Some of the staff of the Urban League’s Family Support Centers, which are located in East Hills, Duquesne and Northview Heights. A “Dress for Success” event was held, Feb. 28, at the East Hills location. (Photo by Rob Taylor Jr.)
Programs and fun activities being planned as spring hits
On Feb. 28, the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh’s East Hills Family Support Center was packed with local residents checking out the professional attire they may need for their next job interview.
But that’s only part of what happens there.
Similar to how universities have a main location and then satellite branches, the Urban League works the same way in Pittsburgh. Its headquarters is Downtown at 332 Fifth Avenue inside the Warner Center, but it has three Family Support Centers—Duquesne, at 1 Library Place; Northview Heights, at 437 Mt. Pleasant Road; and East Hills, at 2320 East Hills Drive Rear.
Maurice Lucas, the East Hills location’s site director, partnered with the people at Dress For Success Pittsburgh, who brought a wide variety of casual and professional clothing that residents received—for free.
ALEX MARKS, RIGHT, DRESS FOR SUCCESS PITTSBURGH MOBILE
SERVICES LEAD, WITH A RESIDENT WHO JUST PICKED UP SOME
PROFESSIONAL CLOTHING.
People like Darlene Hunter, of Northview Heights, and Adele Whitson, of East Hills, attended and found some nice clothing, they told the New Pittsburgh Courier. For Whitson, she said after 13 years of her job in food service, she’s looking to secure a job interview for a different type of job, but a job that still allows her to work with people.
“We provide clothing to women who are entering or returning to the workforce, or are going through some sort of transition,” said Alex Marks, the Dress For Success Pittsburgh Mobile Services Lead. “We hope to provide them with clothing, connections and confidence to get to that next step in their life.”
The event also served as a way to introduce or reintroduce the locals to the East Hills Family Support Center. While the East Hills Community Center is just a stone’s throw away, the Family Support Center is the connection between all that the Urban League has to offer and the people of East Hills.
“These centers are here to really help empower the families,” Carlos Carter, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, told the Courier at the Feb. 28 event. “We have emergency food pantries in here, we help with jobs, we help remove barriers, in terms of if they need rental assistance, they can connect to the greater Urban League; if they need rides to doctor’s appointments, we take them…”
The East Hills Family Support Center also assists people with free pampers.
ADELE WHITSON CHECKS OUT THE PROFESSIONAL CLOTHING FROM DRESS FOR SUCCESS PITTSBURGH, DURING AN EVENT AT THE URBAN LEAGUE’S EAST HILLS FAMILY SUPPORT CENTER, FEB. 28. (PHOTOS BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
Lucas, the site director, told the Courier there’s more plans in the works to get the residents more connected to the center. He’s planning a grand reopening celebration tentatively in May, complete with outdoor inflatables, games for the kids, free food on the grill, and more.
Lucas also wants the Family Support Center to be known as a place where tutoring takes place, there’s movie nights for the kids, and overall, a true resource outlet for the East Hills community.
“A lot of people don’t know how easy it is to find a resource,” Lucas told the Courier. “With us being that liasion, we can help get them to where they want to be instead of where they have to be.”
(Editor’s note: For more information on the Urban League’s East Hills Family Support Center, call 412- 727-2640.)
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