About Allegheny CleanWays

Allegheny CleanWays is a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging and empowering people to eliminate illegal dumping and littering in Allegheny County, PA. Our is goal to realize a clean, beautiful, and safe county for everyone who lives, works, and visits Allegheny County. Our work is guided by our Core Values in everything we do—shaping our culture and driving how we interact with each other and our communities. Our Core Values are:

• Collaboration
• Safety
• Holistic Approach
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

To learn more about Allegheny CleanWays, please visit their website, here.

Gateway Fund Impact

Initiative: Allegheny CleanWays Core Programming

The funding provided by Gateway Fund would support ACW’s Core Programming: Land, Water and Education/Outreach. With Gateway Fund’s support, our crew and volunteers will be able to engage and empower our community to eliminate illegal dumping, pick up litter, and educate all ages about the effects of trash on the environment. This project addresses illegal dumping and littering in Allegheny County, especially in marginalized communities. It includes land-based cleanups, removing illegal dumpsites, and water-based cleanups, focused on removing debris from local rivers and streams, improving water quality, and reducing flooding risks. Additionally, our preventive education empowers residents to make informed waste management decisions.

About Always B Smiling, Inc.

At Always B Smiling, Inc., our programs are designed to create inclusive, engaging, and joyful experiences that foster connection, learning, and smiles for individuals of all abilities.

To learn more about Always B Smiling, Inc., please visit their website, here.

Gateway Fund Impact

Initiative: “Lets Grow” Greenhouse Horticulture Program

With Gateway Fund’s grant, we seek to build a “Let’s Grow” greenhouse as the newest addition to our B-Active offerings. The “Let’s Grow” curriculum will focus on project-based activities that use the participants’ real-world situations. Working in small, supportive groups, it will not be about just the “how-to” of gardening, but tasks that help build life skills ranging from physical agility to critical thinking. The offerings will unfold in building blocks, beginning with introductory subjects (e.g., dirt, seeds, plant parts, etc.) and evolving into what makes for healthy eating habits. Environmental factors such as seasonal conditions, ease of plant growth, student interests, challenges, and opportunities will also play an important role in curriculum design and flexibility. The greenhouse will act as our tool and be central to how our curriculum is facilitated. Although it is often thought about in one dimension, that of growing plants, it is truly interdisciplinary. The children will be engaging in sensory or textural activities, nutritional learning, community connections, and physical skill building. The participants will be met where they are. They will learn how to nurture and care for a plant and far more.

About Community Wellness Initiative

Community Wellness Initiative (CWI) of Pittsburgh offers a comprehensive array of fitness, nutrition, and financial education programs, complemented by classes which focus on topics identified by our interaction with the community. Our goal is to empower community members to improve their quality of life through enhanced understanding, practice, and competence in important life skills.

To learn more about Community Wellness Initiative, please visit their website, here.

Gateway Fund Impact

Initiative: Wellness Elevation Initiative: Advancing Education and Engagement

The Gateway Fund grant will be utilized to support Community Wellness Initiative’s (CWI) educational offerings in fitness, nutrition, and financial literacy while increasing community participation through targeted marketing and engagement efforts. By introducing advanced classes and innovative topics across its “GYMS of Life” programs, this project will empower underserved residents of Pittsburgh’s East End to improve their quality of life and well-being.

About Open Up

Open Up’s mission is to teach mindfulness tools through movement and art practices that center around people living with disabilities. Our programs are open to all who identify as having a disability and those who do not. They are for everyone.

To learn more about Open Up, please visit their website, here.

Gateway Fund Impact

Initiative: Open Movement For Connected Communities

With Gateway Fund’s generous grant, Open Up is able to continue providing high-quality, accessible programming through Open Movement. Open Movement at Open Up is programming designed to make movement and wellness practices more accessible and inclusive for all individuals, regardless of their abilities, backgrounds, or experiences. This initiative aims to provide a safe and welcoming space where people can engage in various forms of movement, such as dance, yoga, and other physical activities, in ways that honor their unique bodies and needs. The program emphasizes the importance of adaptive and trauma-informed approaches, ensuring that participants feel comfortable and empowered to explore movement in a way that suits them. Open Movement sessions are facilitated by experienced instructors who are trained to accommodate diverse abilities and create a supportive environment for everyone. This program aligns with Open Up’s broader mission to foster inclusivity, promote well-being, and create accessible opportunities for personal growth and community building through mindfulness and movement practices. Open Movement classes at Open Up typically involve a variety of activities designed to make movement accessible, enjoyable, and inclusive for all participants, regardless of their abilities, backgrounds, or experiences.

About Upstream Pittsburgh

Climate change is having an impact across the globe. Here, in our urban environment, these shifts are felt in our neighborhoods, parks, and backyards. This is why we work to combat the effects of it, from managing excessive stormwater flows, to pollutants in our water, soil, and air, and to connect each other with the environment to create positive change. From large green infrastructure projects that divert and infiltrate thousands of gallons of stormwater to residential projects that keep basements dry while providing beautiful native landscaping, UpstreamPgh has become the region’s leading resource for water management. Our heritage in Nine Mile Run, coupled with hundreds of projects via StormWorks, provides our community with hands-on, brains-on solutions.

To learn more about Upstream Pittsburgh, please visit their website, here.

Gateway Fund Impact

Initiative: 2025 Engage Programming

As a local expert organization and regular provider of education and service-learning opportunities to residents that benefit both people and the environment, UpstreamPgh will employ the Gateway Fund grant to provide science education to youth in and around the Nine Mile Run Watershed. We will also allocate resources to improve the quality of life in the region via investment in our Urban EcoStewards volunteer program. Funds will be utilized to conduct in-school and out-of-school time learning programs for youth of all ages, to continue devising service-learning models for volunteers, and to improve the quality of life in the region via restoring and improving natural systems through the maintenance of Green Stormwater Infrastructure, invasive species removal, habitat development, and native plantings.