Opportunities on Vacant Land in Winter Posted on December 12, 2018 by [email protected] As the leaves fall and the wind blows, many of us choose to retreat into the warmth of our homes. However, as winter approaches, there are still many opportunities for you to get outside and show some care for vacant land within your community. In early to mid-fall, it's a wonderful time to plant perennials on a vacant parcel. This can be as involved as planting balled-and-burlapped trees, or as simple as scattering a few of your favorite perennial plant…Read More
Grounded in East Hills Posted on September 24, 2018 by [email protected] As part of our investigative process, Grounded Strategies is exploring East Hills for further intervention. Having recently installed rain gardens in the Park Hill Drive Community, we're now working with the East Hills Consensus Group (EHCG) to help them advocate for improvements in the entire East Hills neighborhood. The main focus points for EHCG in terms of community strategy are Stormwater, Public Safety, and Community Beautification. During our tour of the neighborhood, it became apparent just how important…Read More
Pitt 1st Years are Grounded in Homewood Posted on September 17, 2018 by [email protected] As part of their orientation process at the start of the fall semester, first years at Pitt joined Grounded in Homewood for a day of service. We worked together on a litter cleanup, while engaging in thought provoking discussions about the ties between refuse, home abandonment, poverty, and access to green space. Our litter cleanup also served as a walking tour of the neighborhood, to show areas where Grounded has already built a presence, as well as areas…Read More
Arianna makes her mark on Grounded Posted on August 22, 2018 by [email protected] During my time as in intern at Grounded Strategies, I had the opportunity to meet the amazing people that work to make Pittsburgh a better place. I started out not knowing much about green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) and most of what was going on in the office went over my head. But after some time, I started learning a lot about Pittsburgh’s stormwater management issues and exactly what Grounded was doing to help. While I was there, I got to…Read More
Following a rain drop at Park Hill Drive Posted on August 21, 2018 by [email protected] Grounded continues its Green Stormwater Infrastructure work in the Park Hill Drive community in East Hills. Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) design and implementation are just one of the services we offer here at Grounded Strategies. As we plan each such project, we consider the fate of rainwater as it encounters the built environment. Let's follow a raindrop through one of our GSI facilities in the Park Hill Drive community! The first thing that a raindrop is likely to encounter in…Read More
Grounded in Clairton Posted on August 8, 2018 by [email protected] Grounded Strategies continues to support the Clairton Community as part of our ReClaim Ambassador program. Recently, we’ve been working with our Ambassadors Toni and Felix on sprucing up their sites. After a winter with lots of temperature fluctuations, Felix’s doorways at Communications Park had shifted, so we gave them a little love, squaring up their sashes and priming the ground for his sunflower walls. Just down the street at Clairton CommUnity Garden, Toni has been hustling and bustling getting the…Read More
Grounded #StormwaterStories – A Workday in Homewood Posted on July 19, 2018 by [email protected] "You all better get some food before we get started!" Zinna raised her voice slightly to be heard over the sizzle of hotdogs on the nearby grill. Volunteers put their gloves down and picked up a plate. They had been patiently waiting under the Grounded Strategies tent to get started with the planting of a newly excavated rain garden. The garden sits on the corner of Rosedale and Hill and is the newest addition of its kind to the Homewood neighborhood. Before…Read More
Birthday Giving Posted on April 30, 2018 by [email protected] Grounded staffer, Shequaya, had the opportunity to correspond with Sarah Roberson who recently decided to dedicate her birthday to us on Facebook and that campaign raised a whopping $540. People like Sarah who are willing to donate time and/or money truly help to sustain the work we do. How did you first come to contact with Grounded Strategies? I found Grounded back in 2015 when I was looking for local Pittsburgh nonprofit groups to organize volunteer groups for my employer. How…Read More
Jump start your Spring with Land Lab! Posted on March 23, 2018 by [email protected] Following up on our work in Larimer during the previous year, Land Lab was back just in time for the 2018 growing season. Reinforcing our commitment to reinvigorating vacant lots throughout the city, Grounded hosted “Blight Doctors” for 1-on-1 discussions on vacant land issues, in addition to offering participant selected content geared toward educating attendees on a variety of solutions to vacant land issues. Our list of modules included: Sustainable Planning 101: Designing Within a Realistic Scope - Content focused…Read More
Grab a seat at the roundtable. Posted on February 23, 2018 by [email protected] What are the building blocks of community change? Peter Block argues that the answer is small-scale, informal, and personal resident engagement: the roundtable. The Grounded Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Liaisons have been putting this idea to the test while reading Block's work Community: The Structure of Belonging. Each month, we meet to discuss project activities as well as to take part in a group discussion about the best ways to increase resident involvement and buy-in, essential ingredients for community health and sustainability. Last month,…Read More
Take a Survey! – Stormwater in the East End Posted on November 1, 2017 by [email protected] Do you live in East Hills, East Liberty, Larimer, Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, or Homewood? If so, you can take our survey to help shape stormwater infrastructure efforts in your neighborhood. Click the button below to take the survey, or read on to learn more about the project first. Please take the 10 minute survey by clicking the button below. If you'd rather take a survey on paper, please contact us. Read More
ReClaim Central Graduation Posted on October 30, 2017 by [email protected] Last week the GTECH team gathered at the Hill House Blakey Program Center to celebrate the completion of the 2017 ReClaim Central Ambassador projects. The gathering served as a time to reflect on the accomplishments of the projects and to recognize the hard work of the 11 civically-minded Hill District residents who dedicated their time as ReClaim Central Ambassadors. Beginning last winter, the Ambassadors attended a series of six workshops and educational sessions. During these sessions, the Ambassadors completed designs for…Read More