One Northside
Improving the quality of life for residents in all 18 neighborhoods of Pittsburgh’s Northside.
Northside project leaders at a meet-up in Manchester
June 2015Promoting Resident-led Change
One Northside was a community-driven initiative to improve the quality of life in all 18 neighborhoods of Pittsburgh’s Northside. Through $1,000 Neighbor-to-Neighbor grants and other funding programs, Sprout helped residents leverage existing community assets and the dedication of the people of the Northside to create meaningful local change.
Beginning in early 2014, hundreds of Northside residents engaged with local leaders and stakeholders in community-wide conversations to create a shared agenda for the revitalization of this vital component of the greater Pittsburgh region. Facilitated by Jackson/Clark Partners and on behalf of The Buhl Foundation, this process articulated a compelling vision for the future of these communities.
Through grants from The Buhl Foundation from 2015 to 2017, Sprout’s combination of direct funding and ongoing support helped to increase the capacity of diverse groups of Northsiders and tapped into the ingenuity of these emerging leaders to create innovative responses to the issues and challenges faced by Northside neighborhoods and communities.
Program In Brief
Years Active
2015–2017
Total Grantmaking
$553,000
Neighbor-to-Neighbor Grants
144 totalling $148,000 for local residents
Other Grants
43 totalling $405,000 for community groups and nonprofit agencies
Neighbors seeding change on Pittsburgh’s Northside
Learn more about One Northside and Sprout’s micro grant program for residents.
Funded Project Highlights
Neighbor-to-Neighbor Grants
Sprout provided catalytic support to advance the One Northside vision through the Neighbor-to-Neighbor micro grant stream in 2015–2017. These resident-led projects raised awareness about Northside organizations, events, and activities; engaged Northside residents to take an active role in the civic life of their community; and provided opportunities for motivated community members to assume leadership roles in the ongoing transformation of the Northside.
Deutschtown City Steps Mosaic Mural
Bringing together neighborhood residents to turn the local city steps into a mosaic mural.
Deutschtown City Steps Mosaic Mural
$1,050 » Community Alliance of Spring Garden - East Deutschtown, 2015 One Northside project support
Deutschtown City Steps Mosaic Mural covered the cement base of the city steps at a landmark intersection in the East Allegheny-Deutschtown and Spring Garden neighborhoods with a mosaic mural. The mural was approximately 120 square feet and featured imagery relevant to the history of the neighborhoods. It also coordinated with the completed mural at Homer and Damas in the Spring Hill-City View neighborhood. Residents helped make parts of the mural in neighborhood workshops at City View Church and Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild.
Getting There – A Walk in the Dark
Highlighting the difficulties that local youth encounter getting to school each morning through a community walk in the dark.
Getting There – A Walk in the Dark
$1,050, 2015 One Northside project support
Getting There…A Morning Walk in the Dark, a project of Brett and Chandler Searcy, brought awareness to the community of the difficulties that Perry Hilltop students encounter getting to school—such as broken city steps, “snow stops” miles away from regular bus stops, unsafe routes, and dark pathways—causing poor attendance and lower achievement at school. More than 30 parents, students, teachers, and representatives from government, foundations, universities, and businesses took a “Walk in My Shoes in the Dark” on November 5, 2015 with students and afterward listened to a youth panel, enabling participants to experience the structural difficulties that Northside students face getting to school. This youth-led project succeeded in attracting mainstream media attention for issues addressed by the youth panel and the walk in the dark with a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story on the front page of the Local section.
RCC Community Garden
Encouraging healthy lifestyles, peer learning, and self-reliance by having Riverside Corrections Center residents build and maintain a community garden.
RCC Community Garden
$1,050 » Riverside CCC and Manchester Citizens Corp, 2015 One Northside project support
Riverside Corrections Center Community Garden, a project of Manchester Citizens Corporation, built a garden using permaculture within the walls of the state prison in the Chateau neighborhood. Residents of the institution were responsible for caring for the garden inside the Riverside CCC courtyard and harvesting the produce, which could be used in the center’s kitchen. The ideas of healthy eating, self-reliance, and sustainability were discussed with residents who will need these ideas to be successful upon reintegration into society. Peer learning and mentoring was encouraged while team members attended gardening workshops, built raised beds, planted, cared for, and harvested the garden in addition to being given a library of gardening books.
ToolKeeper Neighbors
Training neighbors to help neighborhood children repair bikes and empowering the children to learn how to do the repairs themselves.
ToolKeeper Neighbors
$1,050 » Church of Our Saviour, 2016 One Northside project support
ToolKeeper Neighbors, a project of UM Church of Our Savior, worked to create and circulate six bike repair kits throughout the Northview Heights community. The kits were distributed to ToolKeeper Neighbors – an individual or family willing to help neighborhood children fix bikes with an emphasis on helping the children learn how to do it themselves. Children in the community that needed bicycle repairs could then be directed to the ToolKeeper Neighbors, where they could borrow repair tools, get assistance, and contribute their assistance to help others. This approach provided flexibility according to the schedules and needs of the local youth while also providing adults and children with a sense that they are contributing to their diverse community.
Hope for the Homeless
Changing how people feel about the homeless and providing ways to help care for the homeless in their community.
Hope for the Homeless
$1,050 » L.I.V.I.N.G. Ministry, 2016 One Northside project support
Hope for the Homeless, a project of L.I.V.I.N.G. Ministry, was comprised of Pittsburgh’s largest clothing and food distribution event for the homeless and a conference specifically designed for people who serve the homeless. The project’s goal was to change how people feel about the homeless and to share ways how people can help care for the homeless. More than 325 volunteers helped throughout the project, which resulted in photos of love, compassion, joy, and oneness instead of the more typical fear, anger, and frustration around homeless people. In total, more than 500 people received food, clothing, and raffle prizes at the distribution event and 74 service providers from over 12 organizations participated in the conference. The project additionally raised over $2,000 through an ioby crowdfunding campaign.
Metamorphosis: She’s Got Her Wings
Using performance art to create a safe space for women of color to work through and heal from traumatic experiences.
Metamorphosis: She’s Got Her Wings
$1,050 » Ayeshah Bulls, 2016 One Northside project support
Metamorphosis - “She’s Got Her Wings”, a project of of Ayeshah Bulls, was a performance arts project geared towards creating a space for women of color on the Northside to share their stories of traumatic experiences. Through the project, 5 women worked through a process of group sharing, therapeutic groups, field trips, and guest speakers to reflect on how their individual experiences impacted who they are today. This process helped them to share the resulting art through a performance at Neu Kirche Contemporary Arts Center as a way to encourage and empower women that are silently suffering. Audience members, who included participants of various organizations that serve women who have experienced trauma, offered encouraging feedback and applauded the participants’ inspiring healing process.
We Are Glad You Are Our Neighbor
Building relationships between residents of different cultures and backgrounds through an event that celebrates their differences.
We Are Glad You Are Our Neighbor
$1,000 » Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church, 2017 One Northside project support
We Are Glad You Are Our Neighbor Picnic, a project of Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church, brought together several local church communities with the members of the Somali Bantu community from Northview Heights and the Greater Pittsburgh Muslim Association for a day of celebration. The event featured an opportunity for each group to share its talents, music, food, and stories with their neighbors in order to build a sense of welcome. The Mayor also attended the event to show his support for building relationships between residents of different cultures and backgrounds.
Reach Out and Read
Providing developmentally and culturally appropriate books to Northside children from 6 months through 5 years of age at each regular pediatric checkup.
Reach Out and Read
$1,000 » Allegheny Clinic, 2017 One Northside project support
Reach Out and Read comes to the Northside!, a project of Allegheny Clinic Pediatrics, brought the Reach Out and Read program to the Pediatric Alliance – Allegheny office. Reach Out and Read was a national program that worked to prepare the youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together. The pediatricians and pediatric nurse practitioners advised parents to read frequently to their children and, at the same time, distributed free, brand-new, developmentally- and culturally-appropriate books to children from 6 months through 5 years of age at each regular checkup.
From Pantry to Plate
Educating residents on healthy living and cooking, no matter their income level.
From Pantry to Plate
$1,000 » Infinite Lifestyle Solutions, 2017 One Northside project support
From Pantry to Plate, a project of Infinite Lifestyle Solutions, hosted food demonstrations at the Greater Allen AME Church as a way to provide health and wellness education in a fun atmosphere. Nutritionists from the community food bank helped plan the 6-week program, using food available at the food bank. A wellness coach or nurse additionally served as a guest speaker at each workshop to provide information on topics such diabetes and heart disease before attendees sat down to share a healthy meal together.
Programmatic Activities
Community Events
Community events were used to solicit in-kind support from neighbors, update the community on project activities, and celebrate the great work happening throughout the Northside. These events were always free, open to the public, and outside of regular business hours to help encourage high turnout from local community members.
Reporting Party
Leaders from nearly half of the 2015 supported Neighbor-to-Neighbor projects shared their Northside stories through performances, presentations, and table displays.
Neighbor-to-Neighbor Family Reunion
Neighbor-to-Neighbor project leaders from 2015-2016 created display tables as a part of a resource fair, where community members could learn more about the project activities.
On The Ground
The Sprout Fund and The Buhl Foundation hosted Grassroots Grantmakers’ 2017 learning exchange “On The Ground” in Pittsburgh, highlighting resident-led change taking place on the Northside.
Other One Northside Programs
Action Team Grants
Funding for 14 strategic projects that emerged from the community dialogue and Action Team processes facilitated by Jackson/Clark Partners. These projects spanned multiple Northside neighborhoods, directly addressing the One Northside focus areas.
Community Grants
Supporting 17 Northside neighborhood organizations to work through a community consensus-building process, designing and implementing one engaging project to advance the One Northside vision in their neighborhood.
Innovation Grants
Catalyzing 6 creative approaches to the One Northside focus areas in 2016 by providing support for new, small-scale project ideas from individuals, nonprofits, collaborative teams, and scaled-up 2015 Neighbor-to-Neighbor projects.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all those who made this program possible!
Supporters
- The Buhl Foundation
Partners
- Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
- Grassroots Grantmakers
- ioby
- Jackson/Clark Partners
- New Sun Rising
Staff
- Mac Howison
- Diana Avart
- Amber Farr Buhl Foundation Fellow