Evolve Coaching staff, board members, collaborators and officials gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony June 12 for Evolve’s planned Inclusion Center.

By Jamie Kelly, Bulletin editor

Evolve Coaching is hoping to help make Pittsburgh “Autism’s Most Livable City,” and took a step in that direction June 12 with the groundbreaking for its new Inclusion Center at 5025 Penn Ave.

The center, slated to open in 2026, will offer services for autistic and other disabled college students, job seekers and artists. It will have space for training, coaching sessions, workshops and a public gallery.

Among the planned offerings are:

  • A meeting space for group coaching sessions, trainings, workshops, and other events
  • Accessible office space for Evolve’s entire team
  • Private and open meeting spaces to hold in-person and online sessions
  • A new media center for sound production and film post production including editing and accessible features like captions and audio descriptions
  • A gallery space to showcase the community’s artwork  
  • An outdoor gathering space for team members and event overflow
  • An independent living training program with laundry, a fully equipped kitchen, and gathering space
  • Participation in Penn Avenue’s Unblurred gallery and community crawl on the first Friday of each month
  • Special programs for the community of Garfield

“This is the result of the community telling us what we need,” Heather Conroy, co-founder and executive director of Evolve Coaching, said during the groundbreaking ceremony.

The building at 5025 Penn Ave. has been vacant for several years and will require a full renovation to be made ADA compliant.

The project has an estimated cost of $3 million, and Evolve hopes to raise $1 million while the project is ongoing.

Conroy said Evolve has already received support from a number of institutions, including FISA Foundation, Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, Mary Hillman Jennings Foundation, Matthew Hillman Fisher Foundation, Edith L. Trees Charitable Trust and Neal Martin Christensen Foundation. Next for Autism, is supporting the curriculum development and peer training for Evolve’s independent living training program.

The center is planned as an extension of the work Evolve already does, working with neurodiverse young adults to prepare them for college, work, independent living and self-defined success.

State Den. Lindsey Williams and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, along with Joe Farrell, Evolve co-founder and director of programs, members of Evolve’s board of directors and members of the architecture team spoke during the groundbreaking.

Innamorato praised the work that Evolve does and the future inclusion center.

“Spaces like this make our region stronger,” she said.

Evolve’s client’s were represented at the groundbreaking, as well, with John Funk, owner of John’s Funky Inflatables, and his mother, Ann Funk, reading a poem about what Evolve does for clients.

“No one’s ever written a poem for me before,” Conroy said.