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League of Women Voters Guide Special Section inside

Voters Guide General Election November 7, 2023

www.lwvpgh.org

Published by League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh 436 Seventh Avenue Suite 350 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-261-4284 Funding provided by The Pittsburgh Foundation, Goldin Foundation, Eden Hall Foundation, and individual donations to the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Courier Be a Super Voter – Vote Every Time New Pittsburgh Courier October 18-24, 2023

NEW

www.newpittsburghcourier.com Vol. 114 No. 42 Two Sections

OCTOBER 18-24, 2023

thenewpittsburghcourier $1.00 Published Weekly

Events geared towards teens in Downtown billed as a success ‘Different approach’ to how to deal with teens in city, officials say by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership President and CEO Jeremy Waldrup admitted to the New Pittsburgh Courier that, “We weren’t sure these were going to work.” He was talking about the teen party/get-togethers that a group of organizations called the Downtown Safety Council threw smack dab in the middle of Market Square. The events ­ — complete with a DJ, free food, basketball hoops, corn hole, painting and information from non-profit organizations — were held on three Wednesdays this fall; Sept. 20, Oct. 4 and Oct. 11, from 3 to 5:30 p.m. The events were geared toward school students from the Downtown area, like Pittsburgh CAPA, City Charter High School, Passport Academy Charter School and Urban Pathways Charter School (high school). The ages ranged from 13 to 19. By all accounts, the events were a success. The Courier witnessed more than 200 students at the final event of the fall, held Oct. 11, where organizations such as Ruth’s Way Inc. for Girls, Alliance for Police Accountabili-

ty, MAD DADS and the Pittsburgh Police were in attendance. Students received free food, challenged each other to some basketball, and seemed to love the Hip-Hop music from DJ Young Obama, real name Jordan Gilliam. “There are over 2,000 kids who learn in Downtown every day, and we feel like they don’t have enough of a voice in our community,” Waldrup told the Courier exclusively, Oct. 11. “We often tell them, ‘we don’t want you here, we don’t want you doing that...’” Waldrup said the parties were “our way of saying... we want you to have fun, we want you to be a part of this community, we want you to feel like it’s yours and we want to give you places to do that.” Waldrup, who’s led the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership since 2011 and has seen every up and down of Downtown since, including a pandemic, said that “we want basketball courts in Downtown. We want places for kids to hang, we need more parks and open spaces that kids want to be part of.” The funding used by the Pittsburgh DownSEE YOUTH FEST A7

AMARE GONZALEZ, 14, LEFT, SAID IT WAS THE SECOND TIME HE ATTENDED THE TEEN FEST EVENT IN DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)

New book highlights ups and downs of Pittsburgh’s Black senior women Coincides with 20 years of ‘Softer Side Seminars’ It’s been 20 years of “Softer Side Seminars.” “Softer Side Seminars” is a program that I designed in 2003. The first workshop was held that year on March 23, before an audience of about 45, made possible with a $100 donation from my aunt to cover food costs for a reception. Back then, the event was called, “Welcome to the Softer Side.” The workshop was held on Penn Avenue in Garfield at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Com-

Commentary

Renee P. Aldrich

pany’s first location. The program would carry on over the years in a variety of workshops and annual events, one-on-one sessions, group sessions, and more. Some of the workshop audiences have been Gwen’s Girls, Magee Womens Hospital research study with Teen Moms, Carnegie Mellon University incoming freshmen women, University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Teen Photo project, and more. Some early partners were Gwen Young, principal of Holy Rosary School in Homewood; Marcia Sturdivant in her role at CYF (Children, Youth and Families), who sent 45 of their families to a Mother/Daughter Empowerment Symposium; SEE NEW BOOK A5

Pittsburgh Courier NEW

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REVEREND DR. BRENDA J. GREGG, REV. SHIRLEY WILLIAMS, RHONDA JENNINGS, LATRESHA WILLIAMS, GAIL ROACH.


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