Category: Programs

Manufacturing Vibrancy

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

Preparing for crisis is 90% psychological. Experts say that developing a plan, gathering resources, and communicating with others in advance are common sense strategies to increase your chance of survival. Assuming that you’re paying attention in the first place.

The check engine light is on

As living organisms we’re predisposed to work towards balance or homeostasis. So why aren’t we acknowledging indicators which predict a less certain future? It’s like we’re watching a movie, where the inhabitants of a blue marble speeding through the galaxy are heading towards disaster of their own making. You’re yelling to the one person that can save them, but she can’t hear you.

In our hyper-connected, accelerating, Darwinian society; survival of the fittest leaves the majority of our neighbors behind. Together, the world’s 8 richest people now hold more wealth than the 3.6 billion people representing the bottom half of our global village (Oxfam). The gap in economic opportunity between prosperous and distressed communities continues to grow.(Economic Innovation Group). And, the number of startup companies has decreased 48% in the midst of a 30 year decline in the US (Kaufmann Foundation).

Read our entire article on Medium to learn why social equity, entrepreneurship, and a renewed sense of place are critical for our survival

New Sun Rising Announces Director of Sustainability

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

New Sun Rising is excited to welcome Zaheen Hussain to his new position as Director of Sustainability. Still serving as the Millvale Sustainability Coordinator, this position will continue to fill the role as a shared community resource working to implement Millvale’s EcoDistrict Pivot Plan with the Millvale EcoDistrict Collaborative (Millvale Community Library, Borough of Millvale, Millvale Community Development Corporation, and New Sun Rising).

Previously sponsored through a Neighborhood Allies Catalytic Grant, his work at the Millvale Community Library over the years has also been funded by the Hillman Family Foundation and the Heinz Endowments. The transition to New Sun Rising from the Library has been seamless and continues to facilitate his ability to serve the collaborative partners, as has been the case since his start in June of 2015. Hussain has studied Environmental Science and Natural Resource Economics and is excited to be given the opportunity to implement “big picture” approaches to sustainability in his new position.

Hussain first came to love Millvale in 2012 when he was working for GTECH Strategies and partnered with Millvale to develop a comprehensive energy efficiency outreach plan through a neighborhood Ambassador program. In this role, he partnered with residents to develop educational programming surrounding energy efficiency and provided residents with tools to improve their own personal and household energy efficiency. During this time, there was a competition between neighborhoods in their pursuit of efficiency; Hazelwood, Homewood, and Millvale all participated and Millvale wound up winning the competition. As a result, they were awarded funds which were then used to create an outdoor kitchen at the Millvale Community Library that is now free for all neighborhood residents to use.

Hussain’s first big project when he started working in Millvale was the recalibration of the EcoDistrict plan. When he started, Millvale had already accomplished ~70% of the goals that they had set out to achieve in the areas of Food, Water, and Energy. It was a time to celebrate those accomplishments but also to revisit the EcoDistrict Pivot Plan. It was then that they added the areas of Air, Mobility, and Equity and extended the pursuit of these goals to 2030. The success of these early initiatives started small, were attained, and paved the way to take the community planning to a much larger scale, a task that Hussain is poised to facilitate. A number of the milestones and programs that Hussain has been elemental in the attainment of are listed below, by area:

Food – Partnership with the Pittsburgh Food Bank and the Green Grocer weekly market presence at GAP park, as well as the Launch Millvale Food Systems incubator with NSR

Water – The State of the Watershed meetings in which neighborhood partners from communities upstream combined efforts to alleviate the effect of stormwater runoff on Girty’s Run.

Energy – The solar array installation on the Millville Community Center; The installation of solar panels on the Millvale Community Library (managed by Brian Wolovich over the course of 3 years, resulting in a now self-sufficient building); The Millvale Teen Solar Fellowship.

Air – The collection of a baseline spread of air-quality data that was then compared to regional averages. It was found that industry activity in other neighborhoods has a direct impact on local air quality in Millville. That data is now being put to use in a partnership with Heinz to communicate these findings. Additionally, to pursue proactive steps to reduce the impacts on individuals through low cost and accessible interventions.

Mobility – Working with the Millvale Borough Bike-Ped committee for safer connectivity and to improve transportation options within the neighborhood and facilitating better connectivity to communities outside of Millvale.

Equity – Efforts to increase fairness in the future development of Millvale; to be sure that those who have been living in the community longest are not pushed or priced out. Teaching local teens new technology in an evolving industry landscape (the Solar Teen Fellowship, for example), affordable housing initiatives and the creation of partnerships with neighborhoods and organization outside of Millvale in the pursuit of this goal.

Sustainability is one of NSR’s core Vibrant Communities strategies, along with Culture and Opportunity.  Since joining the NSR team Zaheen has already accomplished a handful of great steps forward. He has been instrumental in the Millvale EcoDistricts being awarded a Heinz grant that will fund educational initiatives, proactive interventions, and public visibility projects surrounding the area of air quality. Additionally, we were honored to host the regional EcoDistrict Training Conference at the Moose and also received a grant to reconvene the Millvale EcoDistrict team in the near future — Hussain was indispensable in the coordination of this programming. The team is comprised of resident leaders, all focusing on the 6 different planning areas (Food, Water, Energy, Air, Mobility, Equity). The Millvale residents will be meeting to come up with strategies to attaining the goals set forth in each of those areas while also partnering with nearby communities (Etna and Sharpsburg) as a part of the Triboro Ecodistrict initiative. Through this work, Hussain hopes to better poise Millvale to be connected to regional initiatives that deepen his work here through the augmentation of shared resources.

 

 

Ignite Northside Profile: Kate Kelley of Brighton Arts fights for a kid-friendly community

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

Written by: Brian Conway

When Kate Kelley moved to Brighton Heights from Bethesda, MD 15 years ago her new neighborhood  was a very different place.

At the time, the median age was somewhere in the mid-60s; today, it’s in the mid-30s, thanks to an influx of young people who, like Kelley, moved to the Brighton Heights and started a family.

“When I moved in I was not married and had no kids, so it was the perfect, cheap, close to the city place to live,” she says. “Then suddenly I’m married and I have kids and I have to start thinking of schools.”

Today, Kelley, is one of three community leaders behind Brighton Arts, a project of the Families, Youth and Children’s Committee of the Brighton Heights Citizens Federation.

“Brighton Arts is a collaboration between some artists and parents in Brighton Heights to try to provide some creative experiences for the youth in our neighborhood, because it’s largely a desert when it comes to activities for kids in our neighborhood,” says Kelley.

Some 800 area children go to schools outside of Brighton Heights, including her own, and Kelley feels strongly that there is  a need for enriching after-school experiences for all local kids, regardless of where they receive their education.

“All the kids need something creative and productive to do,” she says.

Before forming Brighton Arts, Kelley, a grant writer, successfully secured $3,000 in funding from a Seattle nonprofit to pay for drums for children at Pittsburgh Morrow, the local K-8. She then secured another grant to pay for indoor playground equipment, like basketballs and volleyballs.

Another grant helped to secure a school garden, which was eventually overseen by Grow Pittsburgh. There was a community arts night at John Morrow in 2015, and in 2016, her work helped to secure a KaBoom! Playground right by the school.

Kelley is the first to say that her work is a group effort. She serves as Executive Director for Brighton Arts, alongside Program Director, Stacey Roa, and School Programs Coordinator, Donna Nyambe, who also happens to be President of Pittsburgh Morrow PTO.

Their top priority is to create a community space, somewhere that is permanent, visible (so kids know where to go), and walkable.

“There are a lot of creative experiences down in the Northside at the Mattress Factory, or the Carnegies or whatever,” she says, “but if you can’t get there on your own, if you’re 8 or 10 years old you’re not taking the bus down there by yourself.”

They thought they had found that permanent home, but after talks with mentors at Ignite Northside, realized it was too big a risk.

“[Ignite Northside Program Manager Ebony McQueen-Harris] is a coach but she’s also a business expert. She made us realize taking on that big of a building on our own would be a huge liability and not sustainable.”

One option for a permanent home may be the underused, 20,000 sq. ft.  Brighton Heights Senior Community Center.

On Saturday, August 21, 120 Pitt students and other volunteers helped to clean the structure. Kelley laughs that the building is covered in vines “like the temples in Cambodia,” and that revealing the historic architecture and obscured murals, in a symbolic way, represent the reclamation of a neighborhood at large.

In the meantime, Kelley, who also owns a vintage store, Mustard & Relics, on Brighton Road, will persist. Two new Sprout Fund grants will pay for a pair of programs for middle and high school students: one focused on cooking and crafts, the other photography.

And she will continue to seek advice and mentorship from her peers and facilitators at Ignite Northside.

“For a fledgling business or organization, this is crucial,” she says. “We can’t pay for professional advice.”

For more information on the workshops and how to get involved, visit www.newsunrising.org/ignite-northside or email ebony@www.newsunrising.org. 

Ignite Northside is an initiative by New Sun Rising in partnership with the Buhl Foundation and One Northside, working together to help neighborhoods gain control of their narratives and opportunity.

EcoDistricts Foundation Course hosted at the Millvale Moose

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

New Sun Rising was proud host the day-long EcoDistricts Foundations Course
on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2017 at our HQ, The Millvale Moose, presented in partnership with The Millvale Ecodistrict, evolveEA, Green Building Alliance, Sustainable Pittsburgh and
Carnegie Mellon University. The course, facilitated by the Portland-based urban
planning and consulting group, “empowers urban development practitioners to achieve
ambitious performance outcomes in equity, resilience, and climate protection” and took
place from 9am to 4pm, drawing local and regional sustainability leaders for a day of
education, networking, and training that would prepare them in their pursuit of
EcoDistricts Certification via their AP Exam. In addition to the day-long presentation, a
45-min walking tour of the Millvale Ecodistrict was included as part of the course.

From the EcoDistricts website, “The course covers the EcoDistricts Protocol including
commitments to imperatives in the areas of equity, resilience and climate protection;
formation of a governance structure; development of a roadmap; and ongoing
performance reporting. It outlines core requirements of EcoDistricts Certified. Case
studies address lessons learned from early EcoDistricts projects and interactive working
sessions allow attendees to apply EcoDistrict concepts to a hypothetical district.”

Participants from across disciplines and organizations, both local, and regional attended
the EcoDistricts Foundations course. Many will go on to seek certification through the
AP Exam, though other motivators came to the surface as we sat down to debrief with
participants at the end of the day. Professional development, civic participation, and
personal interest, to name a few were among the driving forces for attendance.

Edward Hill works in Portland, Oregon and is currently 60 days into his on-boarding
with EcoDistricts. He says that he plans to take the Certification exam, which is an
open-book test. His interest in the field of sustainability is multifaceted, “It allows me to
serve both the community and myself, because this is also a personal passion.” He
believes in the EcoDistricts model and its ability to foster innovation within communities
because it functions “at the intersection of equality and community development.”

Mary Ellen Ramage is the Borough of Etna Manager and, after attending the
Foundations course, is now considering taking the certification exam. Sharpsburg and
Etna have a history of working together and have build upon multi-municipal
comprehensive planning with partners in Millvale, to create the “Triboro Ecodistrict”. She
notes that Etna is already pursuing many of these approaches in their community
planning but that this Foundation course has opened up her view to “a more formal
process for sustainable development that is encouraging.” Mary Ellen adds that, “this is
her passion and the lack of capacity is the main roadblock to doing more of it, but
making connections and a local network like this really helps to actualize and expedite
more of these projects.”

Miriam Parson, Pittsburgh Action Strategist for ioby, a national crowd-resourcing
platform, attended the workshop for both personal and professional reasons. “I believe
that Pittsburgh is awesome and we have the agency to build a Pittsburgh for all. The
EcoDistricts model is a process through which we can recalibrate the power dynamics
and have a Pittsburgh that is built together and thriving for all of us, not just for some.”

Connections were solidified, new friends and allies were made, and the network of
sustainable leaders in the Pittsburgh inarguably strengthened as a result of the
EcoDistricts Foundation Course. The information provided, the connections made, and
the shared tools will augment and add capacity to participants’ work going forward.

Mary Ellen Ramage adds that it has been beneficial to increase her local network
through participation in the EcoDistricts course. As a part of Etna’s Green Master Plan,
adopted three years ago, the borough acquired a property on floodplain and aspires to
transform the location into a green space. At EcoDistricts, she connected with
individuals involved in land trusts and in the day of the conference was able to reignite
and add capacity to this project in Etna.

Miriam Parson professes the strengths of community building, “It is common for
Pittsburghers to walk into a room and know half the people there – and that spirit of
collaboration is great! Going back to our personal and professional lives, we need to
keep desegregating our work, everyone in this room is working on yielding space so
that everyone is building their collective futures.”

The walking tour and presentation of Millvale as an EcoDistrict Case Study by
Sustainability Coordinator Zaheen Hussain, both surprised and inspired attendees, even
those who were previously familiar with the area.

Edward Hill of Portland was impressed by the history of flooding in the compact
downtown corridor. “The flood line, the topographical and hydrological conditions were
impressive and immediately sent me into resilience mode; The familiar narrative of
people trying to recover.” “As a planner, I liked being constrained by the corridor of the
small town.” [Grant St. and its arteries].

Mary Ellen Ramage admits that she has toured Millvale many times already as Etna
was a part of a PCRG tour that took place previously but is always inspired by the
Millvale Gardens, “they have grown and changed so much, now they are growing things
for the local businesses and, no pun intended, evolving.”

Miriam Parson returns to the most memorable part of their Millvale EcoDistrict walking
tour. “When Zaheen was giving the Millvale Garden tour, he noted the adage ‘if you
build it they will come’ is not true – people need to build what is appropriate in their own
context – it is a process of ownership – a shifting of power dynamics.”

In addition to introducing Zaheen Hussain as Director of Sustainability at New Sun Rising, the organization also announced seed funding towards the incubation of the Regional Ecodistricts Collaborative: a network of leading sustainability organizations including evolveEA, Green Builders Alliance, Sustainable Pittsburgh, Homewood Children’s Village, The City of Pittsburgh, and others. The group has shared goals to strengthen existing ecodistricts, promote the planning and implementation of new ecodistricts, set the regional agenda for sustainable community practices through ecodistricts, and integrate best practices into local government processes and plans.

Ignite Northside Peer Networking Event

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

It takes a village to build, grow and support business sustainability, and the recent Peer Networking Event at Alloy 26, 100 S. Commons, was an illustration of Pittsburgher’s contributing impactful ideas to better the 18 Northside neighborhoods.

Sponsored by Ignite Northside with Program Manager Ebony McQueen-Harris and Program Assistant Jamie Johnson, the September 21, 2017 event had Northsiders and outsiders sharing developmental advice on each others entrepreneurial ventures.

Cecelia Ware, creator of Saving Our Sons and Daughters, has attended several Ignite Northside events and appreciates how “Ignite is growing and connecting communities.”

Ware’s organization is a community-driven grassroots response to the issues of youth violence, and this summer she received a Neighbor-to-Neighbor grant from The Sprout Fund to create an eight week program for students at John Morrow Elementary School. The workshops target youth “who have had multiple suspensions or expulsions,” according to The Sprout Fund website, and “addresses ongoing issues of youth violence and lack of respect for authority by teaching critical thinking skills to help resolve conflict.”

Ware said Ignite Northside has challenged her to elevate her leadership skills, and she welcomes the motivation and energy that McQueen-Harris brings to the table.

“Ebony has this way of making you feel comfortable to be where you are developmentally [in your business],” Ware said. “We all start somewhere.”

Jamar White, owner of Urtax Solutions in Allegheny West, started his business in 2008. He attended the networking event because he believes in the Ignite Northside program and its mission to recenter neighborhood support behind community businesses.

“When you support community businesses, your supporting kids and adults [in your neighborhood] who can get jobs within the community,” White said.

White said creating jobs within communities is also tied to crime rates in those areas, and that 90 percent of crimes are done for financial reasons. If community businesses are supported, so are the families and employees of those businesses.

“If you put money into the community, the community will give back,” White said.

Urtax Solutions was created because White said no one would hire him for an accounting gig, so he made it happen on his own. He sees entrepreneurship as the way of the future, and quoting Jay Z, White said, “‘Til you own your own you can’t be free.”
His advice to other entrepreneurs was to “get involved with your community anyway you can,” and for White, getting involved in Ignite Northside has been one of his best business decisions thus far.

For more information on the workshops and how to get involved, visit www.newsunrising.org/ignite-northside or email ebony@www.newsunrising.org. Ignite Northside is an initiative by New Sun Rising in partnership with the Buhl Foundation and One Northside, working together to help neighborhoods gain control of their narratives and opportunity.