PENELOPE Pittsburgh, PA - In cooperation with Allegheny County District Attorney, Stephen Zappala President Judge, Donna Jo McDaniel, and Honorable Anthony W. Saveikis, Crisis Center North (CCN) will launch Allegheny County's first court dog program, serving victims of domestic violence. Victims often find that testifying against an abuser can be traumatizing and terrifying. In order to help ease the stress, CCN’s in-house therapy dog, Penelope, will be accompany survivors in magisterial courts as they go through the process of speaking with an advocate, police officer or court personnel.
ULISH CARTER The past few weeks have been loaded with news, with the most popular being the Supreme Court decisions on Affirmative Action, Voting Rights and Gay Marriages. But there was an even bigger news story that occurred that most of the media missed. It was huge. No Black homicides in the month of June.
SHOWING THEIR SUPPORT—In celebration of the great works of Marcia M. Sturdivant, PhD, deputy director of Allegheny County Dept. of Human Services, Office of Children, Youth and Families, fellow friends and colleagues of the many children and families advocate organizations throughout Allegheny County, came together at the Community Empowerment Association, in Homewood, to honor her 23 years of service. Sturdivant will become the CEO of NEED in July. The home of CEA, founded by Rashad Byrdsong, was lavishly decorated and served well as the venue for the honored ceremony. Guests were entertained and dined during the early evening festivities. Pictured above, at head table, from left: TiAnda Blount, Mel Blount Youth Home; Claudette Lewis, interim president & CEO, NEED; Jean Sturdivant, mother of Marcia Sturdivant; and Marcia M. Sturdivant. (Photos by Rossano P. Stewart)
Jomonna Smith listens to her children, 12-year-old Mon'Dayja and 9-year-old Mon'Dae, answer the doctor's questions about school, chores and their health. (Public Source Photo/Alexandra Kanik) by Halle Stockton (Public Source)--Jomonna Smith, a 30-year-old woman, held her last job in 2008 as a store cashier. She is a single mother of three children, making ends meet with government assistance, styling hair on the side and a bit of family help. She relies on buses to get around and pays $301 a month to live in a public housing project in Braddock, a borough southeast of Pittsburgh. But she craves more for herself and her children.
Aki Witherspoon and Chris Winston, both 20, live in transitional housing provided by the nonprofit Familylinks. They submitted their applications for low-income public housing a few days before the list closed. (Photo by Alexandra Kanik / PublicSource) by Halle Stockton PublicSource Nearly 23,000 people live in limbo as they wait for public housing in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.
MARSHA JONES, CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER AT PNC At a press conference on May 23, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald joined community and corporate leaders to announce a new initiative to increase economic opportunities for minorities in Pittsburgh. The initiative will specifically target the African-American population, which exhibits the greatest disparities in employment and wealth in the Pittsburgh region.
RAYCO 'WAR' SAUNDERS (Courier Photo/William McBride) The shooting death of a 1-year-old boy at an East Hills cookout has left many in the community feeling outraged and fed up with the Black-on-Black violence. Early Tuesday evening, two females were injured and their nephew was killed when three men got out of a vehicle and opened fire into a crowd at a cookout in the 2300 block of East Hills Drive. The toddler, who has been identified as Marcus White Jr., 19 months, was taken to Children’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The two females, whose names still have not been released, were taken to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, one, 19 years old, was listed in stable condition, the second, 20 years old with gunshot wounds to the chest and back, has been listed in critical condition. The women had taken White to the cookout. “My grandson is gone and he’s not coming back,” said Camille Smith, White’s grandmother. “He was an innocent baby. It was senseless.”
RICH FITZGERALD Saying he wants to have more open lines of communication, particularly on issues pertaining to the African-American community, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, his Chief of Staff Jennifer Liptak and County Manager William McKain joined the New Pittsburgh Courier editorial board for the first of what he said could be quarterly meetings.
