April 21, 2023 PNC Foundation to Match Donations to Pre-K and Head Start Requests The PNC Foundation is partnering with DonorsChoose—an online nonprofit that allows individuals to fund classroom projects and teacher requests for resources and materials—to help early childhood educators obtain quality resources and experiences for students in public pre-K, public charter, and Head Start classrooms. By committing to match “dollar-for-dollar” any DonorsChoose donations that support pre-k and Head Start projects, the foundation hopes to encourage others to fund child care and early childhood education. The duration of the match is undetermined and subject to restrictions and a maximum dollar amount. DonorsChoose Educator & Project Eligibility Who can participate? Pre-K teachers in every state, subject area, and grade level can use DonorsChoose. If you are an educator at a public school, public charter school, or Head Start program, are employed full-time by a school or district, and work directly with students at least 75% of the time, you are eligible to post projects. What is eligible for funding? You can request anything you need to enrich your students’ experience at school. Sports equipment? A classroom library? Furniture? Musical instruments? DonorsChoose can help. If you can imagine it, you can post a classroom project request for it. How does it work? The process is simple: Create your project in DonorsChoose. Receive donations from friends, family, and supporters through the DonorsChoose website. Receive your request. DonorsChoose orders everything for you and ships it straight to you or your school. How long does it take? The average project takes about 25 minutes to create and submit. Once your project is funded, DonorsChoose takes care of the rest. Participate in the Match To utilize the match from the PNC Foundation and better fund your pre-k or Head Start classroom project, add it to the DonorsChoose website by following the step-by-step instructions on the “How it Works” page. Results from Past Partnerships Between the PNC Foundation & DonorsChoose Previously, the PNC Foundation flash funded almost $2 million dollars in requests from 3,054 pre-k teachers across 30 states through DonorsChoose. As a result, almost 89,000 pre-k and Head Start students and their early educators received support for materials and projects. Throughout greater Pittsburgh, 126 pre-k teacher requests were fully funded. Learn More PNC’s support of DonorsChoose coincides with the launch of this year’s “Great Month” at PNC—an annual celebration held each April to raise awareness of PNC Grow Up Great® and the importance of high-quality early childhood education. Launched in 2004, the $500 million, bilingual initiative supports programs, resources, and experiences that help to prepare children from birth through age five for success in school and life. To learn more about PNC’s partnership with DonorsChoose and how to participate, visit the PNC Bank website or view the flyer.
April 5, 2023 Trying Together Offering Fundraising Opportunity for Child Care Providers Trying Together is inviting early childhood program directors to join them at the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community to raise funds for their early learning programs. About the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community The Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community is an annual fundraising walk that benefits local health and human service agencies. The primary goal of the walk is to help participating organizations raise money for their individual missions. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, May 13, 2023 at Acrisure Stadium. Though the Highmark Walk is a great opportunity for nonprofit organizations to raise funds, not all entities meet eligibility standards. If you are the owner or director of an early learning program, your program may be ineligible. However, Trying Together is inviting all early childhood program directors to join Trying Together at the walk to raise funds for their program. Raise Money for An Early Learning Program To raise funds for an early learning program, create a program walk team on behalf of Trying Together and join Trying Together at the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community. After the walk, Trying Together will give 75% of all funds raised by early learning program teams back to their respective programs. Create a Walk Team Interested in teaming up with Trying Together? Start a team now! Start by visiting Trying Together’s Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community registration page. Once on the page, select “Click Here to Form Team.” Next, enter the name of your organization as the team name when prompted, and, finally, complete the registration form. Learn More If you need assistance creating a team or want to learn more, visit the Highmark Walk page on the Trying Together website or view the event flyer.
October 13, 2020 CARES Funds Available For Eligible Families Individuals and families who are unable to meet basic and urgent needs on their own due to loss of income, reduced income, or insufficient income caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may be eligible to receive Community Services Block Grant CARES Act supplemental funds. About Assistance is available to help individuals and families cover costs associated with rent or mortgage, utilities, transportation, home repairs, food, child care, household supplies, and other needs as identified by the eligible individual/family. This assistance is capped at $1,000 and payments will generally be made to third parties on behalf of the eligible individual or family. Eligibility Criteria To qualify, applicants must live in Allegheny County outside of the city of Pittsburgh and be 18 years of age or older. Additionally, their household income for the 30-day period prior to applying must not exceed 200% Federal Poverty Level. For a household of one, this equates to $2,127 per month or $25,520 annually. For a family of four, this equates to $4,367 per month or $52,400 annually. More Information For more information, contact the appropriate community service agency below: For residents of Allegheny Valley communities: Allegheny Valley Association of Churches; Beth Kendra; 724-226-0606, ext. 10; beth@avaoc.org For residents of Mon Valley and eastern suburban communities: Human Services Center Corporation, Anna Hudson, 412-436-9537, ahudson@hscc-mvpc.org For residents of northern and western communities: North Hills Community Outreach, Stephanie Kobert, 412-408-3210, sdkobert@nhco.org For residents of southern communities: South Hills Interfaith Movement, Elizabeth Henninger; 412-854-9120, ext. 104; ehenninger@shimcares.org
September 4, 2020 Early Childhood League Launch & Expansion of Recess Advocacy Team On September 1, 2020, Trying Together and the Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative were awarded grants through The Grable Foundation and Remake Learning’s Tomorrow campaign. Through this funding, both entities will work to address early childhood needs in Pennsylvania. About Trying Together is a leading advocate for high-quality early care and education in Pennsylvania and a co-founder of the Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative and Recess Advocacy Team. With funds from the Tomorrow grant, Trying Together will launch an Early Childhood League and the Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative will expand the Recess Advocacy Team to engage additional youth, families, organizations, and communities as advocates to address early learning constraints in the region. “Through the Tomorrow grants, we will be able to work with community members that we may not have previously to learn about their early learning priorities for children so we may support them in mobilizing to take action,” said Cara Ciminillo, Executive Director at Trying Together. Trying Together Tomorrow Campaign Project: Early Childhood League The Early Childhood League will partner with Trying Together, its advocacy partners, and each other to transform early childhood education conditions in the region. Members of the League will include selected parents and other caregivers of young children; community organizations; and a large institution that is to be determined. The League will achieve improvements in local early learning environments by receiving training, similar to the Early Childhood Advocacy Fellowship, from Trying Together and other experts. Training topics will include: communications techniques; community organizing strategies; early childhood education principles; and public policy processes. With ongoing programmatic support from Trying Together and the Tomorrow grant, the League will acquire the agency to develop and implement an advocacy plan that further advances the efforts of existing statewide early childhood policy campaigns such as Start Strong PA (child care), Pre-K for PA (pre-k), and Childhood Begins at Home (home visiting). More information and application details will be available soon. Please continue to monitor the Trying Together website, Facebook, and Twitter page for future updates. Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative Tomorrow Campaign Project: Recess Advocacy Team The Recess Advocacy Team’s mission is to educate and advocate for the importance of recess; engage with children, families, and educators on recess experiences; establish a resource for recess-related advocacy, policy, and best practices; and engage stakeholders in recess advocacy efforts. By partnering with a regional school district, the Recess Advocacy Team will utilize this funding to support efforts to conduct a needs assessment survey and develop a toolkit for children, parents, and educators who want to serve as recess champions. As a part of the toolkit, funding will also support professional development and training related to advocacy and topics such as: creatively using school space for physical activity; indoor recess ideas; and volunteer recess supervision. While this partnership will focus on one district, the Team’s outcomes and products will be scalable and designed to be replicated with other school districts to best meet their needs. Additional details will be available soon. For information on how to join and more, visit the Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative website. About the Tomorrow Campaign A $1.4 million dollar investment in organizations throughout the region, the Tomorrow campaign is an effort to #RemakeTomorrow, one where every learner is prepared to “create the future of learning” when everyone combines timeless ideas and new ways to learn. Last spring, the Tomorrow campaign asked 17 nonprofit organizations to boldly imagine what smart risks they might take if they had research and development (R&D) funding – not for covering current activities, but for pursuing experimental ideas, testing new concepts, and finding powerful ways to move their field toward the future of learning. “Each of these projects represents the imagination and resourcefulness not only of the 17 grantees, but also of the many partner organizations who will join them in their efforts,” says Kristen Burns, Associate Director of The Grable Foundation. “We hope these grants will provide a spark that will help move the entire field of learning forward in our region.” More Information For more information, read the full press release.
February 26, 2020 Making the Census Count for All PA Kids | Webinar Did you know there is an official 2020 Census song? Or that Sesame Street’s Count von Count is sharing the message about the importance of responding to the Census? Do you know how much federal funding Pennsylvania missed over the past 10 years because of undercounting in the last Census? Join the Pennsylvania Child Care Association (PACCA) for their webinar on March 11 to learn about all of these topics and more! About The federal government uses census data to help allocate over $800 billion a year in federal funds to key programs that serve children and families. When we miss young children in the census, our communities miss out on funding for public programs for much of their childhood. During this webinar, you will learn more about what you can do to encourage families in your early learning program to participate in the 2020 Census. Registration Registrations must be submitted by noon on March 10, 2020. To register, please visit the event webpage. More Information For questions, contact Maureen Murphy at 717.657.9000, extension 107. *Information provided by PACCA
March 19, 2019 Some Pittsburgh Residents May Register for Free Lead Water Line Replacement Overview Pittsburgh residents who have lead water lines and meet income guidelines can have their pipes replaced for free. Pipes may be replaced through a Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority program administered by the Dollar Energy Fund. Funding PWSA has $1.8 million set aside for the program. Consequently, they must spend the money before November 2021. The money must be spent due to an agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP in 2017 fined the authority $2.4 million after it failed to report a change in water treatment chemicals to state regulators. DEP and PWSA negotiated a settlement whereby $1.8 million was returned to the city for lead line replacements. The authority so far has replaced 18 water lines through the program and estimates the $1.8 million can pay for a total of 200 lines. A family of four earning no more $61,500 per year would qualify. Officials said they are certain eligible customers have failed to apply. “I don’t know what the reason for that would be,” said Paul Leger, who chairs the PWSA board of directors. “It’s not complicated. If you hit the income line, you just go to Dollar Energy Fund and you’re in.” Apply To apply, residents can call PWSA at (866) 762-2348. Representatives at Dollar Energy will verify income eligibility and PWSA will schedule a time for replacement after confirming the home has a lead water line. Eligibility PWSA spokesman Will Pickering noted that PWSA sewer customers who receive their water through the Pennsylvania American Water Co. are not eligible. The program is unrelated to PWSA’s $40 million lead program, in which it will replace a homeowner’s private line for free while replacing lead lines in the street that are owned by the authority, Pickering said. PWSA has struggled since 2016 to reduce lead levels in water that exceeded a federal threshold of 15 parts per billion. The most recent test results released in January indicated lead levels of 20 ppb from July to December. The authority is addressing the problem by replacing all lead waterlines in its service area, which includes about 300,000 people in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area, and by adding the anti-corrosion chemical orthophosphate to water. Since 2016, PWSA has replaced more than 2,825 waterlines. It plans to replace up to 3,400 lead lead lines this year.
November 20, 2018 KaBOOM! Announces Let’s Play Everywhere Challenge Winners KaBOOM! recently announced the winners of the Let’s Play Everywhere Challenge. As part of the Challenge, 10 grantees in Allegheny County were selected to receive a combined total of $200,000 in prize funds. Trying Together is pleased to announce that the Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative was awarded one of these grants for The Neighborhood Play Stop Project. Learn more about it and the other grantees below. Challenge Winners The Let’s Play Everywhere Challenge selected nine organizations as winners, with a total of ten ideas: Trying Together (Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative) The Neighborhood Play Stop Project Glassport Community Outreach, Inc. Families Will Go Gaga to Play GaGa Pittsburgh Fulton PTO From Pittsburgh to Paris and Beyond! Garfield Jubilee Association, Inc. James Sensory Park Grounded Strategies MACS Discovery Walk Race Me! Pitcairn Green Playce Community Forge Number Mountain Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Ping Pong in the Plaza UniversalWit Play! to End Blight Focus on Renewal POW! (Place of Wonder) The Neighborhood Play Stop Project The Neighborhood Play Stop Project will reimagine existing spaces within Hazelwood by using play stops to encourage community engagement and playful interaction. These play stops may be featured in public spaces near businesses and civic locations such as grocery stores, green spaces, fire stations, and more. Conversations are underway to identify the finalized play stop locations. Impact By placing play stops in spaces that are not typically associated with play, this project will prompt community members of all ages to rethink their daily routines. For children, it’s an opportunity for imaginative play. For adults, it may be a space where they can take a mental break and play chess or engage in a calming playful activity. Similar to the Little Free Library movement, these play stops will be stewarded by various entities (the businesses where they are located, Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative member organizations, interested community members, etc.). A Closer Look Each stop will be based upon the common concept of play and will have playful interactive parts that relate to the location and the party stewarding the installation. For example, a stop outside a grocery store may include play items such as plastic fruits and vegetables to “purchase,” paper and pencils to create grocery lists, and laminated sheets of information about grocery store products. However, if a stop is located outside of a fire department, their play items may include play items such as firefighter helmets, a mini fire drill tower, and fire safety facts. Each stop will include a chalkboard with permanently affixed prompts for participants to write their thoughts. Prompts may include statement starters such as “When I play outside I like to…” or “At the grocery store I can find these colors…” About the Challenge The Let’s Play Everywhere Challenge is a design competition that took place in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania—presented by Keurig Dr. Pepper and KaBOOM!—to develop innovative ideas for making play easy and available for kids and families. This challenge is about creating opportunities for free, unstructured, unplanned play to ensure that all kids, no matter where they come from or where they live, get the active play they need to thrive. Learn More To learn more about the challenge winners and their ideas, read KaBOOM’s post.
