11 Investigates: Local nonprofit left off Pgh Stop The Violence grant, claims politics played a role

PITTSBURGH — 11 Investigates has uncovered a new controversy over the city of Pittsburgh’s Stop The Violence Grants.

The Gainey Administration began handing out the grants a couple of years ago, after the Peduto administration established the fund in the wake of protests over the death of George Floyd, by diverting 10% from the police budget every year into a special fund to address gun violence in the city of Pittsburgh.

This year, the city handed out $16 million to local non-profit organizations to combat gun violence, but one group claims they were left off because of politics.

The Promise Center in Homewood got one of those Stop The Violence grants last year, but they were left out this year, and the director believes it’s because of who he supported in the race for mayor.

“It hurts, what I’m doing right here and I can’t get no support, that hurts, that hurts me. It makes me feel like I’m not doing the right thing or they don’t care about the kids,” said The Promise Center Executive Director, Nate Goodson.

Nate Goodson started The Promise Center several years ago, with the help of his lifelong friend, former University of Pittsburgh and NFL Hall of Famer, Curtis Martin, and other donors and corporations.

Located in Homewood South, Goodson’s program provides kids with a hot meal every afternoon, and a place to play basketball, ride bikes and study.

“It’s about these kids in this community having to be safe. It’s a safe haven,” Goodson told Earle.

Last year, Goodson received a $15,000 Stop The Violence grant from the city.

For his efforts, he’s been recognized by the Pittsburgh Courier and Mayor Ed Gainey gave him a proclamation last year, honoring his “invaluable work.”

Goodson applied for the Stop The Violence grant again this year, but to his surprise, didn’t get it.

“I had to look at the list about 100 times. Then I had to send it to other people, like, ‘You see my name on the list?’” said Goodson.

Goodson believes he was snubbed because he supported Gainey’s opponent, Corey O’Connor, who won the Democratic Mayoral Primary.

Earle: You believe politics played a role in this?

Goodson: All day long.

Earle: Tell me why? Because of who you supported?

Goodson: I would say because of who I supported for the race for mayor.

Earle took the claim to the city and Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak.

Earle: He claims because he supported Corey O’Connor that he was left off this year?

Pawlak: I can categorically deny that anything related to politics went into any of the funding decisions.

Deputy Mayor Pawlak denied the allegation and said a panel of city employees made the final decision.

“I know they went through an extensive process in reviewing applications individually on their merits as well as the scope of services that they covered,” said Pawlak.

The city used a scoring system to rank the nonprofits, evaluating impacts such as how many people they serve, their purpose and location.

Goodson’s group received a low grade, but he isn’t buying that.

“That was a fix. That was a fix. I guess it’s all about who you know,” said Goodson.

11 Investigates also spoke to Pittsburgh City Councilman Bobby Wilson, who served on the steering committee.

“It’s being rushed. We’re rushing through spending critical tax dollars to address a very serious situation, which is gun violence,” said Wilson.

Councilman Wilson, who represents the North Side, expressed concerns about the scoring system, citing an organization that scored high but was eliminated.

Wilson: Someone from the Mayor’s office said, “Well, that doesn’t qualify because they have to address gun violence.”

Earle: Even though they scored high?

Wilson: Even though they scored high. I feel like we shouldn’t even look at them right. They shouldn’t be scored if the mission is to make an impact on reducing gun violence and you submit an application that says we are going to solve domestic violence, why would we even look at it?

As for The Promise Center, Nate Goodson said he had to sell one of his cars just to keep the doors open.

Despite being left off the grant list this year, he’s not about to give up.

“That’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to finish it, because I know it can’t do nothing but get better because I’m doing the right thing,” said Goodson.

The Deputy Mayor said The Promise Center was left off this year because of the low score, coupled with the high number of applications in their service area.

Nate Goodson said he will apply for the funding again next year.

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