Steelers, Stephon Tuitt Donate to Help Pittsburgh’s Latino Immigrant Community

The Pittsburgh Steelers and defensive end Stephon Tuitt have teamed up to donate $10,000 to Casa San José, a center for Latino immigrants in Beechview.

The donation is part of the team’s 2020 Steelers Social Justice Grant program, in which players choose a cause to donate to, with the team matching the donation.

The @steelers have announced a donation to @CasaSanJosePGH from @DOCnation_7 with a matching contribution by the team as part of the Steelers’ Social Justice Grant program to help support community efforts.

📝: https://t.co/sMuakO6SjE pic.twitter.com/eAM8bAcUGv

— Steelers Community Relations (@SteelersCR) January 7, 2021

Casa San Jose was founded in 2013 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Biden, Pa. in order to help Latino immigrants become acclimated to their new homes in lives in Pittsburgh.

“The main idea was to help the Latino immigrants feel welcomed, feel like they belonged and to rejoice in their culture, but also help them acclimate to the way things happen in the United States,” finance director sister Karen Stoila said to Steelers.com. “We help connect them to resources, get their children in school, apply for SNAP benefits, and connect them with clinics and medical resources.”

Tuitt, who was recently named the Steelers’ recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award, felt that the immigrant community is especially vulnerable during the current pandemic and economic downturn.

“These people are like the first line of defense,” Tuitt said to Steelers.com. “When things trickle down, it’s the people who do the blue-collar jobs that are the first impacted. For me to be able to attach my name to them, and know I grew up in similar situation, around hard working family members that wanted the best for our family, but we didn’t have the means to provide what they wanted to do for us. A helping hand would have helped my own family overcome some things. That is why I like to do that, to have the opportunity to do that for other families.”

Other donations as part of the program have seen T.J. Watt give to 412 Food Rescue, Maurkice Pouncey to the Best of the Batch Foundation and Cam Heyward to Homewood Children’s Village.