The Hope Network at the Metro Urban Institute

2024: The Hope Network at the Metro Urban Institute is a multi-part program with hope as an organizing theme that: 1) addresses trauma informed pastoral ministry in communities with significant physical and structural violence and loss; 2) trains congregations in non-violent activism to address communal violence and create a more hope-filled future; and 3) works alongside artists to create expressions of hope out of and anchored within communities where healing is needed. The vision for the HOPE Network is to create space for people throughout the city of Pittsburgh to build the capacity to heal from the traumas of various forms of violence while gaining skills to address the social and political conditions that often produce violence. The pilot project will focus on five churches in east Pittsburgh, one from each of the neighborhoods surrounding Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s Highland Park neighborhood—East Liberty, Homewood North, Homewood South, Homewood West, and Larimer.