Covid Stories PGH
OUR WORK AND PROJECT PARTNERS
Our work as a research team began in late spring 2020, when we and Metro-Urban Institute at Pittsburgh Seminary were awarded a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to study and respond to the impact of COVID-19 in Pittsburgh. As a research team, we draw from our past work in theological and community research, ministry in urban congregational and nonprofit settings, technology, health care, and law. Our team members are:
- The Rev. Dr. R. Drew Smith, Henry L. Hillman Professor of Urban Ministry, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
- The Rev. Dr. Deirdre King Hainsworth
- The Rev. Dr. Denise Thorpe
- The Rev. Dr. John Welch
We conducted initial discussions with potential nonprofit partners and grant recipients through early summer, concluding with distribution of grants to the following organizations:
- Casa San Jose, providing advocacy and support to Pittsburgh's Latinx community
- East End Cooperative Ministry, a multi-service nonprofit in East Liberty
- Homewood Community Ministries, a multicongregational nonprofit in Homewood
- Macedonia Family and Community Enrichment Center, serving Pittsburgh's Hill District
- Oasis Project, a food security program of Homewood's Bible Center church
- Pittsburgh Public Schools, in support of their student technology initiatives
As each of these organizations develop additional pandemic-related programming through these grants, our conversations with them continue, and we will share what we learn with the community through this site.
During winter 2020 and spring 2021, we conducted the final stages of our story-gathering and research work as well. This involved documenting the impact of COVID in two ways:
- a series of video interviews with members of Pittsburgh's African American and Latinx communities, to be shared as a digital storytelling resource through this site
- an final overview report of our research, available in digital form as PDF through this site