Three-year grant enables PSH to serve more families while enhancing quality of service
Media Contact:
Gigi Saladna
media@pghscholarhouse.org
PITTSBURGH, PA (March 26 , 2025) Pittsburgh Scholar House (PSH) announced today that it has been awarded a three-year, $450,000 grant from the PNC Foundation to support its Wayfinders Program.
The Wayfinders Program is designed to support single parents actively working toward a college degree. PSH coordinators provide support to students seeking housing, transportation, childcare access, or tuition assistance, helping them achieve academic success while managing the responsibilities of parenthood. To date, 100% of those served by PSH are low- to moderate-income families, underscoring the need for the services provided.
The grant funding will allow PSH to further its mission and scale the program through two key initiatives: 1) launching a Two-Generation (2-Gen) Strengthening Families Framework, and 2) expanding barrier mitigation resources.
“Pittsburgh Scholar House is incredibly grateful to the PNC Foundation for this generous award,” said Dr. Gretchen Generett, Board Chair of PSH. “The funding of these initiatives will enable PSH to serve more families while enhancing the quality of service. The integration of multi-generational educational support and comprehensive barrier mitigation reflects a dynamic approach to fostering academic and economic success, ensuring that single-parent families can thrive and break the cycle of poverty.”
Over the three-year period, PSH plans to:
- Implement the Strengthening Families 2-Gen Framework, using the Protective Factors Framework. This comprehensive approach will be integrated into residential and community-based Wayfinders Programs, focusing on creating intergenerational learning opportunities. Targeted interventions, such as early childhood education and parental leadership training, aim to improve educational outcomes for children and parents, fostering a family-oriented environment that supports long-term success.
- Expand its barrier mitigation resources to support low- to moderate-income Scholars who are re-enrolling or completing their degrees. By scaling amnesty and scholarship programs, PSH will address obstacles such as unpaid fees that prevent transcript release or outstanding balances that hinder enrollment. Additionally, this initiative will provide essential support services, including transportation, childcare, digital access, and mental health resources, ensuring that external challenges do not derail Scholars’ educational journeys.
“The Pittsburgh Scholar House Wayfinders Program is doing transformational work to help families pursue their educational goals and achieve economic mobility,” said Sally McCrady, head of the PNC Foundation. “We’re excited to see this work continue to help more families build brighter, sustainable futures.”
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About the PNC Foundation
The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. Through PNC Grow Up Great®, its signature cause that began in 2004, PNC has created a bilingual $500 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life.
About Pittsburgh Scholar House
Pittsburgh Scholar House is a pioneering nonprofit organization dedicated to building generational prosperity for single parents and their children through post-secondary education and housing support. By combining affordable housing with comprehensive support services, including academic advising, workforce development, and child development programs, PSH empowers families to build brighter economic futures. We are committed to fostering a community where education and housing stability can ensure long-term economic mobility and a higher quality of life for the families we serve. More information is available at www.pghscholarhouse.org.