to support fixed costs associated with the organization’s equitable housing program in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
- Venture Outdoors – $75,000 to maintain critical staff and to cover fixed costs of operations in order to restart its outdoor activities once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.
- Adagio Health – $50,000 to purchase and implement a new telehealth module with supporting IT equipment for remote access; to acquire personal protective equipment for medical staff; and to underwrite administrative costs of shifting operations.
- Auberle – $50,000 to support payroll frontline employees; to provide personal protective equipment; and to provide direct financial support for foster parents seeing increased costs as children are home from school.
- Center of Life – $50,000 to provide daily meals, toiletries and cleaning supplies, internet connectivity and online programming for children in Hazelwood under social isolation restrictions.
- City Theatre Company – $50,000 to maintain core administrative staff, cover fixed building costs, and support the health benefits of furloughed employees to ensure a quick restart of programming on the Southside when the pandemic subsides.
- Community Human Services Corp. – $50,000 to meet the increased need for meal and food pantry services, particularly at Wood Street Commons in downtown Pittsburgh.
- Community Kitchen Pittsburgh – $50,000 to support costs associated with meal production, and to bridge lost contract revenue until further relief funding is secured.
- FamilyLinks, Inc. – $50,000 to provide services for vulnerable clients, including runaway and homeless youth and individuals with mental health disorders.
- FOR Sto-Rox Neighborhood Corp. – $50,000 to support increased costs associated with the food pantry, senior food program, and emergency food distribution.
- Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest – $50,000 to support reduced operations required to maintain care of the organization’s tree nursery.
- Gateway Rehabilitation – $50,000 to implement COVID-19 safety measures and provide services to individuals suffering from the disease of addiction.
- Light of Life Rescue Mission – $50,000 to provide daily meals, toiletries and supplies, and substance abuse recovery support.
- Neighborhood Allies – $50,000 to partner with Aurora, a self-driving car company, the University of Pittsburgh, and others to acquire laptops and software, as well as the associated technical expertise, to connect and empower disadvantaged families and 7,000 children in Pittsburgh, which will allow them to participate remotely in school activities and related events.
- North Hills Community Outreach – $50,000 to meet increased demand for food supports, emergency household assistance, internet connectivity, and personal protective equipment for staff.
- Pathways of Southwestern Pennsylvania – $50,000 to implement COVID-19 safety measures and to provide services to adults with intellectual disabilities and autism.
- Rivers of Steel Heritage Corp. – $50,000 to maintain core staff and operations to ensure a return to normal operations once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.
- Veterans Leadership Program of Western Pennsylvania – $50,000 to respond to increased requests for food and housing assistance for veterans and their families.
- Washington Area Humane Society – $50,000 to pay critical staff, feed dogs and cats, cover fixed operating costs, and support a special COVID-19 decontamination facility for displaced pets.
- Wesley Family Services – $50,000 to support a portion of staff’s transition to telework and to support foster families with increased needs, including technology and food.
- Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh – $50,000 toward increased operational costs for the shelter, including hazard pay for front-line staff, higher costs related to the frequency of cleaning, and hotel space for residents who are immunocompromised or need quarantine outside of the shelter.
- Allegheny Cemetery Historical Association – $25,000 toward the costs to remain open to the public for remembrance and to provide a safe recreational green space on its 300-acre park.
- Children’s Home of Pittsburgh – $25,000 to support core staff and building maintenance workers who can restart operations once social restriction orders are lifted.
- Homewood Cemetery Historical Fund – $25,000 toward costs to remain open to the public for remembrance and to provide a safe recreational green space on its 200-acre park.
- Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh – $25,000 to maintain operations of the Pittsburgh Holocaust Center and to support the Jewish community of the greater Pittsburgh area.
- Ligonier Valley Learning Center – $25,000 to maintain operations of its state-subsidized Pre-K child care and toddler and infant care during the COVID-19 crisis.
- Macedonia Family & Community Enrichment Center – $25,000 toward costs for increased meal preparation and delivery to seniors, as well as to purchase supplies to maintain safe operations during the COVID-19 crisis.
- Northside Industrial Development Company – $25,000 to support minority- and women-owned businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis as they navigate local and federal relief funding, shift to utilize new remote technologies and make challenging financial and human resource decisions.
- PA Cleanways of Allegheny County – $25,000 to provide financial bridge support until more significant relief funds are secured.
- Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh – $25,000 to address critical and urgent home repair needs, such as plumbing and electrical repairs, replacing broken applications and roof stabilization.
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Founded in 1947, the Richard King Mellon Foundation is the largest foundation in southwestern Pennsylvania. The Foundation’s 2019 endowment was $2.7 billion and its Trustees in 2019 awarded 172 grants totaling $129 million, focused on the Foundation’s strategic priorities: Education, human services, economic development, and environmental conservation.