Roots of Change

South Fayette resident Kathleen Stanley is helping reshape another local community through compassion, connection and a bold vision for affordable housing.

For Kathleen Stanley, the path to transforming a community didn’t begin with a grand plan—it began with people.

A longtime resident of South Fayette Township, Stanley has spent more than a decade working in Sharpsburg, where she now serves as executive director of Roots of Faith. When she first arrived, the borough faced significant challenges, including a poverty rate of nearly 30 percent and limited access to essential resources. But rather than seeing barriers, Stanley saw opportunity.

“I realized very quickly that if we were going to make a real difference, we needed the entire community involved—not just leaders or government, but residents too,” she says.

That philosophy sparked what would become one of the organization’s most recognizable initiatives, the kindness rocks project. What started as a simple idea—painting rocks with encouraging messages and placing them throughout the community—quickly grew into something much larger. Weekly gatherings brought neighbors together and, over time, more than 40,000 rocks were created and shared across three continents.

But for Stanley, the true impact wasn’t in the numbers—it was in the stories. One moment, in particular, still stands out to her. A woman experiencing homelessness walked into Roots of Faith holding three rocks, each bearing a message of hope. “She told me those rocks led her to us,” says Stanley. “Within two days, we got her into rehab, and she has been clean ever since.”

“If we were going to make a real difference, we needed the entire community involved, not just leaders or government but residents too”

Moments like that have helped shape the organization’s mission to “feed the line and shorten the line.” In practice, that means meeting immediate needs—food, utilities, housing support—while also equipping individuals with the tools to achieve long-term stability.

Over time, that approach has helped transform Sharpsburg. Local partnerships have flourished, small businesses have returned to Main Street, and a network of nonprofits began working collaboratively to address the community’s needs. At the center of it all is a guiding principle Stanley calls “growth without displacement.”

“When people get pushed out because they can no longer afford to live there, you lose more than just housing—you lose relationships, history and the support systems that hold a community together,” she says.

That belief is at the forefront of Roots of Faith’s latest initiative, a unique affordable housing model located within the highly regarded Fox Chapel Area School District. By combining stable housing with on-site supportive services—such as financial wellness programs, health resources and legal assistance—the project aims to create lasting pathways out of poverty.

Stanley’s commitment to transformation extends beyond her professional work. After facing serious health challenges, she made a personal decision to change her own life, losing more than 145 pounds and embracing a new passion for fitness. She even trained for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, dedicating her journey to the same cause she’s spent years building.

“Roots of Faith is all about transformation,” she says. “It felt right that I take my own advice and transform my own life as well.”

As Sharpsburg continues to grow and evolve, Stanley remains focused on what matters most: people, connection and opportunity. Her hope is that the work happening in this small riverfront borough can serve as a blueprint for other communities.

“I may not be changing the world,” she says, “but I do believe we’re changing this community.”

Kathleen Stanley is proving that real, lasting change doesn’t happen overnight—it happens one relationship, one opportunity, and sometimes one small act of kindness at a time.

For more information or to donate to Roots of Faith, visit rootsoffaithpgh.org.