Welcoming Pittsburgh Roadmap

A welcoming, neighborly approach to recommendations in the areas of Civics + Community Engagement will create more direct pathways benefitting immigrants and their experiences in Pittsburgh. Recommendations will positively transform the manner in which immigrants as well as current non-immigrant residents participate in their communities, access resources, and connect with one another.

1. Establish and promote Welcoming Hubs
2. Expand impact of the Welcoming Pittsburgh recommendations
3. Revitalize the Sister Cities network
   • Contact the Sister Cities Association of Pittsburgh.
4. Host and publicize naturalization ceremonies
   • Naturalization ceremonies are hosted every year
5. Host Citizenship Days
   • Citizenship days are hosted every year.
6. Launch an awareness-building campaign
7. Promote international learning exchanges
   • Learn how you can assist Global Pittsburgh with programming for the visiting international delegations
   • Find out how World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh is sparking global dialogue inside and outside the classroom
8. Establish the Mayor’s Youth Ambassador Program
9. Celebrate immigrant heritage during Pittsburgh’s 200th Anniversary and the Pittsburgh Folk Festival’s 60th Anniversary
   • Pittsburgh celebrated our 200th Anniversary in 2016. Immigrants are an essential part of Pittsburgh history, and were recognized at various events during the celebrations. Pittsburgh Folk Festival 60th Anniversary also happened in 2016, where 40 different cultures were celebrated with performances, foods, and crafts.
10. Host new events to celebrate immigrant culture and neighborhood heritage
    • Welcoming Communities regularly celebrate immigrants at events. Check out some of them:
      • World Refugee Day
      • World Square Day
      • Steel City Worldcup
11. Establish Welcome, Neighbor! Days
12. Expand City civic engagement and leadership opportunities
    • Welcoming Pittsburgh worked with the OCA to expand the Civic Leadership Academy (CLA) to include reserved spots for newcomer community members. The CLA provides childcare and dinners to all participants.
13. Commit to a community policing approach
    • A Multicultural Liaison Unit (MLU) was formed in 2017 to build trust between newcomer communities and public safety. The MLU will oversee a Cultural Competency Training for all Pittsburgh Public Safety. A Request For Proposals (RFP #19000597) for Cultural Competency Training is live now on Beacon, Responses due by 7/28/2020
    • Welcoming Pittsburgh leadership staffed a Task Force on Police Reform with representation from the immigrant community. The Task Force regularly reports to Welcoming Communities

As our city’s schools and other education providers continue to build on a commitment to high-quality early learning, strong public and private education, and a range of quality higher education resources at college, university, and trade schools, we’ll work with partners to ensure that immigrants are increasingly welcomed as assets within our local education system.

1. Expand immigrant youth activities
   • The City launched GrubUp in the summer of 2019. Check out our community programs for immigrant youth: ARYSE, Open Field, Learn and Earn.
2. Promote culturally appropriate early learning
   • The City of Pittsburgh in partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library mails an age-appropriate book monthly to enrolled children ages 0-5.
3. Ensure access to our exceptional educational resources
   • Pittsburgh Learning Collaborative multi-lingual hotline for education questions operating 7/27/2020-9/30/2020. The hotline can answer any questions you have about education and the school year, in any language. The number for Spanish speakers is 412-335-7446. For English and all other languages, the number is 412-256-8536.

In Allegheny County, 22,913 residents are estimated by the 2011 American Community Survey to qualify as limited English proficiency (LEP) who “speak English less than very well” and face significant hurdles in securing employment, community connections, and accessing social services and governmental resources.The Mayor will implement a plan to enhance language access and integration in all City of Pittsburgh agencies so that the rights and needs of immigrants are better supported.

1. Review, update, and translate key city documents
   • Welcoming Pittsburgh translates press releases.
2. Develop and enforce a City language access plan

We envision a Pittsburgh where:

• Our business community is more receptive to hiring immigrants and more immigrants are hired.
• We create and support more immigrant-owned businesses.
• We have a continuum of workforce training, greater job access, and better workers’ rights
• Resources for immigrants.
• More immigrants—and employers—know their options for extended stays.
• We attract and retain more international students.

Plan

1. Launch a municipal ID program
2. Work for local, state, and federal immigration reform
3. Improve housing access systems
   • The URA created a Community Engagement Ambassador program for community organizations to connect their clients to the Housing Opportunity Fund.
4. Create accessible, multi-lingual housing information
   • The URA has committed to making all housing resources available in Pittsburgh’s top 6 spoken languages.
5. Rehab vacant housing stock
6. Promote increased transportation accessibility
7. Improve and scale up refugee services
   • Learn more about the valuable work happening at our refugee resettlement agencies:
     • Jewish Family and Community Services
8. Promote best practices to increase hiring of immigrants
9. Grow immigrant and minority businesses
10. Provide multi-lingual employee-rights support
11. Improve immigrant integration in workforce systems
12. Host job fairs that are welcoming to the immigrant community
13. Support immigrant wealth-building
14. Improve U.S. professional recertification processes
15. Launch a leadership mentoring match

We commit to a continued welcoming region. This is how this plan will live beyond the Peduto administration.

1. Establish a Welcoming City employee resource group
2. Pass a Welcoming City Ordinance
3. Establish a City office to house immigrant integration efforts
4. Implement City cultural awareness and access training programs

Since the creation of the Welcoming Pittsburgh Roadmap in 2014, needs for immigrant communities have emerged that are not included in the 37 recommendations.
This work is vitally important, and requires our attention and action.

Racial Equity

In 2020, sparked by the murder of George Floyd, Pittsburgh has centered race and racism in our work and conversations. Welcoming Pittsburgh recognizes that racism is alive in Pittsburgh, and in the immigrant community. We commit to integrating anti-racism resources in our work and with our partners.

COVID-19

A global pandemic has shifted the way we work in almost every way imaginable, and has presented unique challenges for the immigrant community. As the pandemic continues, we have adapted to these challenges and found creative solutions.

Please visit this collaborative COVID-19 Immigrant FAQ’s document for more resources.

Census 2020

The 2020 US Census ensures that our communities receive adequate resources relative to the population counted. Hard to count populations, including newcomer communities, often go under-funded because of lack of census response. Welcoming Pittsburgh has regularly promoted the census and shared grant opportunities and job openings with the Welcoming Communities.

Certified Welcoming

The City of Pittsburgh is working towards becoming a Welcoming City certified by Welcoming America.