Written by: Kate Snyder, Development and Donor Communications Coordinator // Photographs by Joshua Franzos The students crowded around the table watched with wide-eyed revulsion as EECM staffer Cedrice held up the beaker of thick, viscous, brown liquid. A chorus of “ewww” and “gross” and “sick” could be heard throughout the room.And that was just the reaction he’d hoped for! And if the looks on the kids’ faces after that particular science project were any indication, we’re on the right track!

Our spring newsletter will be coming to a mail box near you in the next week, but here you can get the first look! Stories featuring our PHYSED (Points of Healthy Youth Sustainability Education and Development) Program, Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day, news from the Community Garden, and a poem from a participant in our Work Therapy program – and much more!

In December, a group from the Sewickley Academy Student Council played Santa to hundreds of the youth we serve. Each year around Christmas time, the lower school at Sewickley Academy collects toys for kids in our programs for our Christmas gift drive. The Student Council runs the drive and collects and counts all the toys. This year, a big box was placed outside each classroom and students dropped toys in for 3 or 4 weeks. Their goal was to have one toy from each student in the Lower School, which would have been about 250 toys. On December 19, two vans came to Community House from Sewickley Academy, filled with 7 students, 2 teachers, and MORE THAN 300 TOYS. Bags and boxes and carts full of toys! After the vans were unloaded, Tracy talked for a few minutes to the students about the EECM kids who will receive these toys, often the only Christmas gifts they will have. In addition to the Sewickley Academy toys, other individuals and congregations provided more than 2100 gifts for more than 700 people in our programs. Thanks to ALL who helped us to give the gift of a happy holiday to so many families! #holidaygiving #holidayvolunteering #sewickleyacademy #sewickleyacademystudentcouncil

There has been a lot of change at EECM in the last year! A new building, new and different programs, and now…(drumroll!!) The Board of Directors has announced that Michael J. Mingrone will succeed Myrna Zelenitz as the agency’s Executive Director, as of August 18. “I am very excited and eager to join the EECM team,” Michael said. “As we move forward, we will honor the successes of the past and strive to continue to build our programs and services in order to meet the needs of the community. We shall empower, engage and invest in the entire community with interfaith principles that have guided EECM since inception.” Michael comes to EECM from North Side Christian Health Center (NSCHC) where he has served as Associate Director and Chief Operating Officer since 2010. At NSCHC, Michael led the planning and direction of all programming areas of the organization, always working to ensure that the needs of the community were met effectively. He has extensive work and volunteer experience including community outreach, volunteer coordination, and fundraising in organizations such as the American Red Cross and the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. He also has experience teaching as a part-time instructor at the University of Pittsburgh and Robert Morris University. His educational background is in clinical psychology and he spent several years as a child and adolescent case manager at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. “We are excited to have Michael join our interfaith organization and look forward to working with him as he takes the reins of EECM,” said Carla E. Frost, president of EECM’s Board of Directors. “Michael has extensive experience, a broad background in the non-profit sector, integrity and character. More importantly, he has an understanding of, and a commitment to, EECM’s mission.” EECM staff and Board are all eagerly looking to the future as Michael steps in to lead the organization. We will continue to develop a living mission that is grounded in principle and purpose yet always evolving to meet changing community needs, equipped with a facility that will serve this mission for the next forty years.

The Pittsburgh Foundation is launching their second Critical Needs Alert for #homelessness on Tuesday, December 8. A dollar-for-dollar match on all gifts of $25 or more will support EECM’s IMPACTS (Homeless and Housing) Program. www.pittsburghgives.org opens at 8am on Tuesday, December 8. Double the power of your gift by giving to EECM through the www.pittsburghgives.org portal and provide homeless men and women with their needs for today and hope for tomorrow. Here’s how your gift helps: $55 provides one night of emergency shelter for one client $100 provides two hours of behavioral health support for one client $200 provides one month of stipends for a student in the Education & Employment program $525 provides one week of shelter, food, and support for a Bridge Housing resident $1000 provides a month of rent, utilities, and supportive services for one family in Penn Free Housing It costs $6293 per day to run ALL of our shelter, housing, and education and employment programs. While we’ve been greatly impacted by the state budget crisis we are committed to serving homeless men and women in our area, and have been self-funding to do so. We need your help to fill the gap. With your support, doubled by The Pittsburgh Foundation, we can continue to fight the ravages of homelessness and poverty, while helping homeless men and women realize their greatest potential.

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

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

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

From guest blogger, Dan H., Safe Haven Case Manager Safe Haven is an independent permanent housing program for men who have been homeless, and also face mental health challenges.  For many reasons, mental health can be a very difficult barrier for someone looking for a stable home. Many mental health challenges are also barriers to employment, making it difficult to focus at a job, or even keep an individual from being hired at all. However, having a safe place to live can be the stability that someone with mental challenges needs to take steps to manage their mental health, find a job or advance their education, and become a member of a community. Because Safe Haven is a permanent housing program, our success stories are our long time Safe Haven residents. (Most of our Safe Haven residents have lived with us for at least five years!) For the men who have stayed with us for several years, success is their ability to adjust their lives and mental health conditions, and come to a point where they are able to maintain housing.  Success also means that none of these men have been hospitalized for any mental health or substance abuse problems, while living here at Safe Haven.  Safe Haven is a drug and alcohol-free program, and all of the residents live their daily lives, free from drugs and alcohol.

Bowling, biking, and swimming are just a few of the activities that children enjoyed at EECM’s Summer Day Camp this year. As always, it was an eventful five weeks filled with summer fun and most of all God’s love. This year, EECM’s Summer Day Camp Registration exploded, reaching full capacity (200 campers!) in record time, and even requiring a waiting list. The large size of the group hindered neither counselors nor campers from having an awesome summer experience! Counselors as well as campers had the opportunity to experience and witness personal developments, achievements, and overall growth. We could go on and on about the bonds that were built or strengthened, about children who came out of their shell, tried something new, learned an important lesson, or became leaders. Though it may not be clear looking from the outside in, to the parents, friends, and families of the campers these developments and achievements became all too obvious, when their child took to the stage for the grand finale of Day Camp: production night. A dancer who didn’t think she could act captured the audience in the lead female role. A young man who didn’t like to interact with his peers broke out of his shell on stage. A young man with severe behavioral struggles pulled it together and was able to focus himself to play his role in the show. A long-time camper was a break-out leader behind the set, encouraging and inspiring her fellow campers. These are just a few success stories of the campers we worked with this summer, and there are many more to share. These campers may not know it yet, but these camp days will be the ones which they will always remember, that they keep with them, and the ones which they will draw from as they grow older. How great it is to watch and be a part of the creators plan as it manifests!

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.

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.