Search Results

Let Peace Shine: Candlelight Vigil for Peace from your Home to the World Violence exists in all aspects of our lives and throughout the world. Regardless of race, religion, or region we are all touched by violence both locally and globally. As a community we must unite together against violence. We will provide a brief prayer from a multitude of faiths with a community-wide candle lighting to show our unity against the violence in our homes, neighborhoods, city, state, nation, and the world. A diverse crowd of thousands will gather in prayer and silent reflection. We will honor the faith traditions of many to have our voices and prayers united. We will give a voice to those who are voiceless due to any one of the many forms of violence prevalent in our world. To address this violence in a meaningful and effective manner this is an opportunity for people of all faiths to come together to support each other, and light a candle to illuminate the Path to Peace. As each candle is successfully lit the light extends to the next person to the entire world. So will our prayers for peace. Together we can Let Peace Shine. Event Details EECM Community House, Main Entrance A 6pm Arrival & Line-Up 6140 Station Street 7pm Prayers & Candle Lighting Pittsburgh, PA 15206 Candles provided Individuals and groups will be guided to line up along the sidewalks, beginning at EECM’s Main Entrance A and weaving through East Liberty. Adults and children of all ages are welcomed and encouraged to participate. Please sign-up via Facebook or Event Brite: Facebook: www.facebook.com/eastendcooperativeministry Event Brite: www.eventbrite.com/e/let-peace-shine-a-candlelight-vigil-for-peace-from-your-home-to-the-world-tickets-19623743144

It’s the Season of Giving GIVE them food…GIVE them shelter…GIVE them hope for a brighter future.  #givingtuesday

Around the holidays we get an overwhelming number of donations. Our Food Pantry was swimming in donations from food drives hosted by local congregations and business. Boxes and boxes of pasta and canned goods and baked goods. You name it, we had it. Thankfully, we have the beautiful new building with plenty of storage space to keep it all. We could even freeze some of the things to keep us going later this year, with our fancy walk-in freezer. Check out these photos of just a few of the generous gifts we received this holiday. Pittsburgh Filmmakers, again, collected non-perishable food and cash donations during their showings of It’s A Wonderful Life this holiday. Our drivers filled our cargo van with boxes of canned and boxed items for the food pantry. The Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science also holds a food drive for EECM during the holidays every year. They collect food and create bags containing the food for one entire meal for our Pantry families. This year they delivered 440 meals. Every year during the High Holy Days, Temple Sinai collects boxes of pasta for our Food Pantry and the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry. When the collection is over, the congregation builds a menorah out of the boxes. East Liberty Presbyterian Church gave our Food Pantry bags and bags and bags of food for Thanksgiving meals for our local families. Whole Foods held a special appeal for us this year. Feed4More offered shoppers the opportunity to buy a $10 bag with food for a complete meal for four people. Shadyside Presbyterian collected more than 100 bags of food at their Thanksgiving Eve service! Our East Liberty Club One location always donates turkeys for our EECM families around Thanksgiving. This year there were about 25 turkeys which were distributed to families in our transitional housing programs, like FAITH and PennFree, and to families with youth in our in- and after-school programs. With the move to Community House, we’ve changed our policies for accepting donations just a bit. The easiest thing for us to accept from donors is boxed food. This would be boxed pasta, macaroni and cheese, rice, instant mashed potatoes, etc. Call our office to coordinate a time to drop off your donations, if at all possible. Our staff is much more spread out now, and we need to make sure that the right folks are ready to get your generous donations in the right spots! #eastlibertyfoodpantry #Wholefoods #eastliberty #pittsburghfoodpantry #fooddonations

In this episode of Pittsburgh 360, Tonia Caruso reports from our new building and highlighting the positive transition into the new building for our programs.

EECM will host a Christmas Eve meal on Thursday, December 24 from 11:30-2:30pm at Community House.  Everyone is welcome for ham, chicken, roasted potatoes and other delicious food of the season.  If you know someone who will be alone for the holiday, or someone who would enjoy a hot Christmas meal, invite them to attend.  Local groups will sing carols during the meal.  Anyone wanting to help should contact Tracy Hudson at 412-345-7124 or tracyh@eecm.org.  Thank you!

On December 4, EECM organized a candlelight vigil to show community support for an end to violence.  Hundreds of friends, neighbors, family and staff encircled Community House with lit candles while local clergy prayed for peace.  Check out this video to see more.

We live in a world where, unfortunately, inner-city youth mature too soon. Negative influences surround our children in their everyday lives – in their neighborhood, in their school, and at home. This generation of urban youth is developing a severe attitude of apathy. They live life to the fullest, as if they may not see tomorrow, without understanding what is truly valuable in life. Working with a group of high school boys to enhance their minds, bodies and souls is a huge challenge, but once you expose them to the importance of being a man, a leader, a father, and most importantly – a man with a purpose, they will rise and take ownership of themselves and their futures. In our PHYSED (Points of Healthy Sustainability, Engagement, and Development) Program, our goal is to inspire these young boys to become great men who can lead others to a more positive lifestyle. When we started working with these boys, they were at a place in their lives where they didn’t really care about their education or themselves. In working with each of them, we discovered that no one has ever challenged these boys to really evaluate themselves. PHYSED has the power to transform teenagers who are angry and self-destructive and help them learn to value themselves, prioritize their education, and accept the help and encouragement needed to become the kind of person that each was created to be. During the time spent as a group, our staff helped these young men to identify some of the main issues in their lives that were keeping them from excelling in school and in their personal lives. After discussing those issues, the whole group started to peel back layers. As mentors, the staff really had to teach them about self-awareness and motivation. As time went on, the boys started to make plans and create goals for themselves both in and out of school. While it is an on-going process, they are beginning to make changes in order to take more responsibility for their actions. Two of the main goals for all the boys in this program were: to bring their grades up and to improve their behavior. By working on discipline and self-motivation, these young men have transformed into better students – first by bringing up their grades, and then by improving their behavior. It was encouraging hearing from the teachers how much EECM’s presence in the schools is appreciated. As mentors and leaders, we are all so proud and excited for these young men as they have shown great leadership and a new self-awareness to make needed changes in their lives.

We are excited to announce that EECM is an official partner charity of the Dick’s Sporting Good Pittsburgh Marathon! Join our marathon team and you receive free entrance to the race, a personal Crowdfunding page, tons of support from EECM, and other goodies that will be announced soon  – all of this just for doing a little fundraising for us! Details will be shared soon about the team, full benefits, and fundraising requirements. As part of the team, you can run in the full marathon, half marathon, or in the relay – any event you choose benefits EECM, our clients, and programs. What’s your reason? Sheltering the homeless? Feeding the hungry? Educating and empowering our children and youth? Lace up, stretch out, get a great playlist, and run for a reason – EECM!  Contact shannona@eecm.org to join the team and find out more information. Visit our Crowdrise Site to sign up: https://www.crowdrise.com/EECMPittsburgh2016/fundraiser/eecm

The City of Pittsburgh has officially changed Penn Circle back to the original, historical names of the streets as part of the reversal of the urban renewal projects of the 1960s. The new, official address for Community House is now: 6140 Station Street, Pittsburgh, 15206. Check out the full list of changes: Penn Circle S → Centre Ave Penn Circle W → N/S Euclid Ave Penn Circle N → Station St Penn Circle E → Centre Ave Rural St remains as-is Station St remains as-is Collins St (between Station St and East Liberty Blvd) → Centre Ave Collins St (north of East Liberty Blvd) remains as-is Negley Run Blvd remains as-is #contact #EECM

We live in a world where, unfortunately, inner-city youth mature too soon. Negative influences surround our children in their everyday lives – in their neighborhood, in their school, and at home. This generation of urban youth is developing a severe attitude of apathy. They live life as if they may not see tomorrow, without understanding what is truly valuable in life or the opportunities that could be available to them. Every summer, EECM’s Reach Out to City Kids (ROCK) Campaign raises funds and awareness for our Children & Youth Programs. These programs impact the lives of nearly 600 youth every year through academic and personal support and recreational programs. Donations made between July 15 and August 31 will make a real difference throughout the year to EECM’s Children & Youth programs. EECM’s Children & Youth Programs are about saving urban, at-risk youth from the effects of struggling families, broken communities, violence, drugs, alcohol and other addictions, and the many other plagues facing our East End communities. With your support, we strive to instill hope, purpose and self-worth so that youth become their best selves in spite of the challenges that are common in our urban neighborhoods. Our staff tirelessly works to show the youth in our neighborhoods ways that they can build a brighter future for themselves and their families. They help high school boys and girls to understand the importance of taking ownership of themselves and their futures in our PHYSED (Points of Healthy Sustainability, Engagement, and Development) Program. Through Project L-5 (Lifting, Learning, Literacy, Life, and Love) and ExtraOrdinary Tutoring, they help students of all ages achieve in school and go on to be successful in college or in careers. During in- and after-school programs, Summer Day Camp, Hoop-It-Up basketball tournament, or Take Our Sons & Daughters to Work Day, our staff serves as mentors and teaches confidence, work ethic, responsibility, and respect. But, we couldn’t do any of this without the support of our dedicated volunteers and supporters – that’s YOU! Find out more about our Children & Youth programs and learn about ways you can make an impact in a child’s life by volunteering! Let’s make this summer ROCK and helps our youth build a community of opportunity for themselves!

Visit Community House during the month of February to drop off your unopened bags of diapers. EECM is partnering with Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank during their Burgh Baby Diaper Drive. Donated diapers will be distributed free to families in need throughout the region. Winter poses many challenges to families in need. When paychecks are used for utilities, such as the gas bill, less is available for personal care items, like diapers. Show your support to the babies in our community by making your donation of unopened diapers in the big blue bin at the main foyer of Community House. Sizes 4, 5, and 6 are the most in-demand sizes of diapers. Donations will be accepted through February 28th.

Our spring newsletter will be coming to a mail box near you in the next week, but here you can get the first look! Read a letter from our new Executive Director introducing himself to you, the EECM community, as well as stories featuring Summer Day Camp, our Work Therapy program – and much more!