McElhattan Foundation Invests in INELDA to Advance System-Integrated End-of-Life Care in Pittsburgh
by Loren Talbot
INELDA was excited to announce in May a $150,000 grant from the McElhattan Foundation to support the development of a durable, scalable, community-based end-of-life care model in Pittsburgh. Aimed at addressing gaps and accessibility of care in communities with extreme needs, the initiative will advance a more integrated approach to end of life across the city. INELDA will convene stakeholder gatherings and offer educational opportunities throughout the year to help shape this community-driven model.
We are grateful for the deep support of the McElhattan Foundation. The foundation’s executive director, Jocelyn Horner Kelly, shares, “We believe that end-of-life doulas can help meet people and communities wherever they are in their end-of-life journey, offering care and compassion when needs are greatest. INELDA’s previous work in Pittsburgh showed us their strong commitment to genuine partnership and person-centered support, and we are eager to see where the next stage of work here takes us.”
INELDA was excited to announce in May a $150,000 grant from the McElhattan Foundation to support the development of a durable, scalable, community-based end-of-life care model in Pittsburgh. Aimed at addressing gaps and accessibility of care in communities with extreme needs, the initiative will advance a more integrated approach to end of life across the city. INELDA will convene stakeholder gatherings and offer educational opportunities throughout the year to help shape this community-driven model.
We are grateful for the deep support of the McElhattan Foundation. The foundation’s executive director, Jocelyn Horner Kelly, shares, “We believe that end-of-life doulas can help meet people and communities wherever they are in their end-of-life journey, offering care and compassion when needs are greatest. INELDA’s previous work in Pittsburgh showed us their strong commitment to genuine partnership and person-centered support, and we are eager to see where the next stage of work here takes us.”
This second grant from the foundation will support INELDA’s work to advance stakeholder engagement and human-centered design, strengthen end-of-life literacy and workforce readiness, and drive model development and implementation. Together, these efforts will lay the groundwork for an integrated, citywide model of end-of-life care. As part of this initiative, the team will convene multidisciplinary stakeholders across five design sessions to develop workflow maps, care coordination protocols, and a comprehensive end-of-life care framework ready for implementation.
In addition to convening stakeholder listening and codesign sessions, INELDA will deliver workshops on providing community-based deathcare for providers serving vulnerable populations, community organizers, volunteers, and directly impacted participants, reaching at least 50 stakeholders and increasing end-of-life knowledge across the region.
A highlight of this project is INELDA’s partnership with the University of Pittsburgh’s gerontologist Dr. Quinton D. Cotton. Dr. Cotton is the principal investigator of the Generations and Lifecourse Opportunities for Wellbeing Lab (GLOW Lab), an interdisciplinary research lab at the university’s school of social work. The lab’s mission is building structural capacity in health and social systems to accelerate the adoption of evidence-based policies and programs that improve the health and well-being of historically marginalized communities.
To support this project, INELDA hired Pittsburgh resident Ariel Leath as our project manager. Ariel has served on the Green Burial Council board of directors (2022 to 2026), was a Jewish Healthcare Foundation’s Death & Dying and Patient Advocacy Fellow, worked as the CCAC end-of-life nursing resource specialist at Community College Allegheny County, and currently volunteers as a Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition volunteer while finishing her master of arts in bioethics this summer. We welcome her to the team and are enthused to have her on the ground in the city.
If you are located in Pittsburgh and interested in getting involved with this project, please contact Ariel.
Posted 6/9/2026