Support our siblings in christ at Bethel AME Church
as they create the
Bethel-Trinity Community Development Corporation

"Demolition of Bethel AME Church, Wylie Avenue and Elm Street, Lower Hill District, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 24, 1957." (Photo by Charles 'Teenie' Harris/Carnegie Museum of Art/Getty Images)

Our synod has walked alongside Bethel AME Church in recent years as they fought for restorative justice since being displaced in the 1950’s. But the journey is not finished, it is just beginning, and our synod has been asked to help.

Bethel-Trinity CDC's vision grew out of the deep racial inequities experienced by the Bethel AME's congregation. When the congregation was displaced for the development of the Civic Arena, compensation for the taking was orders of magnitude below market rate and below rates that other organizations and property owners received. Through a multiracial, interfaith effort, the congregation was able to pursue an amicable agreement to restore some land that attempts to redress past harms.

Bethel-Trinity CDC is embarking on a pre-development process to evaluate options and identify the experts and consultants needed. Your financial gift will assist Bethel in finding their way forward for the community they love.

Will you support our friends and the neighbors they serve?

 

Bethel-Trinity CDC’s Vision for the Future

Bethel-Trinity CDC is directly confronting the systemic racial inequities in the Hill District neighborhood and beyond by working to create a new model of community development, by and for the community and its people. Bethel-Trinity CDC will be creating a community center, offering opportunities for community members to thrive. Basic needs including safe and beautiful spaces for learning and living, will be co-developed with the community. Bethel-Trinity CDC will use a model that promotes home ownership and generational wealth-building.

Bethel-Trinity CDC formed in 2022 to do the following: 

  • To engage in the ownership, development, management, and operation of real estate projects for the betterment of the residents of the Hill District in the State of Pennsylvania, but not limited to low and moderate-income housing, intergenerational housing, transitional housing, and the revitalization of the Hill District neighborhoods.

  • To engage in preschool and primary education and affiliated programs, including but not limited to computer science.

  • To provide supportive social and human services to individuals and families residing in Hill District neighborhoods, including, but not limited to teaching financial and wealth management skills, parenting skills, home maintenance and safety skills, and health education and literacy programs.

  • To provide and promote economic development programs and activities for skilled job and employment creation for Hill District residents.

  • To provide and promote programs and activities designed to eliminate Urban Blight in the Hill District, by assisting in the revitalization of public and private community centers, working with and/or creating business development incubators to spur entrepreneurship, working with and/or developing programs that foster an increased awareness of community and community pride.

  • To promote individual employment through the teaching of practical job skills development programs, including but not limited to, career and workplace preparation, college, high-school, and GED preparation.

  • To provide youth services for Hill District neighborhoods, including, but not limited to, day care programs, after school programs, mentoring and tutoring programs, job skills and job training and career preparation.

Please support Bethel-Trinity CDC’s season of finding the experts and consultants that will enable it to bring this ambitious and important vision to reality.

Checks made payable to “SWPA Synod” can be mailed to:

Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod
Attn: Bethel Appeal
1014 Perry Hwy
Suite 200
Pittsburgh, PA 15237