McAuley Ministries awards 24 grants totaling over $1.6 million to nonprofit organizations

MARISOL VALENTIN Grants support capacity building, disaster response, education, empowerment, environmental care, essential needs and social services, peacemaking, and whole-person health initiatives & The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that McAuley Ministries, Pittsburgh Mercy’s grant-making foundation, has awarded 24 grants totaling over $1.6 million to support capacity building, disaster response, education, empowerment, environmental care, essential needs and social services, peacemaking, and whole-person health initiatives in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, Uptown, and West Oakland, its three focus neighborhoods. Over the past 15 years, McAuley Ministries has awarded 975 grants and community support totaling over $56 million. “These grant awards are a representation of the strength of our community assets and the vitality of our neighborhoods,” stated Marisol Valentin, executive director of McAuley Ministries. “In 2023, the McAuley Ministries Board of Directors, together with our Advisory Council members and our community partners, spent time re-envisioning education along the Mercy Corridor covering the Hill District, Uptown, and West Oakland. We are rich in assets that support our children, schools, and families, but we do not have a community plan to coordinate the resources. By partnering with A+ Schools, we can build the ‘Akeelah and the Bee’ movement where we, as a community, wrap around...