Positively Pittsburgh Live!
Pittsburgh Non-Profits Spreading a Little Love
2-11-13
Positively Pittsburgh
Live is taking a different approach to Valentine's Day this year and
interviewing organizations that spread a little love around Pittsburgh. We
invited many non-profits who were delighted at the invitation but had no one
available to interview this evening. But tonight these four amazing
organizations will represent non profits that improve self esteem, give a hand
up to those in need and fight for individual rights and freedom. They all have
their own perspective on spreading a little love around the Pittsburgh Area.
Guests:
Hosanna Industries, Inc., Reverend Dr. Donn D. Ed
Celebrate & Share, JoAnn Forrester
Hair Peace Charities, Bonny Diver Hall
New Voices Pittsburgh, La’Tasha D. Mayes
New Voices Pittsburgh, La’Tasha D. Mayes
***
Hosanna
Industries, Inc. is a faith-rooted, 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization in
southwestern Pennsylvania. The mission includes new construction and repair/rehabilitation
services for low income homeowners; leading volunteers in disaster recovery; and
training young people in the trade skills to give them a hope for the future. The Executive
Director is Reverend Dr. Donn D. Ed, who founded the mission in 1990.
Their
typical single client household in 2012 made less than $13,000 a year. Many
were elderly. They provide home repairs such as roofing, window replacement,
siding, flooring, handicap accessible ramps, retaining walls, plumbing,
electrical, etc. at no cost to the client.
Since
their founding, Hosanna Industries has provided nearly fifty million dollars
worth of charitable work to the community for less than fourteen million
dollars. Hosanna Industries depends on the generosity of others to complete
their work.
Hosanna’s
missions include providing vocational training for unskilled workers particularly
in construction trades, providing assistance in the development and start-up of
small businesses by persons who lack the economic ability and expertise, promoting
the creation of job opportunities for unemployed person, and providing
mobilization of relief workers to areas of disaster and poverty.
Terrell
Trade Skill Learning Center is very relevant to what Hosanna has always done in
that they constantly train unskilled volunteers to do meaningful work. It is
becoming increasingly well-known in our region and throughout the nation, that
there is a
mounting
and severe lack of skilled labor in the American workforce. Hosanna sees an
impending crisis developing in which work will need to be done and few people
will be available with the proper skills needed to accomplish that work.
Nine
students, eight of whom are from Homewood in Pittsburgh, are enrolled in
classes which started last month. Classes meet three times a week for ten weeks
per semester. The whole program is designed to be three years in length. This
first semester they are learning nomenclature, what a builder is, basic
building principles, tools, and framing. Each semester from then on has a
different focus including but not limited to drywall,
electrical,
roofing, masonry, flooring, plumbing, and running your own contracting
business. The facility will also house industrial and visual art classes for
homeschooled students, Saturday seminars to teach basic home maintenance, and
training opportunities for church mission trips.
Their new
construction is called a
Blitz Build, where they prepare the foundation and frame the walls first, and then in a less
than five day period, build the whole house complete with appliances. Friday
the fully built and landscaped home is dedicated to the Glory of God, and ready
for the needy family to move in. Volunteers help with the rehab/repair efforts
and are provided with the tools, leadership, and instruction to finish the job.
Hosanna
has aided in disaster relief efforts such as the Joplin tornado relief where they
led 1,225 volunteers to build two homes and repair 15 others; Hurricane Ivan
flood rehabilitation and repair work in Pittsburgh for over 500 homeowners, and
they are currently researching Sandy
relief, as well as West Liberty, Kentucky tornado relief.
Statistics summary:
Houses
built: nearly 150
Projects
done: 160 last year / over 2,700 total
Volunteers
led: 5,000 last year / nearly 150,000 total
Charitable
work provided to the community: over two million dollars last year /nearly 50
million dollars total
Every
dollar donated is equivalent to approximately four dollars of market valued
construction work.
Current
needs and upcoming events:
Hosanna
depends on the generosity of others, and do not receive any government funding.
Donations are always needed and appreciated.
March
16, 2013: Love Your Home Seminar: will train on basic home maintenance and
remodeling
March 23, 2013: Palm Sunday 23rd Anniversary
May
19, 2013: Trap Shoot Benefit at Northside Sportsmen's Association
For more information on Hosanna Industries, located at 109 Rinard Lane,
Rochester, PA 15074, visit their website at http://www.hosannaindustries.org.
***
Celebrate & Share is an organization founded by Bonnie DiCarlo and JoAnn R. Forrester in
2002, featuring the achievement of women, and raising funds for organizations
which focus on the needs of women and children in the community.
The Women of
Achievement Awards was established in March 2006 during women’s
History Month to honor the women of Greater Pittsburgh who contribute to the community and to establish the foundation of a Women’s Hall of
Achievement.
Their charity
of choice is Cribs for Kids®, a not for profit organization led by Executive
Director, Judy Bannon, who with her staff and volunteers, continues
tirelessly to spread the word about reducing infant sleep-related deaths, such
as asphyxia, accidental suffocation and SIDS, by providing free cribs for infants and educating parents about safe- sleep practices for their babies. For
more information please go to www.cribsforkids.org. Judy is also
a 2006 Women of Achievement honoree.
This is the 8th year
celebrating the Women of Achievement Awards and the first of many shows highlighting
the women of Pittsburgh and their accomplishments. The event will be held
on March 6, 2013 at the Omni William Penn Hotel.
Please
join Honorary Chairs, District Attorney
Stephen A. Zappala, Jr.and Mary Zappala, as they CELEBRATE Women of Achievement and SHARE proceeds with Cribs
for Kids® Infant Safe Sleep Initiative. View a list of this year’s honorees
here.
$95 -
Individual Ticket
$150 –
Honorary Sponsor (One
Ticket and Listing in Program Book)
$950 Table
Sponsorship (Ten
Tickets, Table Sponsor Sign, and Listing in Program Book)
$1,250 –
Baby’s Breath Table Sponsor (Ten Tickets, Baby’s Breath Centerpiece and Half-page Ad
in Program Book)
$5,000 –
Presenting Sponsor (Ten
Tickets, Premiere Seating, and Full-Page Ad in Program Book)
Please RSVP by Wed., Feb. 27, 2013 by calling Cribs for Kids® at
412.322.5680 ext. 5.
Program Book
Ad Sponsorships: Full-page (5”x 8”) /$500 - Half-page (5”x 3.875”) /$250 - Quarter-page (2.375”x 3.875”) /$150
Ad Deadline: Feb. 27, 2013
***
Bonny Diver Hall, local radio personality, founded Hair Peace Charities in 2005 after finding out that she had cancer after falling from her horse. She began to plan her funeral, but was told by a dear friend to “walk toward life in faith not fear” – and it changed her perspective on how to deal with cancer. She found out from her surgeon that very few insurance companies pay for wigs for patients losing their hair to chemotherapy and she also found out that very few organizations had good practical information for dealing with the side effects of cancer treatment. For example: Eat ginger when nauseated from chemotherapy and you will feel better.
Via support from her church, Ingomar Methodist, she began Hair Peace with a mission
to help women in need locally with financial, spiritual, emotional and practical support for dealing with cancer.
She explains that their mission today is to help local women in need to purchase a wig
when they lose their hair to chemotherapy during their cancer battle, and to provide a
monthly support group for women affected by cancer sharing healthy options for dealing with all the side effects and issues when going through cancer treatment.
Women are typically referred to Hair Peace from different cancer centers in town, referrals from other women served, and the website www.hairpeace.org. The women call and Hair Peace counsels them on what to expect during treatment, wig salon referrals, provide prayer cards, quilts and general support. They also provide a $150.00 voucher to the salon to put toward the purchase of a wig, which fills a need that the insurance companies do not. Hair Peace has served over 500 women to date, and they rely on volunteers, including Bonnie herself, to share their time, talent or treasure to support the charity.
The demand for services has escalated and they expect next year alone to serve at least 300 women in the 11 counties in and around Pittsburgh. They have planned expansion to the South Hills with a monthly support group and will expand the staff and board of Hair Peace to continue to enhance offerings and preserve a great experience for the women they serve.
Hair Peace needs your help to support the demand. Join them for Recipe For Hope, their annual fundraiser, on February 23, 2013 at 7:30 pm at Mayernik Center in the North Hills off Camp Horne Road. This unique event features 18 local celebrities from TV, Radio and Print coming together and giving their time to cook and serve their favorite culinary treats for all that attend. There is an Open Bar, Live Music, Silent Auction, and Mystery Wine Bags.
Great auction items including an autographed Malkin Penguin Jersey will be up for grabs.
Tickets are $100.00 each and are limited. Every 2 tickets purchased supports 1 Cancer Survivor. The event sells out every year so don’t delay! Help Hair Peace today!
Purchase tickets at their website www.hairpeace.org. If you need assistance, have just been diagnosed with cancer and facing chemotherapy, want to volunteer your time and talent, or make a donation, visit the site or call 412-327-5177. Help women walk towards faith and become more than just a cancer survivor but a warrior in the battle against cancer.
***
La’Tasha D. Mayes is the Founder and Executive Director of New Voices Pittsburgh: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice, the only Human Rights organization in Pittsburgh for women of color, led by women of color and about women of color. Founded in 2004, New Voices Pittsburgh serves women of color primarily ages 12-35 through social change activism, civic engagement and leadership development. Visit their website here.
Through La'Tasha's leadership, New Voices Pittsburgh has developed: SistahSpeak! Youth ProjectTM a sexual & reproductive health, community organizing and mentoring program for young women of color ages 12-18, Environmental Justice Project that hosts the annual “Kinks, Locks & Twists: Environmental and Reproductive Justice ConferenceTM,” FOCUS on Women Campaign to address Human Rights and Reproductive Justice violations in the Allegheny County Jail, LGBTQ Women of Color Reproductive Justice SeriesTM that creates space for queer and trans women/people of color to be visible and empowered and Women of Color HERStory Month® a city-wide celebration hosted between February 15 – March 15.
La'Tasha earned a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management in Reproductive Health and Justice Policy at Heinz School of Carnegie Mellon and is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration. La’Tasha is an alumna of the Coro Center for Civic Leadership Fellows Program in Public Affairs and Center for Progressive Leadership Pennsylvania Leaders Program; and currently participates in the Women’s Health Leadership Network at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC.
La’Tasha serves as national Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective based in Atlanta, the largest Human Rights advocacy organization for Indigenous and Women of Color in the United States.
She forges institutional change in the Greater Pittsburgh Region as a Commissioner on the Allegheny County Human Relations Commission and Social Action Chair of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Pittsburgh Alumnae Chapter. La'Tasha serves on the Leadership Committee of Women for a Healthy Environment, is a member of the YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh and is past President of the Urban League Young Professionals of Greater Pittsburgh. La’Tasha is also First Voice Consultant for the “In Sisterhood: The Women’s Movement in Pittsburgh” project.
She is not only a community organizer and activist, but also a political strategist who has led, coordinated or influenced electoral campaigns such as Vote or Die!, America Votes and Young Professionals of Pittsburgh for Obama, local races for City Council, School Board, State Representative, Lt. Governor and Governor and coalitions such as the Human Rights Alliance of Pittsburgh (HRAP).
La’Tasha has been honored as a 2009 Choice USA Excellence in Leadership Award recipient, 2010 honoree for the City of Pittsburgh’s History in the Making: Honoring Our Young African American Leaders of Today exhibit, 2010 New Pittsburgh Courier’s 50 Women of Excellence awardee, 2011 Public Allies Pittsburgh RISE Changemaker Award recipient, 2011 Grinnell College Social Justice Prize nominee and 2011 Athena Pittsburgh Young Professional Award nominee. She is a passionate Reproductive Justice activist and believes in the indefatigable spirit of women.
New Voices Pittsburgh: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice and friends are excited to join 182 countries around the world in participating in a global day of action to end violence against women, transwomen, genderqueer and gender non-conforming people.Will you join us for an energetic, colorful, dancing demonstration to celebrate women’s right for peace, dignity and lives free from violence?
One Billion Rising Pittsburgh Event
Thursday, February 14 | 12noon – 2pm | Market Square
On V-Day’s 15th Anniversary, 2.14.13, we are inviting ONE BILLION women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to this violence.
ONE BILLION RISING will move the earth, activating women and men across every country. V-Day wants the world to see our collective strength, our numbers, and our solidarity across borders. For more details visit their website here.
***
This was reported as a reproduction
of PositvelyPittsburghLive news done by Joanne Quinn-Smith. (c) Joanne
Quinn-Smith and PositivelyPittsburghLive(TM) 2013 All rights reserved.
Tara Darazio is a Positively
Pittsburgh Live reporter, an independent copywriter, blogger, article writer,
and social media strategist. If you are in need of writing assistance, or need
help with your social media efforts connect with Tara on
LinkedIn here.
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