11 Cares

Community initiative aims to offer support to the those in senior communities during the pandemic

PITTSBURGH — 11 Cares and Gateway Health are partnering to help support local seniors in public housing communities.

Funds collected will help provide senior residents of the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County Housing Authority with healthy food, personal protective equipment (PPE), toiletries, cleaning supplies, winter clothing and more.

“At Gateway Health, our mission is to care for the whole person in all communities where the need is greatest,” said Cain Hayes, president and CEO, Gateway Health. “As a major component of our Wholecare philosophy, we are committed to addressing the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH). Experts say that up to 80-percent of a person’s health is determined by these non-medical factors. We need to ensure that we’re providing resources to help support our senior population. They need us now more than ever and we want to do what we can to help.”

Michelle Sandridge, Chief Community Affairs Officer for City of Pittsburgh’s Housing Authority, said the senior population is particularly vulnerable during the pandemic.

“We’ve been in this pandemic for so long. Folks tend to forget that the need is still great and it’s getting increasingly worse,” she said. “If you have to buy food it’s either buy food or buy medicine. For seniors that’s a big deal because of course they’re gonna have to weigh which one.”

To make a donation, visit:

Allegheny County Housing Authority: https://www.achsng.com/donate.asp

Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh: https://hacp.org/senior-services/