SHADYSIDE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

The Community Kids Mission Action Community (MAC) partners with schools, after-school programs, and non-profit agencies in Pittsburgh dealing with education and protection of children at risk. This MAC looks to find ways of financially supporting these agencies and recruits volunteers to tutor, mentor, or serve the ministries which look to the needs of youth.

Ministries which the Community Kids MAC currently supports and some ways in which Shadyside Presbyterian Church members have volunteered:

• The Neighborhood Academy: www.theneighborhoodacademy.org
  The Neighborhood Academy is a faith-based school in the Garfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh’s East End. The faculty and staff of the Neighborhood Academy seek to break the cycle of generational poverty by providing the opportunity to pursue higher education to the youth of low-income families. A holistic college-prep school, the Neighborhood Academy is dedicated to developing the minds, bodies, and spirits of young people to break cycles of poverty.
  • Shadyside members have volunteered at the Neighborhood Academy through tutoring and preparing meals. As part of Shadyside Presbyterian Church’s capital campaign, members also raised seed money for the Academy’s own capital campaign. The church also has established a book scholarship to provide assistance for a graduating senior’s college textbook expenses.

• Schenley Heights Community Development Program (SHCDP): www.shcdp.org
  Schenley Heights Community Development Program is a multifaceted program which focuses on caring for children who reside in the Hill District of Pittsburgh.  Born out of Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, the program has educational, athletic, and community efforts which serve to enhance the lives of those involved.
  • Shadyside offers volunteers to serve and provides funding for the After School Tutorial and Enrichment Program.

• Garfield Jubilee YouthBuild Program: www.garfieldjubilee.org
  GJA’s Construction Training Program was created for students who struggle with the traditional education model.  This program provides a curriculum that incorporates direct exposure, through actual hands-on construction training, that involves both residential and commercial developments throughout the Garfield neighborhood. GJA also provides academic enrichment and computer instruction that addresses basic computing, internet/e-mail, resume writing, and vocabulary grammar building.
  • Members of Shadyside volunteer to join the efforts of the YouthBuild students.  Students coordinate workdays and guide volunteers in projects ranging from landscaping to construction.
     
• Embark!:
  Embark! joins professional and community volunteers with young adults who age out of  the foster care system and are continuing their education.  Embark! develops the potential of young adults and improves the community by providing a safe, supportive, and quality mentor relationship in which both parties can grow and learn.
  • Shadyside members have committed themselves to mentor young adults who are committed to continuing their education.