Poise Foundation raising more funds to support Black community

Poise Foundation, a Black-led philanthropy, is ramping up fundraising for its Human Equity and Justice Fund in the wake of widespread racial unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fund was established in 2018 following the shooting death of Black teenager Antwon Rose II by a white police officer in East Pittsburgh.

It was designed to support organizations helping the Black community respond to social justice crises.

Poise plans to expand grantmaking from the fund to address the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on the Black community and ongoing protests and social activism spurred by recent police killings of Black people, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Poise said the fund recently received contributions of $50,000 from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation and $10,000 from McAuley Ministries.

It has launched a crowdfunding site to raise more from individuals and organizations. Grants of up to $2,500 will go to Black-led organizations responding to COVID-19 in the Black community, and grants of up to $5,000 will be made to Blackled groups working on youth leadership initiatives and social justice programs.

“We are in a moment where our country recognizes the inhumanity that has existed for centuries cannot continue,” said Mark Lewis, president and chief executive of Downtownbased Poise. “We need to ensure that this moment becomes a movement. … This fund seeks to support both this moment and building capacity for the movement.”

The fundraising campaign is being launched in connection with the start of Black Philanthropy Month on Saturday.

In April, Poise launched a Critical Community Needs Fund to help small nonprofits and churches that were assisting vulnerable people in Black communities impacted by the pandemic. That fund last month had raised nearly $900,000 and made grants to more than 60 groups in the region.

For information or to contribute go to poisefoundation.org