In 2008, our founder Justin Brown attended a summit on “teacher free stores” and returned with a vision. At the time, he was working as Director of the Pittsburgh Community Storehouse, which donated gifts-in-kind to economically disadvantaged communities and individuals in the area. But Justin sensed that the program’s impact could be greater if it narrowed its focus.
In May 2011, the organization officially completed its pilot program and became Southwestern Pennsylvania’s first teacher resource center distributing school and classroom supplies at no cost to students and teachers in need. And to better reflect that work, the nonprofit was renamed The Education Partnership.
Since then, we have now served more than 374,770 students in 201 schools and given out more than $65,000,000 worth of school resources. We serve Pre-K through 12th-grade schools in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties. Schools in these counties are eligible if 70% or more of their student population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
