5th floor
Pittsburgh Pa 15222
From December 22, 2018 until January 25, 2019, the nation underwent the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Shortly into the shutdown, we were inundated with stories about people turning to food banks to feed their families, families who couldn’t afford to buy medicine or pay for child care or make their mortgages or rent. It didn’t take long to illustrate that the vast majority of federal workers — indeed millions of Americans — are financially vulnerable.
The shutdown exposed the challenges that policy, economic, and environmental shocks pose for so many of our community members living paycheck to paycheck, as well as the fragility of the systems in place to support them. Join us as we hear from community leaders about lessons-learned and key takeaways from the recent shut down and discuss how philanthropy can play a role in averting future stresses by working to address these systemic weaknesses.
Angela Reynolds, Senior Director of United for Families and 2-1-1 at United Way of Southwestern PA, will serve as this session’s moderator. She will begin by sharing some of the data and other information collected by the 2-1-1 service during the shutdown. After setting the regional context, she will engage a panel of community leaders in a discussion about the near- and longer-term impacts of the shutdown and explore how philanthropy can most effectively help.
Speakers:
Frank Aggazio
Executive Director
Allegheny County Housing Authority
Ken Regal
Executive Director
Just Harvest
Traci Weatherford-Brown
Chief Advancement Officer
Greater Pittsburgh Community Foodbank
Gale Schwartz
Program Manager
Housing Alliance of PA