PITTSBURGH, PA (September 9, 2021) Mayor William Peduto’s Welcoming Pittsburgh initiative is kicking off Welcoming Week 2021 in the City of Pittsburgh tomorrow. Welcoming Week is a national celebration recognized locally that brings together immigrant and U.S.-born neighbors for community-based events to promote pride in the rich cultural fabric of Pittsburgh.
Welcoming Pittsburgh and partners will be offering opportunities to learn about the immigrant, refugee and new American communities in Pittsburgh starting tomorrow. Welcoming Pittsburgh will be featuring daily “Welcome, Neighbor” video series on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Stories from Pittsburghers that make our communities vibrant will be posted each day at noon from September 10 – 19.
Tomorrow marks the premier of the City Theatre’s The Rivers Don’t Know, a new theatrical play that tells the story of immigrants and refugees in Pittsburgh from the 1940s to the present day. The play will run from September 10 – 19 and each performance will feature an Artisan Marketplace with food, crafts, merchandise, art and food.
Additional Pittsburgh Welcoming Week events include:
September 13 – Universal Representation Roundtable
5 p.m. Live on Welcoming Pittsburgh’s Facebook
Learn how community advocates across Pennsylvania have worked to establish a program for the legal defense of people facing deportation and how Mayor Peduto and Mayor Jim Kenney of Philadelphia have supported the work.
September 16 - Naturalization Ceremony
10 a.m.
Join the City of Pittsburgh for a public event to celebrate the naturalization of new American citizens!
September 17 - Special Announcement
12:00 noon on Welcoming Pittsburgh’s Facebook
Join Mayor Peduto as he makes a special announcement about Pittsburgh’s welcoming work.
Welcoming Pittsburgh is guided by the Welcoming Pittsburgh Roadmap, a comprehensive citywide plan for immigrant, refugee and New American advocacy compiled by 40 leaders from diverse sectors and over 3,000 community members. Welcoming Pittsburgh uses the Roadmap to guide their work that extends throughout the year.
This year, Welcoming Pittsburgh coordinated several community partners into a workforce subcommittee to develop a series of resources for employers and immigrant, refugee and New American workers. The subcommittee produced three documents that include a resource for complex immigration statuses and the US immigration system, a directory of workforce development resources to support career-seekers from the immigrant and international communities and a list of employers that meet criteria to create a welcoming environment for immigrant and international workers. The resources are available here.
Additional initiatives of Welcoming Pittsburgh include developing a language access plan for city departments, a cultural competency training for public safety officials and other work outlined in their 2020 annual report.
