trying Archives

News

February 11, 2019

Raising Readers Together Club

The Raising Readers Together Club runs weekly and explores the importance of acceptance, equality, and tolerance through reading. Thursday sessions are suitable for children ages five and younger.

For children age six and older, see our Wednesday sessions at Willie Tee’s Barbershop.

Winter 2019 Books:

Word Play by Adam Lehrhaupt | February 7
My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith | February 14
Nelly Gnu and Daddy Too by Anna Dewdney | February 21
Unplugged by Steven Antony | February 28
All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold | March 7
Malala: My Story of Standing Up for Girls’ Rights by Malala Yousafzai | March 14
The Library Book by Tom Chapin and Michael Mark | March 21
Billy Bloo is Stuck in Goo by Jennifer Hamburg | March 28

Raising Readers provides free:

books
discussion
food
songs
storytelling
resources

Questions

For questions or more information, contact Cynthia Battle at 412.421.3889 or cynthia@tryingtogether.org.

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News

January 29, 2019

Looking Forward, Together

Can you believe it’s been one year since we changed our name to Trying Together?!

As I reflect on all that has changed, particularly in the last two years, I am encouraged by what has stood the test of time: our commitment to supporting the work of early childhood.

Through our collaborations with you, we are creating a future in which caregivers feel valued, children have access to high-quality early learning environments, and families have the resources they need to support their children’s early learning experiences.

We look forward to working together with you to make this vision a reality for all young children and their caregivers in 2019 and beyond. Like Fred Rogers said, “…trying together, just about anything can be possible.”

Cheers,

Cara Ciminillo, Trying Together Executive Director

News

December 6, 2018

Dancing Our Way Through STEM

Providing children with opportunities to explore creative movement can spark so many natural connections to STEM concepts. During this interactive workshop, educators will participate in a variety of dance-focused strategies that will deepen understanding in science, math, ingenuity, and other fundamental STEM concepts. Participants will have the opportunity to demonstrate their own creative movement techniques that can support student’s STEM learning.

Act 48 and PQAS credit hours available. Registration is required.

Objectives

Through active participation and successful completion, participants will be able to:

Define and discuss what “creative movement” means within an early educational experience and how children’s movements connect to STEM learning concepts.
Brainstorm and share movement activities, targeting a multi-aged early education environment that focuses on the concepts of science, math, and other STEM learning concepts.

Registration and Questions

To register or ask questions, contact Rachelle Duffy at 412.421.3889 or rachelle@tryingtogether.org.

News

December 5, 2018

What’s Next for the Allegheny County Children’s Fund?

Although the outcome of “Our Kids. Our Commitment.” initiative was not what proponents wanted, key stakeholders are looking toward the future and finding some victory in the vote.

Voting Results

During the recent election, over 513,000 Allegheny County residents cast their vote on a proposed amendment to establish the Allegheny County Children’s Fund through an increase in property taxes (0.25 millage rate, an estimated $30 increase per year for the average household). The fund would have supported early learning opportunities for children, after-school programs and nutritious meals. The amendment was defeated, with 48.31 percent of voters in support and 51.69 percent against.

“What I heard from my constituents was that they liked the idea of increased and specific funding for early learning, after-school programming, and nutrition programs,” says Councilwoman Deb Gross. “But they had concerns about the governance of the fund.”

What Does This Mean?

The defeat means that Allegheny County still does not dedicate any funding to early learning programs and nutritious meals but does allocate approximately $8 million to after-school programs. Advocates of the Children’s Fund say, despite the vote’s outcome, the need for these programs is still there, and that the vote showed that there is great public interest in finding a solution to funding these programs for our children.

“What this tells us is that just over a half-million people in Allegheny County care about this issue,” says Patrick Dowd, executive director of Allies for Children. “There is wide consensus that these types of programs are something we should be supporting, and clearly a number of people care about this issue. That part to us is helpful and inspiring.”

James Doyle, executive director of Higher Achievement, Pittsburgh, appreciates the number of people who did vote yes. “The people are saying they care about these three critical things enough to support a small increase in their taxes,” he says. “That sends a strong message for us to continue our work.”

Advocates agree that the vote shows people care about this issue and people want to see some sort of funding be provided for this type of early childhood support.

What’s Next?

The 10 organizations that came together to form the Allegheny County Children’s Fund Initiative will continue to advocate for these programs in the day-to-day work of their organizations. The path to move forward, Dowd says, is through continued conversations with supporters, as well as listening very carefully to those who weren’t supportive.

The group plans to create a space for people to re-engage as they sift through many ideas and other feedback they received. A future source of funding will need to have a transparent means of reporting back to the public, they say, but the source of that funding remains to be seen.

Allegheny Children’s Fund supporters will continue to advocate for these initiatives in the day-to-day work of their organizations, as well as through their continued collaboration to create a source of funding that will support these programs in the long-term.

“Our organization’s mission has been and will continue to be one that focuses on advocating on behalf of the needs and rights of children,” says Cara Ciminillo, executive director of Trying Together. “The needs remain and the needs are great.”

“I am hopeful that the state will continue the pattern of the past few years with incremental increases to funding for these programs, but this has not been enough to fill the gap,” she says. “We will be continuing the effort to look for local revenue to help support some of that gap.”

*Information provided by Kidsburgh*

News

November 28, 2018

Balancing Your Holiday Plate: Healthy and Fun Ways to Prepare Food Over the Holidays

Families and community members are invited to join Trying Together, Let’s Move Pittsburgh, and Phipps Conservatory in a three-week food demonstration program.

Each session includes a demonstration by Let’s Move Pittsburgh staff on how families can prepare fun, quick, and healthy meals together while using holiday leftovers like turkey, mashed potatoes, and ham. Take this opportunity to get tips on engaging your young children while cooking, learn simple and delicious recipes, and take home free ingredients to try out what you learned! A light dinner will be provided.

For more information, contact Rachelle Duffy via phone (412.421.3889, ext. 113) or email (rachelle@tryingtogether.org).

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News

November 21, 2018

Participate In Giving By Shopping Smart On Cyber Monday

After spending time with our friends and family on Thanksgiving, community members are gearing up for big savings during Black Friday. However, not everyone is thrilled about the long lines and packed stores. That’s why Cyber Monday is a great opportunity to save big within the comforts of your own home. In the season of giving, continue giving by shopping smart through AmazonSmile and Giving Assistant.

AmazonSmile

AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to Trying Together.

AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service, with the added benefit of supporting your favorite nonprofits and charities.

Support Trying Together by shopping now.

Giving Assistant

Support Trying Together while shopping online at your favorite stores. With 3,139 online stores participating, there are 3,139 opportunities to give.

Join us and learn more by visiting the Giving Assistant website.

How It Works

Shop and Save
- Get coupons and up to 2x cash back at 3,139 top brands like Macy’s, Apple, and Target.
Raise Cash Back Donations
- Opt-in to give 1% to 100% of the cash back you earn to your favorite cause at checkout.
Watch It Work
- With every purchase, your cash back “microdonations” add up to make a real difference.

Shopping Smart

Don’t miss these simple opportunities to make a difference and support early childhood care and education.

News

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.

News

November 2, 2018

Helping Young Children Cope with Fear and Tragedy

Attend Helping Young Children Cope with Fear and Tragedy on Wednesday, November 7 at the Rodef Shalom Family Center to hear from panelists from the University of Pittsburgh; Child, Family, and Community Inc.; Trying Together; and Allegheny Intermediate Unit #3. Moderated by Roberta Schomburg, Interim Executive Director of the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media, this panel presentation will discuss methods and approaches that adults can use to help their child(ren) cope with fear and tragedy.

Moderator

Roberta Schomburg, Ph.D.
Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College
Interim Executive Director

Panelists

Dr. Kimberly Blair
University of Pittsburgh
Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Dr. Mary Margaret Kerr
University of Pittsburgh
Professor of Applied Developmental Psychology
& Administrative & Policy Studies

Bonnie McNally-Brown, LPC
Child, Family & Community Inc.

Tracy Larson, MSED, CAGS, NCSP
University of Pittsburgh
Office of Child Development

Cara Ciminillo
Trying Together
Executive Director

Dr. Cathy Lobaugh
Allegheny Intermediate Unit #3
Assistant Executive Director for
Early Childhood, Family & Community Services

This event is free and open to the public. Please register.

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News

October 17, 2018

Trying Together Updates Privacy Policy

Today, Trying Together released their updated Privacy Policy. This update was guided, in part, by the recent announcement that Facebook “will begin offering businesses a first-party cookie option with the Facebook pixel.” With this change, Trying Together works to remain proactive in letting their users know about and understand how this may affect their daily usage.

Although internet browsers have been using cookies since the 1990s, internet tracking has remained a hot subject in the conversation digital privacy and security. This is no surprise as cookies themselves store specific pieces of a user’s information such as usernames, passwords, web histories, and more. However, when it comes to understanding the varying types and uses of cookies, the average American citizen may not be up to speed.

What Are Cookies?

In addition to a delicious snack, the term “cookies” is used to refer to small packages of data that are stored on our computers. These packages, or files, contain specific pieces of data in an attempt to better personalize the user’s experience. This data may consist of information such as entered usernames, saved passwords, entered addresses, and more. It’s because of these packets that users can remain logged into social media sites between uses, create “shopping carts” on online purchasing sites, and receive personalized ads based on your own shopping preferences. However, when considering internet privacy and security, it’s important to look deeper into what types of cookies are in place, which parties have access to cookies, and how each party utilizes that data.

First-Party and Third-Party Cookies

First-party cookies, as mentioned in the recent Facebook announcement, are packets of information collected by the website you are visiting. For example, if someone uses the Trying Together page and enters their name and email, cookies may pick up that information and store it just in case the user may need to insert that information on that website again in the future. These types of cookies are allowed in every web browser by default and enable features such as creating a “shopping cart” and staying logged into a social platform between uses. In general, websites utilize these cookies to increase ease of access or to curate website traffic analytics, however additional features may be included as well.

Third-party cookies, however, are packages of information that are collected by a domain that is not the website the user is visiting. One of the primary uses of third-party cookies is to track browsing history to detect trends, generally represented through benefits such as personalized ads or recommendations. In relation to affecting a user’s day-to-day usage, third-party cookies play a very small role. These cookies are also enabled by default.

As a consideration, all cookies are public, regardless of their type. It is best to monitor what type of information you are providing and to read through each website’s privacy statements to see how that data may be utilized.

Cookie Concerns

Concerns surrounding cookie use typically include topics related to privacy and security. For privacy, one concern is that because websites store packages of data and website usage, third-parties such as advertisers, users, and even government agencies can gain access to that information if given permission. For security, a major concern is security holes in browsers that may enable malicious parties to gain access to sensitive information such as credit card information, emails, and passwords. Both of these concerns hold weight and users should be proactive in looking into and understanding how their data is being utilized by the websites they are frequenting.

Disabling Cookies

If all of this talk about cookies and data storage is making you antsy, no need to worry. Users can disable both types of cookies at any time by changing their browser settings. Simply click on the “Help” menu or “Help Center” in your browser settings to learn how to adjust your tracking settings and cookie preferences. On mobile devices, this can be done by editing your “Privacy” settings through your browser.

Keep in mind that disabling cookies may impact your ability to interact with a website. While disabling third-party cookies hardly impacts a user’s daily usage, disabling first-party cookies may affect website functions such as login credentials, purchasing ability, and general efficiency.

How Does Trying Together Utilize Cookies and Data?

As a brief overview, Trying Together utilizes cookies and collected data to provide customized content, contact users, fulfill orders, and more. We use various technologies such as cookies, web beacons, and pixel tags to store limited information when users interact with our site and emails. As an example, information may include non-personal data such as a mobile device identifier or MAC address, browser type, device model, and more. It may also include elements of service usage such as date and time of access, page visits, duration of visits, and others. On occasion, more personal information may be stored such as name, username, demographic information, and other publicly-observed data.

To learn more about how Trying Together collects and utilizes user data, read our Privacy Policy.

Questions

If you have any questions or concerns regarding Trying Together’s privacy policy or data storage, please contact: info@tryingtogether.org

News

April 19, 2018

Fathers Trying Together

Are you a single father or caregiver? Would you like to build positive memories with your child and learn healthy ways to cope with barriers and stress? Join us for adult group discussion and parent-child interaction activities such as:

- arts and crafts
- coding
- learning through play
- reading
- STEM

This event is currently being held virtually via Zoom from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. on Fridays.

Learn More

For more information, contact Neil Walker at 412.728.2892 or neil@tryingtogether.org.

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