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
We’re Back! ReClaim Clairton 2.0 is Almost Here! Posted on November 17, 2017 by wpengine 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
Returning to Sustainable Return on Investment Posted on November 15, 2017 by Grounded Strategies This blog post was authored by GTECH's Research & Policy Intern, Lilli Kashef Hamadani. Email Lilli at l.kashef@gtechstrategies.org. Returning to Sustainable Return on Investment Measuring the Social, Environmental, and Economic Impacts of the URA LandCare Program GTECH has been working on evaluating its programs through a Sustainable Return on Investment (SuROI) methodology. You might remember when our intern, Kate, wrote about SuROI lingo and shared the results of GTECH's first SuROI analysis, which measured the social and ecological value of…Read More
Take a Survey! – Stormwater in the East End Posted on November 1, 2017 by Ariam Ford 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 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 wpengine 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
Say Hello to the CommunityCare Stewards! Posted on October 20, 2017 by wpengine Meet the residents stewarding community greenspace through GTECH's new pilot program, CommunityCare. Our CommunityCare Pilot Program started in September and is now in full swing! GTECH is working closely with 11 CommunityCare Stewards that are maintaining and improving vacant land in the Homewood community. Our stewards are proud Homewood residents and passionate community members! They will dedicate 3 to 10 hours per month from now until May 2018 maintaining green and open spaces. In return, the stewards receive incentives of their…Read More
Welcome Miranda! Posted on August 31, 2017 by wpengine Hello! My name is Miranda Micire. I am thrilled to start my internship here with GTECH through the University of Pittsburgh’s Master’s of Social Work program. I am starting my first year in the Community Organizing and Social Action (COSA) program and will also be pursuing a joint degree in Public Administration through GSPIA. I am a Pittsburgh native that moved to Dayton, Ohio to attend the University of Dayton for my undergraduate degree. During my time in Dayton, I…Read More
All About the Sun! Posted on August 25, 2017 by wpengine This week, many of us got a chance to view (through safe viewing glasses, we hope!) a solar eclipse. This rare absence of daytime light as the Moon passes over the Sun brought renewed attention to the star that always shines at the center of our solar system. On average, light travels from the sun to Earth in about 8 minutes and 19 seconds. That means that the light coming from the Sun right now probably won’t even make it…Read More
Goodbye Summer Interns! Posted on August 18, 2017 by wpengine This summer we were lucky enough to have 2 summer interns. When most people think of internships, they think about runnings errands and other small tasks around the office. While we did have the interns work through some office tasks, the majority of their work had them onsite transforming vacant lots, creating art boards, and helping start new programs. We feel it is instrumental to have youth onboard, especially working with our Green Playces Initiative. Our internal research and experience…Read More
Meet our new GTECH GSI Neighborhood Liaisons Posted on August 9, 2017 by wpengine As we complete our GTECH Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) project in the Woods Run/O-27 sewershed on Pittsburgh's Northside, we are beginning the process in our next sewershed: the Negley Run/A-42 sewershed in the East End. As we did on the Northside, the first order of business for our GTECH GSI process was to hire neighborhood liaisons to represent the communities that make up this high-priority sewershed; Homewood, Larimer, Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, East Hills, and East Liberty. These liaisons will serve as GTECH's front…Read More
So Long For Now Posted on July 28, 2017 by wpengine Over the past five years, I have walked through the door here at GTECH approximately 1,300 times. This Friday will be the last time I do so. I am leaving the organization to become the Manager of Corporate Relations at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, an opportunity with a long-standing partner of GTECH that I couldn't pass up. While I am so excited about this next chapter, I will miss everything and everyone here at GTECH. There wasn't a day that…Read More