Grounded & Propel Andrew Street High School: Bringing Green Playces to Life. Posted on May 10, 2018 by wpengine This Spring, Grounded Strategies had the chance to revisit one of our Green Playces: Student Ambassador projects at a vacant lot owned by Propel Andrew Street High School in Homestead. Last fall, the Green Playces: Student Ambassador project worked weekly with Propel students to learn environmental justice principles and apply them to the vacant lot project. On April 13, 3 Propel staff, 17 students, 6 alumni, and 2 Grounded staff picked up paint brushes, wheelbarrows and went to work. We…Read More
What IS a Green Playce? …Fast Facts on this exciting program Posted on March 30, 2018 by wpengine The Green Playces Initiative is Grounded Strategies' youth-based programming and placemaking program. Our origins The Green Playces Initiative was formed out of research we conducted in 2014 that examined the prevalence of environmental education opportunities for youth in neighborhoods with high levels of vacancy, which yielded the Youth in Green report. Why Green Playces matter There is a growing body of evidence that tells us how important it is for youth to connect with their outdoor environment. Improvements in behavior,…Read More
Featured Partner: Pitt Engineers without Borders Posted on November 27, 2017 by wpengine For this month’s Featured Partner, we are highlighting a new and exciting partnership with the University of Pittsburgh’s Engineers Without Borders chapter. We could not be more excited to work with them as they contribute their engineering skills toward our fight to transform vacant and under-loved land throughout Allegheny County. For our first project together, we challenged them to design and build a water collection cistern as part of our Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GTECH GSI) project in Observatory Hill. Tucked…Read More
Volunteer Day with FedEx Ground Posted on June 19, 2017 by wpengine On Friday, June 2, we kicked off our second demonstration project for the GTECH Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GTECH GSI) initiative in the high-priority O-27 sewershed. The goal of the demonstration projects for GTECH GSI is to capture stormwater before it reaches our overworked combined sewer system, while also providing a welcoming green space that meets community needs. For this particular project, we are partnering with Riverview Manor, a senior living facility in the Brighton Heights neighborhood of the Northside. The…Read More
Roots of Steel Posted on May 5, 2017 by wpengine Last Friday, we kicked off a new phase of our ReClaim Clairton Ambassador program, project implementation. Just as in past Ambassador programs, each participant receives access to a $3,000 micro-fund to assist in the implementation of a greenspace project they have spent the last 8 months creating with support from their neighbors, friends, and communities. Leading the pack was Sue Viglioti, who was motivated to participate in the ReClaim Clairton program by the love of her home town and the people…Read More
Announcing, the PGH Mobile Toolbox! Posted on March 6, 2017 by wpengine We have been working hard to prepare our latest resource for vacant lot cleaning and greening efforts. Introducing the PGH Mobile Toolbox, a tool library on wheels, ready for your next workday or cleanup! This resource is brought to you through our partnership with Neighborhood Allies and is intended to fill the resource gap between project inspiration and its implementation. Through our experience, we found no shortage of good ideas and residents who are motivated to execute them. However,…Read More
Ambassadors Get Creative In Clairton Posted on February 3, 2017 by wpengine With pens and trace paper in hand, 8 designers, landscape architects and architects descended into Clairton to help our Ambassador cohort make their project ideas come to life. As part of ReClaim Clairton, each Ambassador participates in a design workshop where they a paired with a professional designer who helps them think realistically about what is feasible to accomplish on their site with the manpower and money they have available. This also helps each Ambassador visualize their project and gives them…Read More
GTECH Super-Volunteer: Scott! Posted on January 27, 2017 by wpengine Building out projects like our Green Playces takes a lot of hard work. If we had to it all ourselves, they'd never get done. We love working with the users and neighbors of these spaces, but we also welcome volunteers from around Allegheny County (and beyond, if you like). One of these volunteers really stepped up for the build out of our Hill District Green Playce. He attended every one of our five build days and played a huge role in developing…Read More
Homewood Greening Projects Update Posted on June 7, 2016 by wpengine Our projects in Homewood have been taking off this spring! We are excited to show off our hard work and to give a big thank you to all who have volunteered thus far. As a recap, Operation Better Block (OBB) is working on a Neighborhood Partnership Program called the Homewood Cluster Plan. We're working with OBB to help with the transformation of five vacant lots in key locations to become green gateways to the community. There has been a lot of activity…Read More
Co-Designing with Hilltop Residents Posted on December 24, 2015 by wpengine Urban environments are continuously transitioning. As a result, the narrative of permanence in these areas is lost due to shrinkage caused by vacancy (Burkholder 2012). Vacancy is a huge problem facing U.S. cities that once relied heavily on the revenue from industrial production. The moniker "Rustbelt" is one that describes such cities spanning the upper Midwest and parts of some Northeastern states. Many of these cities struggle with turning the corner, and while some have successfully navigated the changing landscape, many continually work…Read More
An inclusive design is the best design Posted on December 8, 2015 by Grounded Strategies It's Sunday afternoon, and the sun is pleasantly streaming through the autumn leaves on a vacant lot in Brighton Heights. Kids amble around the lot, playing with sticks and pine cones. Neighbors are chatting over cups of hot cider, looking on towards the woods around them. They talk about what this place was, and what it could be. The lot they stand on was once home to the St. John's Hospital, but the hospital was abandoned and demolished two decades ago. Now it's…Read More
It’s a Family Affair! Northside Ambassador and Family ReClaim Vacant Lot Posted on July 29, 2015 by wpengine ReClaiming vacant land is tough work. This is a job for the whole family! A Place for Moms: Welcome Corner is becoming more beautiful by the day. Cynthia Mendoza, a ReClaim Ambassador and resident of Observatory Hill, has overwhelming support for her project (Just check out her feature in Next Pittsburgh from last month). Whether it is grateful neighbors giving kind words as they drive by, volunteers showing up for workdays or donors contributing to her crowdfunding campaign, the Welcome Corner has…Read More