HUMAN SERVICES CENTER CORPORATION

The Mon Valley region served in Allegheny County by HSCMV includes 38 municipalities and is home to over 200,000 residents. This region is economically depressed, continuing to feel the effects of massive unemployment brought on by the collapse of the Western Pennsylvania steel industry; according to the 2021 Allegheny County Community Needs Index, Mon Valley communities were primarily classified as “emerging need” or “deepening need.” The economic climate of the Mon Valley has contributed to high poverty rates for the region, and has accelerated the effects of other social problems for area residents.
The HSCMV was established in 1982 as a human services "mall,” currently housing 12 tenant agencies, and is utilized as an outreach base by over 80 external programs, serving hundreds of residents daily from within the Mon Valley. In addition to housing the various tenant agencies at our campus, which we own and operate, we provide our own direct services:
• Youth Learning In a Fun Environment After-School Program (Youth LIFE) currently serves 80 youth in grades first through fifth with a comprehensive after-school program. While Youth LIFE is an academic and social enrichment program open to youth from the entire Mon Valley area, most students reside within the Woodland Hills School District. The Program provides a snack to students, as well as an educational and safe place to spend each weekday afternoon and evening. Youth LIFE is focused on the improvement of youth’s academic skills as well as social interactions. To help bolster the student’s math and reading skills as well as improve state standardized (PSSA) scores the HSCMV utilizes Study Island. Study Island is an online academic practice program that allows students to interactively practice their basic skills. This tool allows the Youth Programs staff to track student improvements through pre and post-testing. The staff also utilize a social and emotional anti-bullying curriculum, Second Step, weekly with all participants. Daily, students work on Study Island, receive homework assistance, and participate in art, science, and cultural activities.
• Kids Outgoing, Outdoing, and Learning Summer Program (KOOL) currently serves 80 youth in first through fifth grade. The KOOL Program offers tremendous value to the youth by providing a safe place to spend their summer days, centering on the development of math and reading skills, utilizing specialized online math and reading curriculum called Study Island and classroom lessons, art, science, cultural activities, and seminars provided by outside agencies such as Allegheny Land Trust, STEM Coding Lab, Adagio Health, and many more, and recreational opportunities. The staff also utilize the SEL curriculum, Second Step, weekly with all participants.
• Emerging Leaders Program (ELP), a year round college and workforce development program for 155 low-income high school seniors (currently offered in five school districts: East Allegheny, McKeesport Area, West Mifflin Area, Penn Hills, and Woodland Hills). The goal of ELP is to ensure that participants graduate from high school and transition successfully into higher education and/or training program, the workforce, and/or joining the military. At the close of the school year the aim is to have all participants mentally, logistically, and financially prepared for the next step in their professional lives. Emerging Leaders takes place both during the school day during regularly scheduled class periods and on an individual basis. Classroom sessions are used for the instruction and practice of skills necessary for students entering post-graduate life; lessons include financial literacy, resume building, interview skills, writing professionally and academically, obtaining financial aid for higher education, and conflict resolution in the workplace. Additionally, students are served on an individual basis by working closely with a Youth Development Associate to identify their interests and strengths and create an action plan catered to their specific goals and skills as well as to receive individualized case management to ensure each student is getting all of their needs met.
• Mon Valley Providers Council (MVPC), which assists thousands of people annually in coordination of services, is an alliance that serves as a formal network for information and resource exchange among the 77 dues-paying nonprofit member agencies serving the Mon Valley who work together to address gaps in services. The MVPC involves its member organizations in Working Groups which address crucial issues in the Mon Valley in the areas of Employment & Training, Health, Housing, and Youth. These four Working Groups involve the participation of dues-paying member agencies and over 250 staff members of those organizations.
• Supports for Success provides at least 24 low-income participants with one-on-one intensive case management services, employment and education support services, resources, and referrals that assist in increasing self-sufficiency through the achievement of education, employment, housing, financial, and other identified goals annually.
• Community Outreach Services are the dozens of additional services that come to the HSCMV (or are offered directly by HSCMV) to provide supplemental services in addition to the tenant agencies. This includes our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program that in 2023 alone, helped 641 taxpayers receive nearly $700,000 in returns and credits to the lowest income people in the community. Additionally, the HSCMV conducts monthly Financial Empowerment workshops, which aim to increase the financial knowledge and skills of Mon Valley residents. Topics for the over 400 people served last year included budgeting basics, how to improve credit, banking, retirement planning, filing taxes, debt management, and savings. We also support a food pantry for the 150+ lowest income families in the region.
HSCMV has a 40+ year history of working with the community. Since the inception of every program offered, we have met or exceeded the capacity/number to serve, with a significant number of return customers when a participant is eligible to return. Our board and staff are diverse, and our staff consists of many team members with master’s degrees who have been trained in cultural competence, and many are from the communities we serve. Our staff case manager and youth staff meet clients at their homes, virtually, and/or out in the community, where the family is comfortable. Families trust the HSCMV, primarily because they trust our staff. Our people are the greatest assets of the agency and they have been building trust with the community since each of them started. Our outreach to the community is extensive through a variety of established networks over our history. All of our services are free and enjoy a great reputation as inclusive which means we get the best publicity for the services – word of mouth. The testimonial of a happy customer to someone else seeking service means a steady pipeline in addition to conventional marketing. Having the trust of diverse community members uniquely positions HSCMV to provide resources and programming to others within the community.
All of HSCMV’s programs are exceptionally inclusive and diverse in participation. We track all of these factors and have exceptional diversity among the people we serve, which demonstrates the importance of DEI in our work, with many being low income seniors or single parents and 57% of those served being black or bi-racial. The youth programs population served is at-risk in many regards: over 90% of the participants have total household income of less than 125% of the poverty level and nearly 70% of HSCMV youth programs families have total household incomes of less than $15,000. Of our Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) participants, 100% have total household income of less than 235% of the poverty level. Though not a criterion for selection, approximately 10% of the youth served have a special need such as ADHD, ODD, and mild Autism. Over 80% of all families benefiting from HSCMV programs are single, female headed households. Currently, 79% of the youth and families served are African American or bi-racial in the Youth LIFE After-School Program and KOOL Summer Program. Among the people served with VITA in 2022, 39% were black. In our financial workshops, 54% were black, 11% bi-racial, and 7% Hispanic. Moreover, we do serve 1% Asian, 1% Native American, and 1% Pacific Islander. Last year, 22% identified as people with a disability and 15% identified as veterans.