Architect’s vision of the new Nutrition Hub
2025: The Perfect Storm
The cruelest form of inequity is hunger: a denial of the basic needs of people to exist. Hunger means a long and slow death, and the cruelty of hunger in this country is down to some basic socio-economic challenges. Hunger in Gaza, hunger in Ethiopia, Sudan, ‘Syria (for example) is caused by physical con?ict that destroys the means of production. Hunger in the United States is caused not by a system broken by war, but by greed. The United States has the capacity to feed all its residents (citizens and non citizens). To truly address hunger and nutrition security requires innovative collaboration between private, public, and nonpro?t sectors to ensure the wrap-around services that support food-insecure families. In Allegheny County, nearly 11% of the residents do not have consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. In Wilkinsburg and its environs, this number is higher: closer to 30-40 %. Our families are typically low-income, with young children, single parents, seniors (often with grandchildren), and veterans. These individuals and families struggle to obtain enough food, especially healthy, culturally appropriate food, to meet the daily nutritional needs of the household. Food insecurity is not an emergency for them: it is a way of life.
In 2025, at the double storefront on Wood Street in Wilkinsburg and our mobile pantry, WCM served over 55,000 families: this broke down to 100 daily Monday through Friday, distributing (usually) about 800 pounds of fresh food per day, plus canned food, frozen meat, staples, and household items. We have an exterior refrigerator and freezer. The food pantry is conveniently located near four subsidized housing facilities. It is also on the 61A and 71C bus routes, and one block from the busway, within about four-level blocks of both the MLK and Hamnet stations. The storefront is open 4 hours Monday through Friday. In the ?rst quarter of 2024, we switched to evening hours on Tuesdays to accommodate our clients’ work schedules. The Mobile Pantry continues to serve 50-150 families a week at several sites, including Douglas Plaza, Reformed Presbyterian Church at Swissvale Ave and Park Place, St. James AME church in E Liberty, First Presbyterian Church of Edgewood, and Second Harvest in Sharpsburg. Several other sites have effectively started their own pantries, based on demonstrated need and success of the mobile pantry.
You are familiar with our history: In 1966-7 several congregations founded Wilkinsburg Community Ministry, concerned that President Johnson’s Great Society would not reach Wilkinsburg. Since then, WCM has offered a variety of services to improve the lives and living conditions of Wilkinsburg neighbors: tutoring, ESL lessons, summer programs for kids, after-school programs, and reading and learning programs for children and adults. During school strikes of the 1980s, we offered supervised tutoring for children during the day so parents could continue to work. We offered what later became WIC programs, a furniture warehouse, a clothing bank, a professional clothing bank, tax ?ling services, and Meals on Wheels. Wilkinsburg adults frequently recount the impact we have had on their lives: the ?rst time they left the Wilkinsburg environs, for example, WCM took them to Frick Park, the Carnegie Museums, or on a ski trip. Many of the social programs now available in Wilkinsburg were nurtured at WCM.
In 2016- 2017, a Forbes Fund board efficiency grant encouraged us to examine our mission. WCM was struggling to be all things to all residents and, subsequently, not doing anything particularly well. We established a committee whose sole job is to explore projects to determine whether they ?t into the mission and capacity of the organization. What did we do best? How good is an “emergency food program” that is not open and accessible? Food emergencies do not happen at the convenience of a congregational schedule. WCM also recognized that the congregations alone could not ?ll this need; this was brought home to us, and reinforced, during the pandemic when many churches had to close their facilities. WCM was open through the entire pandemic, and we had lines around the block.
By mid-2017, the Capacity and Clarity Committee (CCC) identi?ed WCM priorities. The resulting report suggested not only that we focus solely on food insecurity, but that we implement the following: expanded storage space, mobile pantry, pantry garden, and a broadly based philosophy to share food, not prepackage boxes for distribution. This is widely considered the “best-practice” in food bank management.
Consequently, we focused on what we could do to alleviate that challenge. the availability of government support varies, based (in part) on household income as it relates to the poverty level. Income eligibility thresholds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s largest food assistance program and an important line of defense against hunger, range from 130% to 200% of the federal poverty line ($40,560 to $62,400 for a family of four as of January 2024). National data from the USDA indicates that approximately 50% of people facing hunger have incomes above the federal gross income limit for SNAP (130% of the federal poverty line) and thus may be ineligible for the program. Local estimates from Map the Meal Gap suggest rates are even higher in some communities, especially, ironically, in rural communities. The need is not going away.
In 2025, food banks around the country faced a massive crisis as the cost of food increased monthly, the subsidies from government programs decreased or disappeared, and other support for families at the lowest economic margin suffered draconian cuts.
2025 Events:
- March 2025 Elimination of school district-wide programs that give every child in a challenged community access to breakfast, lunch and a snack at school. Local impact on any child in Wilkinsburg, Woodland Hills, and Pgh Schools
- April 2025 Cuts to child nutrition programs cut, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
- April 29 Serial Derocho cut off access to food pantries; up to 80% of families in our service area lost everything in their refrigerators/freezers
- May 2025 WCM purchased its new headquarters at 813 South Avenue.
- May 2025 Cancellation of all food and agriculture grants to farms, food banks and pantries
- June 2025, Implementation of Work Requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- September 2025 Increase in Work Requirements for SNAP
- October 2025 Government shut down – Federal government is 3rd largest employer in Allegheny County.
- November 2025 SNAP benefits 2-3 weeks late
Goals for 2026
- Continue neighborhood-based food availability tracking usage through the GPCFB’s Link2Feed application
- In collaboration with GPCFB, offer a weekly program to assist eligible families with applying for bene?t programs that provide access to food, such as SNAP and WIC. This will be possible once we move to our new location in late 2026.
- Encourage food choice of healthy, nutritious food. We focus on choice, nutrition, and dignity. Our neighbors select the food they want; we offer recipes, and we try to honor special requests.
- Improve safety responses of staff, especially the mobile pantry staff that includes First Aid, Training, Narcan use
We are also continuing our 3-year campaign for funding of our new facility, and plan to move in late 2026.
How did we get here?
In a Nutshell
Nearly sixty years after its founding, Wilkinsburg Community Ministry (WCM) has matured from a small, struggling social services organization to a thriving nonprofit focused on alleviating food insecurity in some of Allegheny County’s most under-resourced communities. Through a combination of food donations, fresh produce, and our garden, WCM provides essential meals to 4,500 families each month and has developed a mobile food truck that extends the impact of this work throughout the community.
WCM also pioneered the philosophy that we share food with our neighbors rather than hand out food to them. We do this partly by offering them the opportunity to select different foods rather than receiving pre-packaged boxes of food. This approach makes it clear that we are all part of this community together; we are neighbors helping neighbors. In another development, we have recently completed the purchase of a building in Wilkinsburg, which will finally provide us with sufficient space, proper access, and the opportunity to work more closely with other nonprofits in the community.
The Wilkinsburg Community Ministry’s Foundation for the Future is a testament to the power of a strategic vision that looks beyond immediate needs. By Nourishing Neighbors today and Empowering Generations tomorrow, WCM is not just feeding a community; WCM is cultivating a healthier, more equitable future for Wilkinsburg.
The Story begins: More than a handout, but a hand up
In 1965, members of several Wilkinsburg congregations noticed that Wilkinsburg was missing the benefits of a program called the Great Society. The Great Society was a set of domestic programs launched by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson to address poverty and racial injustice. Building on the New Deal reforms, the Great Society focused on expanding social welfare, improving education and healthcare, and promoting civil rights.
These dozen community leaders envisioned a hopeful and resilient community in Wilkinsburg, and they dedicated space, time, and their many talents to foster a sustainable community. Within the year, they had established a food pantry; within two years, they had Articles of Incorporation. For the first ten years, WCM offered tutoring, after-school childcare, and summer enrichment programs. By 1980, WCM and the Mulberry Senior Center offered ESL instruction, assistance for tax preparation, and financial literacy programs. A soup and breakfast program, Meals on Wheels, Angel Food, a furniture hub, and a gently used clothing shop, rounded out an array of supportive services for Wilkinsburg’s population. In 2004, WCM and Mulberry Senior Center merged. The sale of Mulberry Church forced WCM out of its home, but Wilkinsburg businesswoman Alice Sapienza made two storefronts on Wood Street available.
Pillars of the We Share Food Study
A 2017-18 study, funded by the Forbes Funds, identified the principal problem WCM faced: many of the programs we had started had developed into self-sustaining projects, but the greatest challenge in Wilkinsburg remained food insecurity. WCM’s leadership understood that true sustainability lay not simply in acquiring more food, but in fostering long-term stability for Wilkinsburg and Wilkinsburg residents, indeed, for the entire East End community. This holistic approach formed the basis of reorganization in 2019, when WCM handed off the children’s food program to a nonprofit specializing in kids’ programs, operating at Community Forge (the old Johnson School on Ardmore). In the future, WCM will focus on the best practices in food pantry operations.
- Pillar I: Choice and Sharing
By 2019, our pantry distribution model had evolved from a limited choice of food, laid out on a 3X8 table, to a wide selection of food on shelves and in refrigerators, grocery style. By 2020, the contents of our pantry, including dry foods, canned goods, and frozen foods, could be combined into a different meal every day: a total of over 365 meal combinations, depending on what our neighbors chose to take. Their choices were a foundation element of empowerment in nutrition and life. WCM focused more on a model of food sharing that encouraged people to “shop” for food, taking what they would eat, and leaving what they would not.
- Pillar 2: Real Nutrition, not junk food
A second pillar of the We Share Food study engaged WCM with other food and nutrition organizations. WCM partnered with several local grocery stores to accept produce, meats, and canned goods that the stores could not use. In 2022, the partnership with 412 Food Rescue brought WCM a regular supply of “rescued” food from Giant Eagle, Market District, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods, plus several corner stores, bakeries, and food cooperatives. Partnerships with local farmers, Grow Pittsburgh, and several farm markets expanded WCM’s supply of fresh vegetables, and, in the winter, WCM budgeted enough to purchase fresh fruits and veggies from a local wholesaler.
- Pillar III: Expand Access
If the first challenge of food insecurity is the cost of food, and especially the cost of good food (Pillar II), the third pillar is access. Most areas with food insecurity are food deserts. This doesn’t mean that there are no food stores, but that those food stores are often inconveniently located, unaffordable, or contain mostly highly processed food. Building on the success of our “We Share Food (Food Pantry 2.0)” model, again in collaboration with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, WCM acquired a mobile unit equipped with refrigeration, enabling wider distribution of perishable goods, such as fresh produce and dairy. Preparing our facility to house the mobile pantry and expanding our resources to include farmers and farm markets was the only project for which we received any significant state funding from the Department of Agriculture
The Nutrition Hub, including the mobile pantry, the storefront, the garden, and an exterior refrigerator, and additional storefront hours increased WCM’s reach to 4800-5000 families a month.
Diversification and financial stability
As a mature agency, WCM itself faces the challenges of facility expansion and the diversification of funding streams. In 2019, more than 60% of WCM’s budget of $200,000 came from the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the children’s program. In 2020, WCM transferred that program to Community Forge, and WCM could focus its efforts solely on food security.
In the past three years, WCM has received significant funding from several local foundations; one grant was specifically to develop a facilities plan and to organize a comprehensive succession plan for both leadership and facilities. WCM’s financial resilience lies in the dedication of many individual donors—some of them participants in the founding, or their children and grandchildren—as well as the founding congregations and new friends who have joined WCM along the way. There is also an increasing recognition in the philanthropic community of the importance of food security in Allegheny County’s challenged neighborhoods.
As of mid-2025, WCM’s expanded services show promising results:
- Increased Access & Nutrition: The expanded mobile pantry has increased service frequency by 30%, reaching an additional 500 households monthly. The Nutrition Hub has doubled its fresh produce by collaborating with Grow Pittsburgh, several local farm markets, and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s produce initiatives. Additionally, in the winter, WCM purchases fresh fruits and vegetables from a wholesaler.
- Tangible Progress: Data collection through the “Link to Feed” network has begun tracking success stories – clients securing stable employment, improving financial literacy, and accessing healthcare services, demonstrating a shift from mere subsistence to self-sufficiency.
- Growing Financial Resilience: Since 2020, annual giving from all private sources has increased from $225,000 to $450,000. Monthly giving increases by 20% annually, which makes operations more predictable.
- Stronger Community Fabric: WCM’s reputation as a holistic community resource attracts new volunteers and forges stronger ties with other service providers, creating a more integrated support system for Wilkinsburg residents.
- Volunteerism has increased by 80%. Every day, volunteers supplement staff hours to make sure food is sorted and displayed.
- Staff live in the community. Most live in Wilkinsburg, one in Swissvale, one in Braddock, and one in Forest Hills.
- Commitment to employee development. We encourage staff development through various competency-based programs offered by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Salvation Army, and AARP. We have also partnered with Community Kitchen to provide additional training for our administrative staff.
Empowering Generations
For several years, WCM’s services have outgrown our physical space. The current location has been challenging because some wheelchairs cannot fit through the door, and there’s little room inside our distribution space. The process of finding and developing our own space specifically suited to our needs has been a long-term priority. In 2023, we started searching for a new location, and with a small search committee, we viewed 18 sites. Our criteria included:
- Relatively central in Wilkinsburg, but away from the business district,
- Proximity to at least one of the bus routes and at least one of the senior housing complexes
- Easy parking, plus safe ADA accessibility
- Some green space with room for expansion of our garden
- Square footage to provide rental/sharing space for community organizations, and
- Phased renovation possibilities.
In May 2025, WCM purchased 813 South Ave, formerly part of Pittsburgh Urban Christian School (2017-2024), the Boys and Girls Club of Wilkinsburg (1972-2016), and the Wilkinsburg Telephone Exchange (1925-1972). “In the day,” this was a residential block of typical Pittsburgh four-square houses built between 1890-1930. Over time, these houses were sold or demolished. Now the block is occupied by only the three-story building—13,000 square feet of space, plus another half-acre of vacant land.
After some renovation, WCM will occupy the first floor. Renovations include updated heating/cooling, new wiring, increased security, and an entirely revamped access system. A 70-foot ramp from South Avenue to a new entrance will offer safe access for our neighbors. Exterior lighting will increase neighborhood safety. The new facility gives us proper and safe access for loading our mobile pantry and unloading deliveries. All our storage areas will be adjacent to the distribution areas: we will no longer have to store food in a garage, but in the main building where we distribute.
- Create a safe, ADA entrance for our neighbors
- Offer a garden space of approximately 3000 square feet
- Provides indoor waiting areas so neighbors don’t have to wait in the cold, heat, wind, snow, and rain, as they do now.
Equally important, the 13,000 square foot building offers space to host community events; a full-sized basketball court on the second floor (plus a half court) offers groups some recreational space; the third floor has several office and meeting areas that can be used for community groups and/or small businesses, other nonprofits, for meetings, and WCM office space.
Foundation for the Future Campaign
The Wilkinsburg Community Ministry’s “Foundation for the Future” campaign demonstrates the transformative power of a strategic, community-based vision that looks beyond immediate needs to build lasting success. By “Nourishing Neighbors” today and “Empowering Generations” tomorrow, WCM is not only feeding a community daily; it is cultivating a healthier, more equitable future for neighbors.
This campaign will support both WCM’s ongoing operating needs over the next two years as well as the costs of purchasing and renovating the new facility. Your support will have an immediate impact by enabling us to continue providing services during construction, while also ensuring WCM’s sustainability into the future.
Building Purchase & Renovation $1,950,000
Furnishing $50,000
Operating Cost (2.25 yrs) $850,000
Total Campaign Goal $2,750,000
Join us in building a foundation that will nourish neighbors and empower generations for decades to come. Your gift to the Foundation for the Future campaign isn’t just a donation, it’s an investment in transforming lives, strengthening community bonds, and ensuring that no neighbor in Wilkinsburg goes hungry. Whether you contribute $25 or $25,000, your support will have an immediate impact while creating lasting change. Together, we can turn a vision of dignity, accessibility, and hope into a reality that serves 4,500 families every month. The future of Wilkinsburg depends on neighbors like you who believe that when we share food, we share hope. Make your gift today and become part of a legacy that will feed families for generations.