Curtis Moreland came to Pittsburgh on a mission to find a welding job — he thought the prospects for employment would be better there than in his hometown of Uniontown. With little money and no place to stay, he took refuge in the Northside Common Ministries (NCM) shelter, a safe haven that provides a safe place to stay for those searching for full-time employment.
Fortunately, Moreland and other jobseekers across the Pittsburgh region will soon have access to an array of resources to help them achieve financial stability — free of charge — thanks to the launch of three Financial Opportunity Centers (FOC). NCM will host one of these centers, which will offer core services including employment assistance, financial education and coaching, and access to income support.
Financial Opportunity Centers
FOCs are proven tools that focus on improving the bottom line for low- to moderate-income families, helping them change their financial behavior. The centers will be opened and integrated within three established social service agencies serving different clientele, and different social and geographical areas: the Mon Valley Initiative, the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation, and Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The FOCs will launch after financial coaches are hired. The national charitable organization Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), which has already supported the opening of 75 centers in more than 30 cities around the country, is helping to launch the FOCs here.
Pittsburgh’s Neighborhood Allies is serving as the local funding and technical assistance provider for the FOCs.
“We are extremely excited to provide opportunities to families that are struggling to make ends meet,” says Presley Gillespie, president of Neighborhood Allies. “Additionally, our investment in the FOCs will leverage other partnerships and resources to strengthen our ability to improve economic opportunity in [Pittsburgh’s] neighborhoods.”
The Hillman Family Foundations, The Buhl Foundation, the Roy A. Hunt Foundation and LISC are all providing funding for the new FOCs.
Mon Valley Initiative
The Mon Valley Initiative, based in Homestead, will use $100,000 in funding to add a financial coach to its staff and support a robust occupational services program that helps job applicants with significant barriers to overcome, such as criminal records. The initiative is comprised of 10 Community Development Corporations covering the areas of Braddock, West Newton, East Pittsburgh, Greater Charleroi, Homestead, Monessen, North Braddock, Rankin, Swissvale and Turtle Creek.
Oakland Planning and Development Corporation
The Oakland Planning and Development Corporation is also receiving $100,000 to support its JobLinks program, which already provides a comprehensive array of employment services. JobLinks specializes in job training related to the healthcare industry, and its programs will be expanded with the establishment of the new FOC.
Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania/Northside Common Ministries
With a $75,000 funding award, Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania will add a financial coach, employment specialist and income support specialist, as well as bring in additional employment services from other Goodwill sites to its affiliate, the NCM, which serves more than 1,800 households and 1,400 individuals each year through its Northside Community Food Pantry, Pleasant Valley Emergency Shelter and Permanent Housing Program.
Executive Director Jay Poliziani says that NCM has already hired a new income support specialist to help clients with programs such as food stamps, social security and utility assistance. NCM is currently interviewing for an employment specialist to assist with resume writing and job searches, and work with employers, among other things. NCM already has several employers interested in working with the program to help fill vacant positions. Once the financial counselor is hired and trained, they will begin working with clients on improving credit scores and addressing longer-term financial issues. All of these services, which are being added as a result of the establishment of the FOC, will be available to anyone in the community.
The FOC model is a step in the right direction, as it will boost the NCM’s success rate, helping to move people from being just clients to being neighbors. The new FOC will change the whole dynamic of the services the nonprofit provides, explains Poliziani, helping raise people above the need for organizations like NCM, teaching them to provide for themselves and their families with dignity.
“The addition of an on-site FOC will allow our organization to help move our clients from continued dependence on our services to becoming more fully economically integrated members of their community,” he says. “You could say [the NCM’s] goal is to go out of business.”
Moreland is hopeful he will find employment before the new employment assistance programs are added to NCM’s services in late February, but said people like himself will absolutely benefit from the new program.
“The NCM is great because it helps you get on your feet and pushes you to become productive in society,” says Moreland. “After two years of being unemployed, I graduated from Laurel Business Institute in November with a degree in welding, but I haven’t had any luck yet in landing a job.”
It would be “awesome,” he adds, for NCM to have an on-site employment specialist — one was already connected with local employers ready to hire — to help him and others find permanent positions.
“People need jobs,” says Moreland. “This service will connect those people with employers willing to work with the NCM, placing people exactly where they need to be.”