The Mission:

The Bartko Foundation assists single minority mothers in their efforts to achieve self-sufficiency.

The Purpose:

The Living Wage Calculator for Allegheny County indicates that a family of one adult and two children need an annual income, without public or private assistance, of $58,427 to support their family. The same family living in the city of Pittsburgh and earning $20,780 annually is consider to be at the poverty level. According to a report conducted by the Women and Girls Foundation, single mothers and their children make up 77% of households living in poverty in the city. Families headed by unmarried women (regardless of race), particularly those with preschool children, are far more likely to be poor because of the difficulty of working or finishing school while raising a small child. Sixty-eight percent of the poor female-headed households in Pittsburgh identify as African American.

Our purpose, therefore, is to assist those women most in need in achieving goals they have set for themselves helping them to continue positive progress in their life’s journey. Our support focuses on goals related to education, transportation, housing and employment. We believe these areas have the most profound impact in the lives of our recipients and, therefore, our investments.

The Need:

From the Bartko Foundation’s creation in 2004 through the 2021 calendar year, it has:

• assisted 379 women
• impacting the lives of 801 children
• distributed $1.27M to support self-sufficiency
  • 114 grants for education
  • 66 grants for employment
  • 103 grants for housing
  • 93 grants for transportation

The How:

Desiring not to duplicate efforts and to keep operating costs at a minimum, the Bartko Foundation employs one individual who partners with others to find and fund eligible applicants. Our partners are sponsoring agencies, local organizations and agencies, who identify and vet women they work with whose needs may “fall through the cracks,” sidetracking them from becoming self-sufficient.