CONTACT: Jake Goodman, Executive Director, jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.org
PITTSBURGH, PA, May 21, 2024 — Opportunity Fund announces grantmaking support in the total amount of $867,750 through 60 grants in the first half of 2024. The foundation reviewed 153 requests for funding, requesting over $2.48 million. This cycle, each of the 70 full applications were reviewed by one of the following: an arts community panel, a social & economic justice community panel, or the Opportunity Fund’s Board of Directors.
Opportunity Fund’s aspiration is to nurture reciprocal relationships with its partners and community members. Trust is key to building strong relationships and, in turn, being in community. General operating support is a type of funding that is unrestricted and allows organizations to use it as they best see fit to meet their goals. The majority of this cycle’s grant funding, 82%, provides unrestricted general operating support. Black-led organizations make up 29% of this cycle’s total grant partners, 47% are white-led, and 24% have Asian or multiracial leadership teams. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below.
Since Opportunity Fund’s inception in 2015, the foundation has awarded 1,118 grants totaling over $16 million. Grant cycles take place two times per year. The deadline to submit an online Letter of Inquiry to be considered for a grant for the next cycle is July 15, 2024. Opportunity Fund encourages organizations focused on the arts and/or social and economic justice to reach out or submit an online Letter of Inquiry by the deadline. Full information about applying for grants is available in the “For Applicants” area of the foundation’s website.
Grant Partner List:
A Peace of Mind ($12,500) to provide flexible, general operating support. Funding will help subsidize tuition for children experiencing poverty within the 12-hour early learning center located in Wilkinsburg. A Peace of Mind provides quality caring services to a community of people with the goal of establishing a vision of peace, wholeness, and enhancements to their overall quality of life by remaining connected and embedded in the community.
Abiding Missions ($5,000) to support the Community Music Program which provides piano lessons for youth and instruction for a multi-generational community choir. Abiding Missions serves as a base for community development, leading projects grounded in the practices of restorative justice, empowering lives, and strengthening neighborhoods.
ACTION-Housing ($10,000), acting as fiscal sponsor to support the Strength in Numbers‘ (SIN) arts programming within the McKeesport Downtown Housing Low Barrier Shelter. Funds will help establish a dedicated arts space, an arts curriculum, arts instructors, and supplies. SIN strengthens the ability of folx experiencing displacement and hardship to access services such that individuals they serve can get a “hand-up” toward greater stability, and move toward thriving rather than just surviving.
Afro-American Music Institute ($15,000), acting as fiscal sponsor to support The UHIMWE Alliance. The UHIMEWE Alliance works to weave and interweave same gender loving men and brothers of color together as community in the greater Pittsburgh region. UHIMWE works to create a more positive future for themselves and their communities.
Alia Musica Pittsburgh ($10,000), acting as fiscal sponsor to support the work of Afro Yaqui Music Collective, including a revolutionary jazz opera written for mariachi orchestra and a book-plus-video on the Haitian Revolution and early jazz. Afro Yaqui Music Collective is a postcolonial big band committed to a decolonized music and theater practice—to sounding a world where many worlds fit.
ArtUp ($10,000) to support When the Butterflies Would Visit, a first convening of five ecological artists, matched with five U.S. BIPOC inaugural fellows on Indigenous land around ecology, equity, art, and reciprocity. This venture doubles as ground work towards the next Sites of Passage, an exchange between Indigenous artists living inside the made up perimeters of the United States. ArtUp builds global interchanges for the migration of ideas across political and cultural boundaries.
ARYSE ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. ARYSE is a student-centered organization that supports immigrant and refugee youth in becoming engaged, confident, and celebrated members of our community.
Assemble ($7,500) to support the Unblurred and Crafternoon Artist Residency program in which local artists have the opportunity to present their work and share their skills with youth. Assemble envisions a diverse community that creates, connects, and learns through the experience of art and technology.
barebones productions ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support during the company’s 2024 season. barebones productions promote the growth of local theater artists through the production of challenging, entertaining, thought-provoking plays and to attract new, young audiences by employing minimal production elements for maximum impact.
Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh (BCAP) ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. BCAP ensures a high quality of life for all members of the Bhutanese community in Allegheny County and in the surrounding Westmoreland and Washington counties, and supports their integration into American society through culturally-informed services and activities. It also supports members of other refugee and immigrant communities in the south hills neighborhoods of Pittsburgh.
Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation ($10,000), acting as fiscal sponsor to support Pedantic Arts Residency. Pedantic is an opportunity for exchange and inspiration for creatives who practice visual art, curating, and writing. Pedantic helps to strengthen, unite, and enrich Pittsburgh’s arts community by welcoming national and international creatives for a month-long residency, during which they are woven into the cultural fabric of the city.
Carnegie Mellon University ($7,750) to support the 10th installment of TQ LIVE! at the Carnegie Museum of Art. TQ Live! presents a queer evening of dazzling performance, dance, poetry, comedy, resplendent fantasies, music, and more.
City of Bridges Community Land Trust ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. The organization works to redress the intersections of housing, economic, and racial justice. City of Bridges builds community ownership that preserves permanent affordability, empowers individuals, and ensures responsible growth and stewardship.
Community Forge ($10,000), acting as fiscal sponsor to support the work of Locally Served in providing free, holistic, legal representation to individuals with disabilities involved in the child welfare or criminal legal system in Allegheny County. Locally Served defends the rights of families and people with disabilities and includes wraparound social work and client advocacy support.
Community Human Services Corporation (CHS) ($15,000) to support the renovation of a new Community & Social Center located at Wood Street Commons (WSC) and operated by CHS. WSC is a 259-room, single room occupancy facility spanning 10 floors of supportive housing. Safe, affordable housing and nutritious food are fundamental human rights, and CHS strives to make them accessible to all in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas.
Contemporary Craft ($57,500 over three years) to provide flexible, general operating support, inclusive of exhibitions, educational and community engagement programming, artist programs, residencies, and more. Contemporary Craft engages the public in creative experiences through contemporary craft by forging connections between creativity, making, and daily life. Contemporary Craft presents the best national and international, contemporary art in craft media, and showcases important techniques, concepts, and artists in the field.
Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+) ($7,500) to provide flexible, general operating support. CERF+ provides disaster and emergency relief and readiness grants as well as educational resources, advocating for the thrive-ability of craft artists and craft as an art form. Drawing upon their roots as a mutual aid organization founded by craft artists in 1985, they are guided by the principles of generosity, inclusion, and care as they serve craft artists in tribal communities and across the United States and territories.
Crafting the Future (CTF) ($17,500) to support its Pittsburgh-based residency and scholarship programs for BIPOC artists, in partnership with The Pittsburgh Glass Center, Touchstone Center for Crafts, and Bridgeway Capital’s Creative Business Accelerator (ORIGINS). CTF works to increase access to creative enrichment by connecting BIPOC artists with opportunities that will help them thrive.
D-Composed ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. D-Composed is a Chicago-based chamber music collective that uplifts and empowers society by providing a platform for the music of Black composers by increasing access and exposure to Black creativity, culture, and life through thoughtful programming, events, and content.
Faith United Methodist Church – Roots of Faith (ROF)($12,500) to provide flexible, general operating support for ROF’s ongoing efforts to alleviate poverty and improve quality of life for residents of Sharpsburg and nearby communities. ROF builds community by reconciling people with God and one another.
Foster Love Project ($15,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Foster Love Project shows love in action to children impacted by foster and kinship care through the provision of goods, services, and support.
Fractured Atlas ($15,000), acting as fiscal sponsor to support JADED Collective. Led by women and non-binary artists, JADED creates spaces for Asian American & Pacific Island (AAPI) representation and empowerment. From large, public celebrations to intimate AAPI-only gatherings, JADED addresses the trauma of racial violence, reveals the hidden history of AAPI migration in the Pittsburgh region, and offers mentorship and networking opportunities for our communities.
Guardians Of Sound & The Hip Hop Orchestra ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Guardians of Sound enriches life through music making, performance, and education that employs acoustic sound, human voices, and musical instruments using current music and media technologies, and the talents of professional, pre-professional, and youth musicians.
Harambee Ujima ($15,000) to provide flexible, general operating support for the three-day Harambee Ujima Black Arts Festival in 2024. Harambee Ujima fosters an indelible sense of identity, resilience, and empowerment among people of African American descent and their communities through celebrations of their art forms, including but not limited to dance, music, arts and crafts, and storytelling.
Healing By Dezigns ($15,000) to support the Holistic Fashion Therapy Program, a nontraditional approach that uses methods with which participants are familiar and comfortable. Healing By Dezigns empowers and transforms the lives of Black men and women who are dealing with remnants of trauma after abuse.
Housing Opportunities, Inc. ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Housing Opportunities delivers comprehensive housing assistance programs, including affordable housing development, financial counseling, and homeownership education, directly benefiting low-income families and individuals in Beaver and Lawrence Counties.
Jeremiah’s Place ($12,500) to provide flexible, general operating support for Jeremiah’s Place, a judgment-free, 24/7 emergency childcare services for children ages 0-6, provided at no cost to families. Jeremiah’s Place protects children and strengthens families by providing a safe haven of respite, health, renewal, and support for children when their families are experiencing a critical need for childcare.
Kelly Strayhorn Theater ($10,000) acting as fiscal sponsor to support the creation of Huggable Loveable Uterus, street performance, costuming, and community engagement by artist Carolyn P. Speranza. Including a human-sized uteri mascot, mobile drum corps and dance squads, original uteri costumes, and visual art apparatus, Huggable Lovable Uterus will give the mic to physical anatomy central to reproductive rights by making it larger than life, visually present, and impossible to ignore.
Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) ($60,000 over three years) to provide flexible, general operating support as KST and its Alloy Studios provide transformational artist support and community programming, and implement initiatives to streamline operations as the organization plans for real estate development. KST is a home for creative experimentation, community dialogue, and collective action rooted in the liberation of Black and queer people.
Landforce ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Landforce builds viable pathways for those experiencing persistent barriers to employment by improving Pittsburgh’s natural infrastructure and community well-being through workforce development, with an expanded focus on urban wood reuse. Landforce nourishes a culture of self-empowerment for people aspiring towards meaningful and stable employment, as it protects and improves the environment.
Lettuce Turnip the Beet Sustainability Collective ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Lettuce Turnip the Beet builds, cultivates, and sustains a beautiful life by addressing food access and sustainability through education, outreach, and advocacy.
Macedonia Family and Community Enrichment Center (FACE) ($15,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. FACE encourages the development of healthy families and is committed to living out its mission by addressing the disparities that impact African American families and other vulnerable populations in the community.
New Sun Rising ($15,000), acting as fiscal sponsor to support the work of Arts Excursions Unlimited (AEU). Funding will cover transportation, food, and entrance fees, making art and cultural experiences AEU organizes accessible to local families. AEU fosters creative self-determination for residents of the Greater Hazelwood community through arts and cultural excursions, increases arts engagement via workshops, events, and activities both inside and outside the neighborhood, and designs and fabricates temporary art.
The Open Door ($45,000 over three years) to provide flexible, general operating support as the organization supports current and future residents, and scattered site participants, through housing, representative payee services, and medical transportation. Building from a harm reduction model, The Open Door, Inc. provides supportive housing and related services to improve the health of the forgotten population of high risk, chronically homeless people living with HIV in the Pittsburgh area.
Our House Family First ($10,000), acting as fiscal sponsor for The Center for Relational Change to support the Say Its Name Conference. The Say Its Name Conference facilitates lasting and impactful familial and social change by educating participants about the relational nature of social injustice and empowering individuals to understand their relationship to themselves.
Patients for Affordable Drugs (P4AD) ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. P4AD is the only national patient advocacy organization focused exclusively on lowering prescription drug prices. It fights for systems-level change to the drug pricing system to ensure the systems of politics, science, and medicine serve the interests of people first, and especially the health of Black, Brown, and historically and underserved people in the U.S. who are disproportionately impacted by high drug prices.
PearlArts Movement & Sound ($52,500 over three years) to provide flexible, general operating support and to support the organization’s expansion into a new facility in Braddock, PA. PearlArts is a dance-focused arts organization that exists to celebrate and explore the full range of Blackness and culture through dynamic performances and experiences.
PERSAD Center ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Persad improves the mental and emotional health of the LGBTQ+ community and promotes overall wellness by providing culturally competent and affirming services, education, and advocacy.
Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse inspires creativity, conservation, and community engagement through reuse.
Pittsburgh Glass Center ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Pittsburgh Glass Center cultivates an inclusive and welcoming environment that encourages everyone, from the casually curious to the master artist, to learn, create, and be inspired by glass. The Glass Center exists to promote glass art creation and appreciation.
Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (PNME) ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Funding will support PNME’s 2024 season and the launch of a new professional development program that brings together music teachers and composers to strengthen teaching, diversify repertoire choices for students, and help foster the creation and dissemination of new music. Using music as the vehicle for larger ideas, PNME seeks to bring together the people and the arts of our time.
Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks ($15,000) to provide flexible, general operating support and to support the 2024 production of “Twelfth Night”. Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks provides free and accessible Shakespeare and classical theater to the residents of Pittsburgh in public parks and outdoor spaces.
Prototype PGH ($10,000), acting as fiscal sponsor for The Autonomous Body Shop. Funding supports the reproductive freedom, sexual health, and bodily autonomy of folks by mobile distribution of free informational resources and practical supplies. With a specific focus on reproductive justice and sexual health, The Autonomous Body Shop empowers individuals to be resources for their friend groups and communities.
Sankofa Village for the Arts ($30,000 over two years) to provide flexible, general operating support and to bolster youth programming focused on drumming, dancing, and martial arts. Sankofa Village for the Arts delivers culturally responsive, African-centered programs and services to children and youth, parents and families and community members, arts organizations, in the creative and performing arts.
Shiftworks Community + Public Arts ($15,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Shiftworks envisions a region in which the creative practices of artists are fully engaged to collaboratively shape the public realm and catalyze community-led change. Shiftworks builds capacity for this work through civically engaged public art, artist resources, public programming, and technical assistance.
sisTers PGH ($15,000), acting as fiscal sponsor to support the work of Black Liberation Autonomous Collective (BLAC). Funding will help BLAC expand services for young Black transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals in Allegheny County, including the provision of gender-affirming care kits and hosting social events for the community through the Kiki Project. BLAC builds a community network of Black trans and non-binary youth and allies to be a platform for our siblings to construct the change they want to see, and provide for our people’s needs through our mutual aid program.
The Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka (SPMMMV) ($7,500) to provide flexible, general operating support. SPMMMV conserves and protects for permanent public exhibition the Maxo Vanka murals within St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in Pittsburgh, enabling the immigrant artist’s “gift to America” to serve as an enduring catalyst for community engagement and education, inspire social and cultural dialogue, celebrate diversity, and forge connections through reflections on the extraordinary American experience.
Sto-Rox Neighborhood Health Council ($15,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Sto-Rox Neighborhood Health Council is a federally qualified health center (FQHC) that provides comprehensive health services for the McKees Rocks, Stowe Township, Hilltop, and surrounding communities by focusing on the treatment of illnesses, the prevention of disease, and the promotion of health.
Survivor Siblings ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Funding will bolster current programs, including outreach support, peer-to-peer support groups, survivor retreats, and free education workshops on sex trafficking, facilitated by survivors. Survivor Siblings exists to empower survivors and raise awareness about sex trafficking.
Tree of Life ($10,000) to support La’akam and the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh (HCP) to educate the Pittsburgh community about the Bamileke genocide. Funding will help underwrite La’akam’s fifth annual commemoration of the Bamileke genocide in March 2025 and HCP’s support of La’akam through leadership development, platforming of the story of the Bamileke genocide, and relationship expansion. La’akam seeks accountability and healing from the Bamileke genocide, strengthens the Bamileke diaspora, and reconnects with Black Americans of Bamileke heritage who lost their culture due to slavery. HCP connects the horrors of the Holocaust and antisemitism with injustices of today.
Team G.R.O.W. ($10,000) to empower low-income women homeowners in Pittsburgh’s Uptown/Hill District. Funding will support educational workshops teaching essential home repair and maintenance skills. Team G.R.O.W. prevents evictions due to minor damages and fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment among women of color in the community.
Thomas Merton Center (TMC) ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Funding will enhance TMC’s work building a collaborative movement to address homelessness, working alongside community partners and individuals experiencing homelessness themselves. TMC builds a consciousness of values and raises the moral questions involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice, human rights, and environmental justice.
University of Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support Music on the Edge‘s fourth biennial Beyond: Microtonal Music Festival in 2025. This three-day festival, featuring international and local microtonal music performers and composers, expands the boundaries of musical exploration and appreciation within the Pittsburgh community.
Westmoreland Performing Arts ($5,000) to support the creation of a free arts initiative that uses theater to teach social-emotional skills to marginalized students, fostering understanding, inclusion, and harmony. Westmoreland Performing Arts gives students of all backgrounds and beliefs the skills to become independent, creative thinkers, critical problem solvers, and successful collaborators.
Women’s Law Project ($30,000 over two years) to provide flexible, general operating support. Working for reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and bodily autonomy, Women’s Law Project leverages the power of the law to eliminate gender bias and discrimination.
XLiberator Network ($7,500), acting as fiscal sponsor to support the work of An Honest Effort. An Honest Effort supports the growth of emerging artists’ of color through art shows and exhibitions fostering representation within the art community.
Young Black Motivated Kings & Queens (YBMKQ) ($10,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. YBMKQ is a community-based organization made up of dedicated young men and women who engage high school-aged youth in becoming the leaders of tomorrow while serving the community.
YWCA Greater Pittsburgh ($7,500), acting as fiscal sponsor to support the work of re:Bloom. re:Bloom creates opportunities for small business owners, especially women and minority-owned businesses, to learn how to build, grow, and manage their online presence.
Zellous Hope Project ($15,000) to provide flexible, general operating support. Zellous Hope Project provides a bridge over the holes on the road to living better by working together with existing organizations, to create the change we want to see in the lives of the people we serve.
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