Juneteeth: A Celebration of Freedom Posted on June 17, 2019 by Brittany Griffith On June 19th, 1865 Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston Texas to announce the freedom of slaves. This announcement took place two and a half years after slaves were legally freed. President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863 but the news did not make it to Texas for over two years. The reason for this is unclear- some say the messenger was killed on his way to Texas, others say slave owners intentionally withheld the information…Read More
Pitt 1st Years are Grounded in Homewood Posted on September 17, 2018 by Masoud Sayles 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
Grounded in Clairton Posted on August 8, 2018 by Masoud Sayles 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
Grandma Bev’s Green Zone Party Posted on July 12, 2018 by Miranda Micire Joining the Grounded network last September as a CommunityCare steward Beverly Howell, also known as Grandma Bev, showed her commitment to the Homewood neighborhood and to keeping it clean and green. Prior to joining the CommunityCare program, Bev has been a long-time active resident of Homewood, and even acquired the vacant lot next to her home through the City's Adopt-a-Lot lease program. Beverly envisioned this space next to her home to be a safe haven for the children of Homewood…Read More
Grounded’s Guide to Getting Kids Outside this Summer! Posted on June 25, 2018 by Miranda Micire July 6th: Summer Carnival + Bantam Night - Join us at our 2nd Annual Summer Carnival and Bantam Night at the Wiggle Whiskey Barrel House and Whiskey Garden. This event is for the whole family! Play carnival games, listen to live music, and enjoy food from Gaucho's food truck. Check out one of our many Green Playces! Green Playces are hives of education, innovation, creativity, science and, most importantly, play. Grounded has partnered with organizations and schools throughout Allegheny County…Read More
Jump start your Spring with Land Lab! Posted on March 23, 2018 by Masoud Sayles 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
We’re Back! ReClaim Clairton 2.0 is Almost Here! Posted on November 17, 2017 by Lydia Kramer Gearing up for ReClaim Clairton 2.0 It is hard to believe that the first year of our ReClaim Clairton Ambassador program has come to a close. We are so excited and proud of the accomplishments that our Ambassadors have achieved over the past 12 months. ReClaim Clairton 2016 - 2017 The ReClaim Ambassador model builds the knowledge and capacity of residents to design, organize and lead vacant lot revitalization efforts. The 2016-2017 Clairton ReClaim Ambassador Program has engaged, equipped, and…Read More
ReClaim Central Graduation Posted on October 30, 2017 by Tom Mulholland 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
Introducing Land Lab! Posted on October 27, 2017 by Lydia Kramer Spinning off from the successful city-wide Blight Bootcamp Conferences of the last two years in partnership with the Blight Working Group, GTECH is launching a series of Land Labs that will target the specific vacant land issues of a particular neighborhood. The first of the series will be hosted in Larimer! The first Land Lab is taking place on Saturday, November 4, in Larimer at St. James AME Church. The neighborhood is seeing significant development but is still dealing with high numbers of…Read More
Volunteer Day with FedEx Ground Posted on June 19, 2017 by Rachel Bowers 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 James Snow 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
Part 1: Looking Back at GTECH’s First 10 Years Posted on March 14, 2017 by Anna Archer Some highlights from GTECH’s first 10 years, from the Swiss Cheese Memory of Co-Founder and CEO Andrew Butcher Part 1: Looking Back In reflecting upon all of the glory, trials and tribulations, humor, and defining moments of the last 10 years I am awash with memories and nostalgia. The following is a series of brief snapshots of some unique moments worthy of sharing as we begin to celebrate ten years of Growth Through Energy + Community Health. I’ll never…Read More