PITTSBURGH, PA, November 30, 2016—The Opportunity Fund announces support totaling $327,500 in its second cycle of funding. The Board of Directors funded 25 out of 38 requests that were seeking a total of $640,400.
A complete list of awarded grants can be found below.
ACTION-Housing ($25,000) to support the MyPlace Program to help young adults aged 18-24 transition to self-sufficiency by providing supportive services that are not offered by other funding sources, such as food, furnishings, dishes, pots/pans, housekeeping supplies, and transportation costs.
American Civil Liberties Foundation of Pennsylvania ($10,000) to support general operations to advance advocacy, public education and appropriate litigation around core issues: criminal justice reform, LGBTQI rights, voting rights, reproductive freedom, and immigrants’ rights.
Amnesty International USA ($10,000) to support the 2017 campaign on police accountability and the use of lethal force by law enforcement. This will include public and member education as well as targeted campaigning for changes in police use of lethal force and accountability.
Bricolage Production Company ($10,000) to support Dodo, a new immersive project by Bricolage and The Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History designed to break down barriers between cultural institutions and modern audience in an accessible, interactive way.
Community Kitchen Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support a culinary training and transitional employment programming for clientele who experience barriers such as low educational attainment, poverty, past or current incarceration, recovery from addiction, transient/unstable housing, and mental illness.
Doctors Without Borders / Medicins Sans Frontieres ($10,000) to support general operations.
Foundation of HOPE ($20,000) to support HOPE Aftercare Program including enhanced mentoring services to ex-offenders and a partnership with Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force to bring HIV/Hep C/STI counseling and testing, as well as prevention education, to Aftercare participants.
Jewish Assistance Fund ($10,000) to support general operations, including grantmaking to at-risk individuals and families who are in need of emergency financial assistance.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support the health and human service needs of thousands of low-income families, individuals, and seniors across the Pittsburgh region.
Mon Valley Initiative ($15,000) to support work to increase the income levels and economic independence of local residents by delivering effective career development services, income supports and financial coaching, targeted to the unemployed and under-employed in the Mon Valley region.
New Israel Fund ($10,000) to support organizations, leaders, and activists advancing democratic values, human rights, social and economic justice, religious freedom, equality for Arab citizens of Israel, and shared society.
New Sun Rising ($15,000) to support PearlArts Studios|STAYCEE PEARL dance project‘s the ABBEY: In the Red, a piece dedicated to the music and times of legendary Jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln and her partner, Jazz percussionist Max Roach, drawing upon their creations during the Civil Rights Movement.
New Sun Rising ($5,000) to support Start with Art: Pittsburgh in making gifts of original, signed, and numbered photographic prints from a different artist each month to every baby born at three hospitals in Pittsburgh.
Persad Center ($20,000) to support expanding services to include medical care in addition to its existing behavioral health programs.
Pittsburgh Glass Center ($10,000) to support the Tech Apprentice Program, which draws young people to Pittsburgh to live and work, making them valuable members of the new younger creative workforce in the region.
Pittsburgh Musical Theater ($5,000) to support the Richard E. Rauh Conservatory Scholarship Program, which enables students with financial need to participate in PMT’s programs.
Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania ($25,000) to support an expansion of the organization’s Development Department.
Prevention Point Pittsburgh ($25,000) to support harm reduction programs including establishing a fixed service location and the purchase and distribution of supplies such as sterile injection equipment and naloxone, which reduce disease transmission and overdose fatalities.
Quantum Theatre ($20,000) to support the Legacy Project, large-scale original works and planning for a hub serving developing artists and Quantum’s artistic peers.
Silk Screen, Asian American Arts and Culture Organization ($10,000) to support year-round programming of Asian American dance, music and film screenings.
Silver Eye Center for Photography ($15,000) to support the relocation of Silver Eye’s gallery the corner of Penn Avenue and Mathilda Street in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood.
Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras ($10,000) to support Youth Chamber Connection (YC2), a collaboration with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra and City Music Center
University of Pittsburgh / Music on the Edge ($7,500) to support two collaborative new music concerts. One concert will feature the Arditti String Quartet and guitarist Eliot Fisk, the second will feature Pittsburgh musicians playing chamber works by the American composer David Del Tredici.
University of Pittsburgh / Office of Child Development ($20,000) to support the PRIDE Pop-Up Project, three mini-arts festivals for families and children of African descent in multiple communities, with the goal of building PRIDE (Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Education) in children by immersing them in the Africana Arts.
