Hike through Homewood Recap Posted on April 15, 2021 by Grounded Strategies Recap as told by: Philip Lawson On the second week of March this year, Grounded Strategies partnered with Venture Outdoors for an event entitled “Snow Trek: A Winter Hike through Homewood.” With the help of several Homewood stewards and community partners, we had the chance to iterate an oral history of the Homewood-Brushton neighborhood, highlight a few standout institutions, and “get up close and personal” with a handful of well-stewarded community spaces. The event was a…Read More
Working Radically – It’s More Feasible Than You Think! Posted on December 18, 2020 by Grounded Strategies Every year, Grounded has the honor of hosting a graduate student from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work in the Community, Organization, and Social Action Specialization. While this year has looked much different than in previous years, we have had the pleasure of adding Philip Lawson to our team. Check out his reflection from his first semester at Grounded! Thank you, Philip, for the love, care, and attention that you bring to our work! Reflection On My First Semester…Read More
Lisa Freeman: Healing Community through Urban Gardening Posted on November 5, 2020 by Grounded Strategies Who is Lisa Freeman? A “badass social worker” of 35+ years. Founder and CEO of the Manchester Growing Together Farm. Founder and Proprietor of the Freeman Family Farm. “Unbought and unbossed,” just like her hero, Shirley Chisolm. Lisa is a soldier for the people at heart. “Everything I say is what I mean. If I said it, I’mma stand up to it.” “I’m not a friend of politicians because I call them out, I look for ways to be on…Read More
Black Neighborhoods Matter Posted on June 26, 2020 by Grounded Strategies Black Neighborhoods Matter Connecting Community Health, Vacant Land, and Racial Justice We are experiencing a watershed moment in our country’s history. In the wake of a global pandemic, expanding financial insecurities, and continued police brutality and homicides, Black, Brown, and allied communities are rallying to demand constructive change within government and our institutions. Across the country, communities are crying #DefundPolice -- a critique of the abnormal sums of money cities and states invest in policing and surveillance, while other systems,…Read More
Grounded Statement on Racial Violence Posted on June 1, 2020 by shequaya Bailey Grounded works to promote equitable access to quality greenspace within marginalized communities. We acknowledge that our work is not separate from the larger concerns of racial violence, stigmatization, and oppression. The context for our work, and the communities we work alongside, emerges from a long history of racial segregation, targeted divestment, redlining, and disenfranchisement of land from Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. We envision a region of thriving communities working together to sustain equitable change. The baseline for…Read More
TRUSS: Masoud’s Takeaways Posted on December 28, 2019 by Masoud Sayles The second annual Three Rivers Urban Soils Symposium (TRUSS) was a wonderful event where soils experts from around the United States gathered to collectively discuss the unique characteristics and challenges of urban soils. An eclectic gathering of "dirt-worshippers" and "tree-huggers" all deeply concerned with revitalizing our urban environments through careful stewardship of soils, the presenters included individuals from academia, farmers, remediation specialists, and worm ranchers (among others). Even though the attendees and presenters came from such a diverse array of…Read More
RVP Reflection Series: Ashley’s Experience Posted on October 28, 2019 by wpengine Author: Ashley Seiler Upon entering the RVP convention I was blown away by the number of people that were in attendance. After mingling and a quick look at the art exhibit displayed, I headed to one of the many sessions. The session that resonated with me the most was Community-Driven Visioning to Reclaim Vacant Properties in Fort Wayne and Philadelphia. The two presenters that stood out most to me during this session were Rena Bradley and Alexa Boss. I enjoyed…Read More
RVP Reflection Series: Odera’s Takeaways Posted on October 22, 2019 by wpengine Author: Odera Igwe The Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference (RVP) was a national conference dedicated to creating community cohesion through new strategies to transform vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties into community assets. This conference was a great opportunity for me to meet people all over the US who specialize in different aspects regarding the revitalization of vacant land; law, youth engagement, community advocacy, architecture, and more. The first session I attended was Community-Driven Visioning: A design thinking approach, and was probably…Read More
Planting Seeds for the Future Posted on October 7, 2019 by Masoud Sayles Pittsburgh, as the nation within which it resides, has a storied past awash with inequality. Both here and in the United States at large, a great deal of this inequity stems from the fact that the means of production (mainly land) are controlled by a small number of people relative to the total population. Historically, this has been the case for just about as long as this country has existed. As our worries mount in the face of climate instability,…Read More
Brittany’s Goodbye Posted on August 20, 2019 by wpengine As my time at Grounded comes to an end I have found myself reflecting on my experience here. In May when I joined the Grounded team I was excited about the opportunity to be an intern, but I was also unsure- specifically of my abilities and knowledge in marketing. I know, it sounds crazy. I have spent the last four years studying and obtaining a degree in marketing, but I was not confident in my knowledge of the subject. As…Read More
Grounded in The Art Trap Posted on August 16, 2019 by wpengine The Art Trap: Trap + Paint is a monthly event curated by our Project Associate Kuwame Kinsel. In July, with support from Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, he presented it to over 120 patrons at the seasonal Cultural Trust Gallery Crawl. The goal of Art Trap to bring individuals from various social, economic, and cultural backgrounds together to create a safe space powered by art, culture, and entertainment. While out in the field, Kuwame noticed a trend of communities lacking self-care or…Read More
Kathy’s Farewell Posted on July 26, 2019 by wpengine In my ten weeks at Grounded Strategies, I have learned several important things and gone through many valuable experiences. Even my perception of what a job entails has changed. Interning at a non-profit has shown me how passionate a group of people can be in the office. This not only influenced the office atmosphere but also increased my motivation. My time at Grounded has made me a lot less afraid of what’s to come after college and incredibly excited to…Read More