Annual Grant Recipients:

American Friends Service Committee, PA State Program - $3,000

The National Guard Listening Project will use dialogue and listening to raise awareness of the economic and human cost of deploying the National Guard in Iraq, and will be part of a state-wide project to bring home the National Guard.  A group of trained listeners will interview members of the National Guard and their families and communities, and document the concerns and issues around serving overseas.  The report generated will be used to raise awareness of the cost of the war.

Coalition of Concerned Citizens - $2,400

The Coalition of Concerned Citizens works for voter education, registration, and mobilization of ex-offenders in Allegheny County.  They aim to increase ex-offenders’ political and civic involvement by hiring ex-offenders as outreach workers to go into their communities and encourage other ex-offenders to get active in the political process.

Dreams of Hope - $3,000

Dreams of Hope is the first lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and allies youth performing arts group.  All performance material is taken from the youth’s life experiences and are written and performed by the youth.  Each show is followed by a candid question and answer period with the audience.  Funding will support their fourth season, allowing them to continue their focus on performing at academic institutions as well as public venues.

Enough IS ENOUGH Project (Thomas Merton Center) - $2,900

The video documentary, “Enough IS ENOUGH: The Death of Jonny Gammage,” uses as its framework the incident in which Gammage was killed during a “routine” traffic stop.  It examines issues of racial profiling, police misuse of force, and criminal justice, and offers examples of grassroots activism and constructive solutions.  TRCF funding will be used to help distribute the video, including submitting it to film festivals and planning local screenings.

Free Ride! - $3,000

Free Ride! hosts a Youth Earn-A-Bike Program, a 12-hour course in which young people (ages 10-16) learn bike repair, maintenance, and safety, as well as basic principles of environmental sustainability.  Each youth chooses a bicycle to learn to repair, and ultimately keep.  Funding will help this group develop and strengthen partnerships with local youth organizations and to expand the environmental curriculum of the program.

Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, Pittsburgh - $3,000

TRCF support will go to the “Safe and Respectful Schools Project: Phase II,” which will advance the project from start-up to operational.  Their activities will focus on the implementation of region-wide school programs that prevent discrimination, harassment, and violence against children perceived to be different by their peers.

Just Harvest Education Fund - $2,900

Funds will be used to research and prepare “Hunger and Poverty Today,” a report on the current nature and extent of poverty in Allegheny County with an emphasis on hunger and food insecurity.  The report will serve as a needs assessment for improved action on food and income assistance.  It will also make recommendations for public policy action to strengthen safety nets for low-income people.

Middle East Peace Forum of Pittsburgh - $3,000

The MEPF will use funding to launch a coordinated program of educational and community-building events focusing on promoting a just peace between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East.  This program will consist of lectures, a film series, and a youth workshop.

Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance - $3,000

PASCA will use TRCF funding to create educational materials to be used at workshops and events surrounding the 2006 All Star Game at PNC Park.  They will be passing out the information to spectators, informing them of the conditions in sweatshops that are used to produce Major League Baseball items, and encouraging them to request the Pittsburgh Pirates to put pressure on MLB to end the use of sweatshops.

Pittsburgh Mediation Center - $2,400

The PMC has initiated a program called “Talk Counts,” the goal of which is to reduce violence in low-income and minority communities by increasing the peacemaking skills of youth.  They will train 24 middle school-aged youth and 6 adults in peer mediation skills, and will assist community-based organizations to establish on-site peer mediation programs.

Special Opportunity Grant Recipients:

Clean Water Fund - $500

CWF provided free mercury tests to residents living in the Monongahela River Valley as part of a free educational workshop and health fair.  Residents at the fair learned the basics about air pollution, how it affects health, and how to balance a healthy economy with healthy air.

Group Against Smog and Pollution - $500

Funding was used to help transport Allegheny County residents to an Environmental Protection Agency hearing on proposed changes that would weaken the current standards for soot in the air.

Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition - $500

PDEC brought in Capt. Brian Steidle with TRCF funding, so he could speak at the University of Pittsburgh on the atrocities he witnessed while in Darfur, Sudan.  He also was available to meet with student leaders of Darfur coalitions started at many local high schools, to discuss what more students could do to help stop the genocide.

Save Our Transit (Thomas Merton Center) - $400

Save Our Transit used their SOG to purchase "I Vote for Public Transit" stickers to be passed out to bus riders and other stakeholders of public transportation.  The distribution started before the primary election in May, and will build momentum up to the general elections in November.  The stickers will make the need for public transportation funding visible to PA candidates as well as those who are voting for them.

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