HACP and Health Sector Partners Announce Grand Reopening of the Cheryl Gainey Wellness Center at Allegheny Dwellings on June 5

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh’s (HACP) mission is to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of its residents.

To further its mission, the HACP and its community partners will soon celebrate the reopening of the wellness center at Allegheny Dwellings on the Northside, named for longtime community wellness advocate Cheryl Gainey – who served on the Allegheny Dwellings Tenant Council for decades and also served a term as HACP Commissioner.

Guests will join the HACP from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, June 5, 2025, for the Grand Reopening of the center where they will hear from supporters, meet the fitness team, and tour the facility. Refreshments and live music by Hugo Cruz and Caminos will also be featured.

The revitalized wellness center will feature a full complement of fitness programming, available to all residents of Allegheny Dwellings.

“The goal of the Cheryl Gainey Wellness Center is to provide residents of Allegheny Dwellings access to a customized menu of programs and services specially selected to meet the needs of this community, which will be offered by a certified fitness instructor and various partner organizations,” said HACP Chief Community Affairs Officer Michelle Sandidge.

The Cheryl Gainey Wellness Center will promote positive community interactions, physical fitness, and emotional development of our youth, while serving as a means of enhancing their potential to become productive adults and assets to their community. It will also provide our youth with interactions with constructive adult/peer role models who are positive, dependable, and relatable.

Center programs will include mentoring, instructional boxing, Fitness 4 Life (physically fit lifestyle for all ages), women’s self-defense classes, soul line dancing, hip-hop aerobics, nutrition education, leadership development, support for single mothers, and behavioral health and crisis counseling workshops.

Coach Leroy Dillard of Long Term Fitness, certified fitness instructor, will serve as the center’s program director. The center will be open three days a week to start (two days during the week and one day on weekends).

HACP will also extend a variety of its programs and services directly to center clients, and will use the space to promote its in-house resident services such as the Family Self-Sufficiency and Resident Employment programs and Digital Literacy Initiatives.

“We are pleased to support the reopening of the Cheryl Gainey Wellness Center at Allegheny Dwellings,” said Karen Rollins-Fitch, Director, Corporate Social Responsibility, Highmark Wholecare. “Highmark Wholecare and its team members work to ensure people live their best lives through improved health. Our efforts include supporting community organizations and locations that align with our mission. These local resources improve healthcare access and address health-related social needs, such as transportation. We look forward to the Cheryl Gainey Wellness Center once again becoming an active gathering place for people to improve their physical and mental health.”

Center supporters include Highmark Wholecare, the Buhl Foundation, and the Three Rivers Adoption Council (TRAC).

“The HACP is grateful for the continued community support to help us further our aim to be a place to live and a path to launch for all residents,” HACP Executive Director Caster D. Binion said. “The reopening of the wellness center at Allegheny Dwellings and the addition of this important programming is an investment in the wellbeing of our residents and their families, as well as a way to honor Ms. Cheryl Gainey’s legacy to the community she advocated for for so long.”

For more information on HACP’s Resident Services, including the Resident and Family Self-Sufficiency programs and Digital Literacy Initiatives, please visit: https://hacp.org/programs-services/resident-services/

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Contact: Michelle Sandidge, HACP Chief Community Affairs Officer, michelle.sandidge@hacp.org, 412-456-5058.