Our Scholars and PSH Chief Program Officer Dr. Sherlyn Harrison had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Ervin Dyer about our partnership with Pitt and the power of community collaboration. We’re proud to be part of the Nonprofit Capacity Building Cohort and grateful for the ongoing support from Pitt’s Office of Engagement and Community Affairs and the Office of the Provost Student Success!
In the fall of 2024, LaShesia Holliday found herself in classes in Pitt’s School of Social Work.
It’s been a long road for Holliday to arrive here. A single mom of three, Holliday had her first child in high school and didn’t think a four-year college “was in the cards.”
Instead, she studied nursing, and then business in community college and finished with an associate’s degree in 2018. Along the way, she worked a range of jobs, bought a home and started a small business in natural care products.
About the same time Holliday was introduced to Pitt’s School of Social Work, she also learned of Pittsburgh Scholar House (PSH), an organization launched in 2022 that aims to assist single parents in obtaining post-secondary degrees to help disrupt cycles of poverty.
“Therapy really helped me when I needed it,” said Holliday, “and now I want to be there for someone else.”
PSH wants to be there to help Holliday meet those goals, as well.
Holliday’s earlier college credits allowed her to begin at Pitt as a junior. She plans to graduate in spring 2026 and then enter Pitt’s 12-month master’s in social work program.
There are lots of ways that PSH supports its participants. It offers scholarships that can be used toward tuition or other school-related debt. It provides housing and transportation assistance and referrals. Annually, it hosts a celebration to honor participant achievement. Holliday was able to vend her care products at one such celebration.
Pitt, too, is part of the scaffolding of support.
About three years ago, Pitt’s Office of Engagement and Community Affairs (ECA), the Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership in the School of Public and International Affairs, and the School of Social Work came together with Neighborhood Allies, The Forbes Funds and the Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise, all groups dedicated to strengthening area nonprofits. Jointly, they developed Pitt’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Program to focus on improving economic stability in the region.
The program, a three-year pilot, soon partnered with a cohort of eight local nonprofits. The goal was to scale up the nonprofits’ service and regional impact by connecting them to Pitt’s intellectual and other campus resources that could improve their technology capacities, funding opportunities or organizational development.
PSH was one of the eight nonprofits.