CONTACT: Jake Goodman, Executive Director, 412-362-1300, jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.org
PITTSBURGH, PA, June 3, 2019 — The Opportunity Fund announces support totaling $726,550 in its seventh cycle of funding. The Board of Directors funded 57 out of 88 requests that were seeking a total of $1,848,981. A portion of the grants were based on the recommendations of a panel of six community members. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below.
Including the current grant cycle, the foundation has awarded 346 grants totaling over $4.3 million since its inception in 2015. Grant cycles take place twice a year. Letter of Inquiry deadlines are January 15 and July 15. Full information about applying for grants is available in the “For Applicants” area of our website.
1Hood Media ($30,000 over two years) to support general operations to expand and build out the offerings of 1Hood Media Academy, and sustain its initiatives, collaborations and collective interests. 1Hood is a collective of artist and activists who use media, art and activism to challenge inequity, raise awareness and unify humanity.
1Hood Media ($15,000) to support Take Action Mon Valley’s (TAMV) general operations and expand the programming. TAMV is a community grassroots program designed to combat community violence through activism and organizing.
Abolitionist Law Center ($10,000) to support general operations for Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration West (CADBI-West), which organizes for an end to life-without-parole, which they refer to as “Death By Incarceration” (DBI). CADBI-West is made up family and friends of those serving DBI and other prison sentences, formerly incarcerated people, and currently incarcerated people.
Afro American Music Institute ($10,000) to support The Uhimwe Alliance’s THRIVE program that will reach out to Black and Hispanic young and adult males who self-identify as gay, bisexual, queer and/or trans in the region through the arts, education and socio-cultural community-based interaction.
Alia Musica Pittsburgh ($12,000) to support general operations in 2019-2020, with an emphasis on the implementation of Alia Musica’s recently adopted strategic plan to establish the contemporary music company as a mature arts organization.
Alia Musica Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support general operations for Afro Yaqui Music Collective including new artistic work, an album, deeper community relationships, and the collective’s radical pedagogical practice. Afro Yaqui Music Collective is a postcolonial big band committed to a decolonized music and theater practice.
Allies for Health + Wellbeing ($30,000 over two years) to support tangible assistance for people living with HIV, including essential household items, especially mattresses.
Alumni Theater Company ($12,000) to support general operations that provide young urban artists a place to grow, shape, and showcase their talents through the creation and presentation of bold theatrical work.
ARYSE ($35,000 over two years) to support PRYSE Academy, a one-of-a-kind summer program designed to help refugee youth become engaged, confident, and celebrated members within their communities and throughout our world.
Beaver County Foundation ($10,000) to support Paramount Enterprises, LLC’s Inclusive Entrepreneurship Program that assists aspiring entrepreneurs facing barriers to entrepreneurship through one-on-one mentoring, seminars, networking, workshops, and assistance in building strategic partnerships and creating business plans.
Benefits Data Trust ($10,000) to support The PA Benefits Center, a program that works to increase access to public benefits for low-income families and individuals in the greater Pittsburgh region and across the state.
Center for Hearing & Deaf Services ($10,000) to support general operations and program/service areas that foster clear, accessible communication with the ultimate goal of helping clients achieve greater independence.
Center of Life ($10,000) to support general operations in order to ensure that youth and families receive the skills, education, training, and resources to be strong and to make their communities strong through our core family of programs.
Civically, Inc. ($10,000) to support beamdata’s Census for a Cause, a data-driven project that ensures low-income residents and communities of color are included in the 2020 US Census.
The Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support general operations during its 2019-20 program year, and support initiatives in commissioning new work, providing fair compensation to artists, expanding diversity initiatives, and building strategic partnerships.
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation ($15,000) to support a one-year pilot of Trans Buddy PGH – Peer Healthcare Support, a transgender-focused, community-advised peer navigation and patient advocacy program to improve access to healthcare and achieve better health outcomes for transgender patients.
Christian Immigration Advocacy Center ($10,000) to support general operations and translation costs for clients as part of providing low cost or pro bono, immigration-related legal services to immigrants and refugees of limited means.
COA Youth & Family Centers ($10,000) to support the expanding year-round after-school and summer youth development programming for 1,000 promising youth from low-income families at COA’s Riverwest and Goldin Centers in Milwaukee, WI.
Construction Junction ($10,000) to support The Pillow Project’s 2019-2020 public programming events and performances at The Space Upstairs, including the signature jazz-happenings, science/performance lectures, poetry salons, and all-inclusive creative nights.
Crossing Limits ($7,500) to support “I Too am Pittsburgh,” a public poetry installation utilizing the City of Pittsburgh’s public transit system as a mobile creative space crafted to address historic and imaginary borders separating neighboring communities.
Daisy Wilson Artist Community, Inc. ($20,000) to support general operations for the August Wilson House to assist with the planning and implementation of an interpretative exhibition plan.
Dr. James Cameron Legacy Foundation ($15,000) to support general operations and programming costs of America’s Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee, WI.
Dreams of Hope ($12,000) to support the theatriQ Youth Performance Ensemble for queer youth.
East End United Community Center ($15,000) to support two evidence-based programs, Strengthening Families & Strong African American Families, as a bridge to benefits in Fayette County.
Economic Development South ($15,000) to support general operations for 25 Carrick Ave Center for Production Arts which will become a sustainable non-profit performing arts and education destination in Pittsburgh’s south hilltop community.
Foundation for Independent Artists, Inc./Pentacle ($10,000) to support The Blanket bringing award-winning choreographer Beth Gill to Pittsburgh to work with local dancers and produce the company’s first artistic premiere at the historic Carrie Furnaces.
Fractured Atlas ($5,550) to support FotoEvidence in creating the “Limitless Africans” book by artist-photographer Mikael Owunna and related educational programming focused on LGBTQ African migrants.
Global Minds Initiative ($10,000) to support the general operations of this for-youth, by-youth organization created to combat the issues of cultural intolerance and discrimination through an after school tutoring program between English-as-a-Second-Language and Native English Speaking students.
Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council ($10,000) to support Arts Excursions Unlimited in coordinating a free three-day, two-night arts and cultural excursion to another city for 40 greater Hazelwood residents to engage with global majority arts and cultural producers, organizations, institutions and neighborhoods.
Grow Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support the Youth Market Program which will establish youth-led farm stands and workforce development programming in the Homewood and Braddock neighborhoods.
Hazelwood Initiative ($10,000) to support the expansion of The Industrial Arts Workshop’s pilot Mobile Sculpture Workshop program to a facility-based artist and education work space in Hazelwood, and to serve the neighborhood of Hazelwood and the youth of Pittsburgh through public art initiatives.
Landforce ($20,000) to support the trainings and employment skills development components of the organization’s workforce development program, which hires people with barriers to employment to work on community and environmental projects, while addressing their barriers and connecting them to future employment.
Lawrenceville Corporation ($15,000) to support general operations of the City of Bridges Community Land Trust in developing organizational infrastructure and capacity for an affordable housing organization that builds community ownership, preserves permanent affordability, empowers individuals, and ensures responsible growth and stewardship throughout the greater Pittsburgh region.
Legacy Arts Project ($12,000) to support the implementation of Artists in Residence: Homewood, an artist residency program for local artists in the Pittsburgh region that will provide space, resources, and an audience for the development and presentation of work.
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society ($5,000) to support the Urgent Need Program in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia which provides financial assistance for blood cancer patients with acute non-medical expenses.
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild ($15,000) to support MCG Jazz‘s 2019-20 concert season.
Mid-Atlantic Mothers’ Milk Bank ($10,000) to support the implementation of a novel algorithm program to target pool donor milk for higher nutritional content which will drive better growth in preterm infants in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) setting.
Mon Valley Initiative ($15,000) to support the Workforce & Business Development Program 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.
NAT 28 ($7,500) to support Spotlight Series performances featuring the music of Icelandic contemporary composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir.
New Sun Rising ($10,000) to support City of Play and the inaugural season of Pittsburgh FireWalk: an autumn series of firelit revels through the central Northside and adjacent hilltop neighborhoods.
New Voices for Reproductive Justice ($32,500 over two years) to support general operations, the development of an activist rapid response infrastructure, and to cultivate champions for Reproductive Justice from their base of supporters.
NextGen:Pgh ($10,000) to support Civic Stages, a mobile, pop-up, youth-led ‘civic incubator,’ arming students with the programmatic framework, leadership skills and support to advocate for policies and programs that will strengthen their communities, benefit the region as a whole, and provide a physical and virtual platform to mobilize community action.
Operation Troop Appreciation ($10,000) to support the Welcome Home Veteran Support Program to help prevent homelessness and provide a “hand-up” to veterans experiencing hardship.
PF/PCA ($10,000) to support The Documentary Works in creating “Income Inequality” (working title), a photography-based project aimed at enhancing the public’s understanding of the structural bases of poverty and income inequality, and creating a space within which to have a civil and constructive conversation about correcting these inequities.
PF/PCA ($10,000) to support Daylighting the Stream Collaborative and the development and workshop of a new experiential, immersive, site-specific theater work in Pittsburgh and New York City.
Pittsburgh Festival Opera ($10,000) to support a world stage premiere of two of Fred Rogers’ operas, originally seen on his show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, in the 2019 summer festival season.
Pittsburgh Lesbian & Gay Film Society ($7,500) to support general operations and staff capacity for year-round programming, including the Reel Q Film Festival, the Pittsburgh Underground Film Festival, and the Reel Youth screening program.
Pittsburgh Musical Theater ($5,000) to support the Richard E. Rauh Conservatory Scholarship Program for underprivileged students ages 4-18 to attend the Richard E. Rauh Conservatory musical theater program.
Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble ($12,000) to support general operations for the 2019 season including artist fees and production expenses related to the work PNME commissions, performs, and presents for the Pittsburgh community.
POISE Foundation ($30,000 over two years) to support general operations of the Alliance for Police Accountability, a grassroots organization dedicated to criminal justice reconstruction, specializing in community/police relations.
Prototype PGH ($5,000) to support Women’s Work, an incubator for women-owned businesses, within a feminist makerspace and an emphasis on engaging low-income women.
Reconstruction INC ($10,000) to support general operations of Let’s Get Free: The Women and Trans Prisoner Defense Committee, a group in Western Pennsylvania that shines light on gender-based violence that contributes to the incarceration of women and trans people, educating and organizing around larger issues of mass incarceration.
Resonance Works ($12,000) to support general operations and the growing infrastructure of this artist-driven, multi-modal performing arts company for the first half of the 2019-20 season.
Resources for Human Development ($10,000) to support Put People First! PA’s Nonviolent Medicaid Army program in Southwestern Pennsylvania, a base-building and leadership development initiative to help grow PPF’s existing local Healthcare Rights Committees and establish new ones, and to develop the leadership of volunteer members.
The Theater Offensive ($12,000) to support the Pride Youth Theater Alliance Conference 2019, which provides opportunities for members in the Queer Youth Theater sector to gather and learn. Dreams of Hope will host this year’s conference in Pittsburgh.
University of Pittsburgh / Music on the Edge ($12,000) to support the third “Beyond: Microtonal Music Festival,” co-sponsored by the Andy Warhol Museum Sound Series, which will highlight composers and ensembles from Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Finland, and China in a weekend of concerts and talks.
Urban Academy of Greater Pittsburgh Charter School ($10,000) to support the State of Black Learning Conference, gathering thought leaders, learning stakeholders, and educators to critically discuss how systemic inequities in race, gender, and socioeconomic status continue to impact learning for Black children.
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