Wilkinsburg Christian Housing, along with fellow Wilkinsburg Affordable Housing Commission partners Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh and Habitat for Humanity, helped a neighbor with home repairs on Saturday April 28, 2012. Please click on the image below to see more photos of our work.
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| From Helping a Neighbor |
The Forest Hills-Regent Square Patch website has more details about the work of the Wilkinsburg Affordable Housing Coalition.
Wilkinsburg Christian Housing has joined with Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh to form the Wilkinsburg Affordable Housing Coalition. Please read the press release below issued by the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation.
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Contact: Tracey Evans
WCDC Executive Director
(412) 727-7855
tracey@wilkinsburgcdc.org
Housing Groups Partner to Provide Over 20 Renovations in Wilkinsburg
WILKINSBURG, Pa., April 4, 2012 – Three nonprofit housing groups, facilitated by the
Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation (WCDC), have come together to form the
Wilkinsburg Affordable Housing Coalition and will provide extensive renovation assistance to
targeted homeowners in the Princeton Park and Park Triangle areas of Wilkinsburg.
Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg
Christian Housing have all previously served Wilkinsburg residents. “It’s a perfect blend
of the three agencies,” said Tracey Evans, executive director of the WCDC. “The coalition
of Rebuilding Together, partnering with Habitat’s Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative
program, and Wilkinsburg Christian Housing resources will demonstrate the productivity
feasible when working in collaboration. The Coalition will bring the specialized capabilities of
these groups together to make an impact on a target area in the Borough.”
“A homeowner previously served by Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh through Rebuilding
Day’s Volunteer Renovation Program will now also receive additional benefits from new
fascia, siding, gutters, and paint from Habitat. Volunteers from all agencies as well as our
corporate partners will help with repairs to his fence and stairs,” commented Steve Hellner-
Burris, RTP’s executive Director.
“We’re excited to partner with Rebuilding Together,” added Habitat’s executive director,
Maggie Withrow. “We’ve worked with RTP before and know that their experience in
Wilkinsburg will jump start our ability to effectively serve more residents in the community.”
Peoples Natural Gas has provided a $20,000 grant to Habitat for homeowner renovations
this year, with additional funding available through a matching grant opportunity. These
funds, along with the Coalition’s existing financial resources and staff, will provide
renovations for at least 20 homeowners this summer. The Coalition continues to raise
additional resources, enabling this partnership to continue for several years. Work will begin
with a major kickoff event on April 28 and will continue through the summer.
Hellner-Burris added, “Formalizing the coalition will not only lead to improved renovations
for individuals, but also will have a much greater impact on the community. We’ll not only
share agency resources and volunteers but client homeowners as well.”
Renovation assistance will include weatherization, ramps and porches, carpentry and
painting. All recipients of assistance from the Coalition will be homeowners who fit certain
income and other criteria. Homeowners will be contacted for the opportunity to apply to
the program. All agencies are volunteer-based and will be looking for the support of the
community. The Borough of Wilkinsburg Code Enforcement Department will continue to
inform and facilitate the work of the Coalition by providing information to area homeowners
when building code violations are evident and owners have nowhere else to turn for
assistance.
Please see our new Donate page for more information about contributing to our mission. Options now include:
Thank you for considering the support of our ministry.
WCH’s executive director, Peter Smith, recently conducted a webinar for the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary on caring for the poor. You may view the webinar here.
The borough recently demolished a blighted building across the street from Covenant Fellowship church.
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| Tearing Down the Old |
Please read the Christmas letter from Peter Smith, highlighting what the organization has done this year, and what we are planning for the coming year.
We’ve added a “Projects” page to the site, which will include information about our current and past projects, as well as photographs of those projects.
Christianity Today has introduced a new section to their website focusing on Christianity and cities, This Is Our City. Of particular note to Wilkinsburg Christian Housing is Andy Crouch’s essay “A New Kind of Urban Ministry,” which looks at the drive to not only fix cities, but to see them flourish.
Last Friday, Executive Director Pete Smith attended a one day workshop on Basic Proposal Writing offered by the Foundation Center at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Targeted toward those individuals who are new to the proposal writing process or those who want to polish their skills, this full-day course enables attendees to learn:
* The basic components and format of a grant proposal;
* What each component includes and the order in which they are written;
* The process used to develop a project into a written grant request.
There were 24 attendees at the workshop, 21 of whom were women. The instructor, Teresa A. Gregory, has many years of fundraising experience and shared many insights and helpful tips on writing an acceptable (and fundable) grant proposal.
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