Befriending, Knowing, Uniting with Neighbors
With a demonstrated commitment to the local and international community for more than 150 years, Shadyside Presbyterian Church serves and supports our neighbors near and far.
Members and friends of Shadyside Presbyterian Church engage our community in a variety of ways, joining the efforts of our mission partners and together witnessing God’s love in action.
Befriending Neighbors
One-time opportunities
We befriend our neighbors as we assist them with their immediate needs. Though Shadyside Presbyterian Church is committed to fulfilling these needs on a long-term basis, members and friends can participate as their schedules allow. Opportunities such as providing meals at East End Cooperative Ministry and buying Christmas gifts for Sojourner House and POWER (Pennsylvania Organization for Women in Early Recovery) are examples of Befriending Neighbors.
Uniting with Neighbors
Opportunities to engage more fully with our partners
As we befriend and know our neighbors, we also must serve as advocates to address the barriers that prevent God’s love from being felt by all. We look for opportunities to link arms with our mission partners to transform our world, do justice, and love kindness. Uniting with Neighbors is the third branch of our mission work.
Knowing Neighbors
Longer term opportunities
Frequent and consistent interactions — either in a group or one-on-one — allow us to know our neighbors. In journeying together, we know that Christ is present, and these relationships may become long-lasting as we uphold our mutual goals. Opportunities such as mentoring a student at The Neighborhood Academy or helping refugee families arriving through Jewish Family and Community Services are examples of Knowing Neighbors.
We invite you to explore our current partnerships and learn more about our partnering organizations below. If you would like to get involved in a particular area of service, please contact the church office.
Mission Partners
About
Based in Pittsburgh, the Caribbean Youth Network (CYN) is an international mission organization fostering the planting, partnering, and networking of relational, Christ-centered youth ministry to the ends that youth can be introduced to the Gospel and grow into a mature relationship with Christ.
About
Community Housing Coalition of Madison County is a community-based nonprofit agency that facilitates urgent home repairs to low-income residents of Madison County, North Carolina, who are in need of assistance.
About
East End Cooperative Ministry (EECM) was founded in 1970 as a collective response to changes in the East End community, born when local faith communities recognized that the troubles of the community were too great for any one of them to address alone. Alleviating poverty in the East End, EECM serves the young, the elderly, and the poor of the area, and promotes interfaith events.
About
The organization provides diversion, chaplaincy, and faith-based pre- and post-release care for incarcerated and released individuals. Counseling, religious services, discipleship, practical resources and referrals, life skills education within and outside the jail, choice awareness training, and one-on-one mentoring can serve inmates regardless of their race, age, ethnic background, or faith tradition.
About
The community farm cultivates fresh produce and educational opportunities with neighbors and volunteers to demonstrate God’s restoration of creation through urban agriculture in the Garfield community.
About
Childcare and early education services for children from toddler age through high school. Programs include summer camp in Forest Hills; Brothers Keepers for young men to nurture a love for God and a healthy sense of self; and unique educational programs, such as Aviation Labs and STEAM programming.
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Serving all people regardless of background or identity, JFCS has been the safety net for individuals and families in the Greater Pittsburgh community by supporting community members through all life’s changes and challenges and every stage of life.
About
Extending over twenty-five years, the partnership includes the church sanctuary at Soche Church of Central Africa Presbytery; the H. Parker Sharp medical clinic; the Emily House nursing student dormitory; and three centers caring for orphans and vulnerable children at Presbyterian churches in Chaweza, Bilila, and Mwanza in the country of Malawi.
About
Devoted to providing safety, shelter, and opportunity to the children of Devadasis (temple prostitutes) in Karnataka, India, for nearly twenty-five years. The mothers are supported with opportunities to attend Bible study, instruction in new work skills, and assistance in accessing care for HIV/AIDS.
About
A faith-based, private, college preparatory middle and high school which serves to break the cycle of generational poverty by empowering youth and preparing them for college and citizenship.
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Furniture bank housed in the Pittsburgh Presbytery on the Northside of Pittsburgh that delivers gently-used furniture and household items to families in need.
About
Empower Black families in Pittsburgh to build multi-generational wealth through improved financial management skills and support for achieving financial goals. Home ownership is facilitated through acquiring vacant properties, rehabilitating them to superior energy and quality standards for families whose goal is home ownership.
About
The Outreach Foundation builds capacity of the global church, particularly in China, where the church is vulnerable or growing rapidly, as together they cultivate deep, long-term relationships, support the work of global workers, help each other equip leaders, plant and build churches, and strengthen ministries of compassion.
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Treatment and support services for women and their loved ones navigating addiction disorders. Services include a central intake line, a detox and rehabilitation unit, a residential treatment facility, outpatient therapy, and formal peer support.
About
A multi-faceted mission ministry based in Guatemala City, PLM’s Spring of Hope mission provides educational services and a feeding program to some of the poorest children in the Lake Atitlán region. Shadyside also helps to support the Genesareth Medical Clinic, based in San Lucas Tolimán.
About
A ministry of Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, this childcare center focuses on wholistic support for children in kindergarten through eighth grade who live in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.
About
Treatment and support services for mothers in recovery and their children for up to six months; supportive and permanent housing also is secured to break the cycle of poverty and broken relationships with children.
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Seeks to transform impoverished, corrupt, and violent cities into ‘Shalom’ cities characterized by justice, well-being, hope, inclusion, safety, and sustainability. Develops local leadership and social connections to drive change. Current focus is on Los Reyes, La Paz, within Mexico City; and Barranquilla, Colombia.
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The Freedom Camp is a free full-day, five-week program offered to children living in Garfield by Valley View Presbyterian Church. The camp allows parents to have their children in a safe learning environment during the workday.
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Through resource centers, transitional housing, and workforce development strategies, Veterans Place improves veterans’ lives by connecting veterans to tools that help them build better lives and become self-sufficient.
About
A ministry started by an ecumenical group of Christian women driven to eradicate systemic poverty and violence against women, girls, and children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by empowering them in securing safety, education, and economic independence.