Center of Life Receives The Lewis Prize for Music’s COVID-19 Community Response Fund!
UniSound would like to congratulate Pittsburgh’s own Center of Life for being a recipient of The Lewis Prize for Music’s COVID-19 Community Response Fund!
“The Lewis Prize for Music invests in youth music organizations and their leaders to facilitate positive change through access to music education. Each of the COVID-19 Community Response Fund recipients embody this goal; they do extraordinary work providing young people with opportunities to learn, perform, and create music while also service their immediate and unique needs around food, transportation, mental health, and academics.
“From Flint, Michigan to Montgomery, Alabama, to Oakland, California, the recipients cultivate leadership opportunities and safe spaces for the young people they support. Many of the recipients have budgets of less than $100,000 per year, and two-thirds are led by people of color. Through their community-driven and youth-focused approach, they have become safe havens for the young people they serve during COVID-19.”
And this is certainly true of this Pittsburgh organization. We are proud to see Center of Life among this outstanding group of 32 grantees.
Center of Life has done a great job to continue serving their youth and communities during the pandemic. Their new online platform has everything from COVID-19 resources and information, such as testing sites, food, financial assistance, mental and physical health, and utilities and internet, to educational activities for students learning from home.
“In doing our part to slow the spread of COVID-19, Center of Life’s in-person programs are closed and will continue to follow recommendations of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Governor Tom Wolf. In the meantime, our team remains available and committed to service Hazelwood families: coordinating online activities; hosting virtual private music lessons and tutoring sessions; delivering meals and other essential items and overall, working in response to our community needs.” – Center of Life Online
In addition to their programming during COVID-19, Center of Life seeks to empower youth and uplift their communities through programs focusing on music and arts, athletics, and education year-round. They are the host of COL Jazz and The Krunk Movement, which provide youth opportunities to work under staff members to write, produce, and perform new music.
“The COL Jazz approach is to take the natural God-given talent of a child and connect it to the opportunity to provide some immediate gratification.
“We connect opportunity to education so that the talent becomes a skill. We connect education to career so that their practice and commitment produces real career opportunities. We teach our students that success is being in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing, the right way, in front of the right people.” – Tim Smith, Founder and CEO of Center of Life.
Between their tremendous efforts throughout COVID-19, and their dedication to community-empowerment on a regular basis, this award has been much deserved. UniSound is #PittsburghProud, and we hope that you’ll join us in congratulating this local organization that has gone above and beyond!
If you or your family are interested in learning more about Center of Life, do not hesitate to visit their websites, linked below!
