PITTSBURGH, July 30, 2025 – The Heinz Endowments has announced a $5 million funding match commitment for a major expansion of Center of Life, a community enrichment organization with nearly a quarter century of experience providing youth and family-centered programming for Pittsburgh's Hazelwood community and surrounding neighborhoods. The funding, which will be released when the project's overall budget has been secured, will go toward Center of Life's planned new home near the entrance inside Hazelwood Green, the 178-acre tech and innovation development located on a former steel mill site in Hazelwood that borders the Monongahela River.
The expanded Center of Life presence will position the organization, both physically and programmatically, as a cornerstone of collaboration between Hazelwood and surrounding communities and the robotics and technology partnerships Hazelwood Green has established with major universities.
Center of Life, currently located on Hazelwood Avenue two blocks from the entrance to Hazelwood Green, was founded in 2001. The planned new construction will expand the organization's imprint to an estimated 48,000 square feet and will have a prime location inside the front entrance to Hazelwood Green overlooking the site's two-acre great lawn. The total square footage of the new building is estimated to be 67,000 square feet. The University of Pittsburgh is anticipating anchoring its Neighborhood Commitment initiative in the new building. Pitt's Neighborhood Commitment program centers on place-based community partnerships that provide long-term commitments of staffing, infrastructure, and coordination to facilitate mutually beneficial collaborations between the university and the local community.
The three-story building will aim for at minimum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification, an internationally recognized standard for achieving a high level of environmentally sustainable buildings and construction and has an estimated total cost of $37 million. The new location will continue to serve all in the Hazelwood community, as well as those in Homestead, Greenfield, Swisshelm Park and other nearby neighborhoods.
“Center of Life has been a vital part of the Hazelwood community over the past 20-plus years, and we have seen first-hand the positive impact it has had on youth and their families,” said Rob Stephany, senior program director of Community & Economic Development for The Heinz Endowments.
“They are an incredible bridge between Hazelwood families and the new neighbors moving in at Hazelwood Green, and we are excited about their vision to be even more purposeful about that with this precedent-setting project,” Stephany said. “The Endowments' funding match commitment is our stake in that powerful future.”
The Endowments’ $5 million funding match commitment includes an agreement with Center of Life that all funds for the building’s total cost will be secured by Dec. 31, 2026.
Center of Life founder and Executive Director Tim Smith, who has lived, worked and volunteered in Hazelwood since the early 1980s, leads the organization in its efforts to connect individuals with the opportunities and education needed to succeed personally, creatively and economically.
“We believe everyone deserves to have a sense of significance, security and belonging,” Smith said. “Center of Life has always been about bringing people together and uplifting the best in every individual, and this funding match commitment from the Endowments is a great step forward in our next chapter. It has the potential to help us reach even more youth and families and directly connect the community to Hazelwood Green. We are excited because we believe this multi-faceted partnership can be a regional and national model.”
Hazelwood Green, located on 178 acres of remediated land along the Monongahela River that was once the home of Jones & Laughlin Steel mill, is adjacent to the Hot Metal Bridge and the Greater Hazelwood community, which includes the neighborhoods of Hazelwood and Glen Hazel. The property was purchased in 2002 by a cohort of foundations, now known as Almono Limited Partnership, that included the Endowments and is being developed into a thriving community of research and technology entities such as Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Innovation Center, University of Pittsburgh’s BioForge, and OneValley. These research and technology institutions will operate alongside parks, recreation fields, trails and a range of affordable housing and community-focused amenities.
At the invitation of community leaders and neighbors, the University of Pittsburgh has established one of its Neighborhood Commitments in Greater Hazelwood. As part of that commitment, Pitt is offering a set of educational opportunities in STEM for children and most recently a workforce bridge program to connect community members to the emerging life sciences sector, symbolized by BioForge just a short walk from where they live. Pitt partners with a wide range of community-based organizations in Greater Hazelwood including the Center of Life and is anticipating anchoring its Neighborhood Commitment in Center of Life’s new development.
“We want to thank The Heinz Endowments for its generous support of our region and congratulate the Center of Life on developing this community-owned hub that will serve as the bridge between the core of the neighborhood and the core of innovation,” said University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel. “This is how we can connect neighbors to the information, training and jobs possible at Hazelwood Green.”
University of Pittsburgh Vice Chancellor for External Relations Lina Dostilio emphasized the importance of access to STEM opportunities for the region. “The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields hold enormous possibilities for the future of our region’s youth and young adults, and we are excited to further position Hazelwood Green as a world-class leader in STEM and in the Life Sciences sector,” said Dostilio. “Our decades-long engagement within the Greater Hazelwood community and current work within our Neighborhood Commitment meshes well with Center of Life’s mission of empowering youth and their families with the life skills, education and resources they need to thrive. We make a great team.”
Thoughtful consideration has been given to the specific location of the new building that will house Center of Life within the Hazelwood Green site. U3 Advisors, which serves as project director and a key consultant for the Hazelwood Green development, has worked with Center of Life and the site’s partners in securing a prime location for the new building.
“The location for the new building – directly at the front entrance to Hazelwood Green and overlooking the great lawn and water feature used for neighborhood events and gatherings – is purposeful,” said Todd Stern, managing director at U3 Advisors’ New York office. “It is important to all of us that the Hazelwood community know that Hazelwood Green is for everyone and ensuring a visible and central location within the site is one way we have put that belief into action.”
The project is adjacent to Carnegie Mellon University’s newly developed Robotics Innovation Center and across the street from a community football and multi-sport field being developed through a collaboration between the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tishman Speyer, the master developer of Hazelwood Green. The field is envisioned to include significant programming for regional residents.
A partnership between Tishman Speyer, TREK Development Group, and the nonprofit Pittsburgh Scholar House expects to start construction this summer on the first portion of a 50-unit apartment complex. The new building, which will be two blocks from Center of Life’s project, will include units across a range of price points including market rate, workforce, and affordable units. Select residents will have access to an array of health, wellness and life skills services in the building.
Center of Life’s programming centers on developing strong individuals and community through the arts, workforce assistance, health and wellness, and education. The organization’s popular programs include activities and camps for young people in kindergarten through eighth grade, as well as programs for high school-age students and young adults such as Aspiring Leaders Teen Academy, COL Jazz, and KRUNK Movement. All-age community programs include Family Engagement, Social Justice Resource Center, and COL Basketball League.
That programming has had a significant positive effect on regional youth, young adults and families. Dasawn Gray, a former Center of Life programming participant and the founder and owner of Hazelwood Café, credits the organization’s programming in helping spark the creativity, entrepreneurship skills and confidence he needed to open his own business in 2023 at the age of 22.
“I am grateful to have had the chance to participate in a number of incredible Center of Life programs as I was growing up in Hazelwood,” Gray said. “Center of Life’s attention to developing skills specific to my interests and strengths, fun, and an overall sense of accomplishment and comradery all helped me become who I am today: a business owner who loves serving my community.”
# # #
For more information, please contact:
Scott Roller
Strategic Communications Manager
The Heinz Endowments
412-725-0023