Celebrating One Year of Partnership - NHCO and Roots of Faith

For Roots of Faith, community connection is the core of their values. They have run many programs designed to serve their neighborhood, Sharpsburg. These range from worship services to food distributions to a weekly community dinner where people from all walks of life are invited to sit together and enjoy a meal. Throughout much of the pandemic, they also provided many social services to assist clients with accessing rent, utility, and food assistance resources. However, it quickly became clear that the outreach director, Kathleen Stanley, and her volunteer assistant, Mary Jane, would need help to keep up with the community's needs.

This led to their partnership with North Hills Community Outreach. Our official partnership was finalized a year ago, but collaboration between the two agencies has existed for much longer. Every Tuesday, a Service Coordinator from the Millvale office sets up shop in Roots of Faith and is available for anyone in the community that walks in and needs assistance. Most clients need help completing paperwork, usually for LIHEAP (utility) grants or property tax rent rebates. However, needs range from anything to food, housing, internet, or even just a simple human connection.

As the Service Coordinator that goes down to provide these services, I quickly noticed the close-knit feeling of the Sharpsburg Community. It didn't take long for me to start recognizing the people who would walk by the building every morning, peering through the windows to wave a friendly greeting at us while we worked. Roots of Faith is also a warming center, so it's common for people, housed and unhoused, to stop by to grab a cup of coffee or charge their phones. For many people, Roots of Faith is a safe place to engage with their community, which is more and more necessary now.

As I have worked with these people and learned their stories, I'm grateful they chose to make me part of their neighborhood. It's clear that there is a lot of compassion in this community, and Roots of Faith is the hub where it is spread. It has been a fantastic year of partnership, and I hope we have many more!

I am so excited to watch the agency grow, and I cannot wait to see what is in store for them.