Joey Porter's Wife Opens Pittsburgh Facility For Adults With Special Needs

Christy Porter, the wife of legendary former Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker and linebackers coach Joey Porter, opened a new facility for adults living with special needs in Pittsburgh over the weekend.

The Jasmine Nyree Campus, named after the couple's daughter, celebrated the grand opening of its fourth location on Saturday (June 5), according to Steelers.com.

The 180,000 square foot campus includes five buildings that will be used as part of Holy Innocents Church and School. Aspects of the campus have previously been operating, including its administration building and a job center, which already employees 70 individuals, prior to the rest of the campus now offering services for adults with developmental issues as well as the entire Sheraden community, including the main portion, The Dr. Philip Birdine Learning Center.

"Our original goal was to help the special needs adult population, but that community is so underserved we decided that with our campus being so large we are able to open it up and encompass the entire community," said Christy Porter via Steelers.com. "That was our primary reason for selecting Sheraden because it is so underserved. That community needed more of a boost. Not just in services, but employment as well. We are looking to employ 300 people. That entire community has a chance to be changed. And it being so close to the city, it made sense to select it.

"There is something for every age. We are also going to have a medical clinic on hand. There are no grocery stores there, so we partnered with Giant Eagle as a drop off location. People can order their groceries online and they can come to our location to pick up their groceries. That was never an option before. We are partnering with major companies to help the area.

"We also partnered with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to be a distribution center. People can come there to get dry goods. We provide up to 125 dry goods boxes of food a month to people in Sheraden and the surrounding community. Before the pandemic hit, we were just getting started, had just purchased the building. We were giving out 10-15 boxes a month and that has grown to 125 boxes a month. The pandemic has shined a light on the ability to see where people's needs are, what they are, and the inequality for those who were already struggling. For us to be able to assist, it means so much."

Joey Porter spent the majority of his NFL playing career with the Steelers from 1999-2006, which included a Super Bowl championship in 2005 and three of his four Pro Bowl appearances. The outside linebacker also played for the Miami Dolphins (2007-09) and Arizona Cardinals (2010-11) before returning to his alma mater, Colorado State as a defensive assistant in 2013.

Porter accepted the same position with the Steelers the following year and was promoted to outside linebackers coach in 2015, a position he held for four seasons.

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