"One Man's Search for Acceptance"
Often, hands can express emotion the same as any smile or any frown. For Michael Lu, an Anhui Province, China native and a Pittsburgh resident it is only through his hands that our readers can glimpse a sense of Lu. Lu, sat down with intern @ctony0114 to talk about his lived experiences of being a gay Chinese man in America. While Lu has come out to many members of his family and friends, the taboo against the LGBTQ+ community that still permeates both America and China caused Lu a level of apprehension when confronted with the idea of having his face shown to the public. Lu explained that "In China, we don't come out to our coworkers, mainly due to fear of alienation and mistrust. So, I just don't feel obligated to come out to my colleagues here." Lu's story is one of happiness, love, loss, the search for place, and the creation and solidarity of family. Take a few minutes to celebrate the diversity and acceptance of Pittsburgh by learning about one resident's life here in the Steel City! Read the rest @storyburgh.org
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#pittsburgh #pitt #pennsylvania #steelcity #squirrelhill #lgbtq #pgh #china #immigration #lgbtqrights #love #comingout #closet #man #acceptance #diversity #wedding #gay #family #hands #queer #queerrights #work #coworkers #stigma #fear

Sister Janice

Janice Vanderneck heads Casa San Jose, a Beechview organization helping Mexican families, many of whom came to escape violence among warring drug cartels in their country.

But it all started in childhood. At 12, Vanderneck soaked up Spanish language classes. And as much as she was growing in love with the Latino culture, she was also enamored of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden who taught her. “I was in love with my Catholicism,” she says. “Sisters seemed to have fun.” While she was working on her Master’s Degree in theology, she went to the Amazon in Brazil. There she offered religious education to people preparing for marriage, or baptizing children. She helped with worship services. Her work included conscientization, educating people to think critically about power structures, oppression and influence, and encouraging political engagement.

And she witnessed dire poverty.

Back in the U.S., Vanderneck worked for decades as a religion teacher and principal at area Catholic elementary schools.

In the classroom, she says, she shared her experiences from Latin America “to tell story about the richness of culture and the dire circumstances of poor.” In 2003, she started work at the Latino Catholic Social Ministry Office at a church in Oakland. “I sure didn’t know a lot about immigration law or anything like that,” she says. “I soon learned. One of the first cases that I started to work on was a mom who came in and told me that she was denied Medical Assistance for her child, who was born here in this country… That set me on a crash course on learning what undocumented immigrants’ life is like and what they’re eligible for and what they’re not eligible for, and advocating. That started me on advocating.” Then the Sisters of St. Joseph asked her to start Casa San Jose.

Read the rest at www.storyburgh.org .
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#storyburgh #advocate
#Pittsburgh #catholic
#immigration #immigrants
#spanish #mesoamerica #theology #oakland #beechwood #undocumented #education #classroom #oakland #politics #oppression #religion

Train Like A Champion
“Boxing is like a bug,” John James told me. “You either love it or hate it. If you love it, it never lets you go.” James, a former champion amateur boxer (Pittsburgh Golden Gloves, 1994, 165 lbs), now serves Pittsburgh as a volunteer trainer for Steel City Boxing. The gym, located in Spring Hill, is a decommissioned firehouse. While it’s open to the public, most of its members are young adult men.
Bob Sobocinski, president of the Spring Hill Civic League and the president of the gym, views the gym as a source of cohesion and civic pride. He hopes it can restore social unity in Spring Hill. “I’d like to see the neighborhood like it used to be,” Sobocinski said. “There used to be groups like Little League that don’t exist anymore.” Read the rest at www.storyburgh.org .
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#boxing #storyburgh #Pittsburgh #northside #springhill #springhillcivicleague #pittsburghgoldengloves #champion #train #gym #community #neighborhood #steelcityboxing #amateurboxing #amateurboxingassociation #volunteer #spirit #postive #service #youngpeople #youth

David Shifren is a knight. His life moves in one direction, shifts 90 degrees, continues on, then shifts again. On November 3, 2015, Shifren's interests took another turn, as he began teaching chess to 10-15 local children at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Shifren aims to help the kids in his chess club move like pawns on a chessboard: only forward never bavkward. A year and a half after the first meeting, the club has maintained its crowd and the idea has spread to other neighborhoods. The club offers consistency and a safe place to grow intellectually and socially. Most importantly it has helped to create a close connection between communities and the local police force. "I'll ask about [the kids] reading habits, see chess kids at Hazelwood events, such as school football games, holiday parties, National Night Out celebrations and the Hazelwood Center of Life musical events" Shifren said. "I have forged friendships with the kids." Read the rest at www.storyburgh.org
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#hazelwood #pittsburgh #chess #chessclub #community #pittsburghpolice #kids #education #activities #games #knight #friendships #carnegielibrary #libraries #social #society #inspiration #motivation #police #cops #helping #city #relationships #strategy #games #pgh #pennsylvania #city #urban

In This House There Isn't Chaos
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To say the least, Tracy has a lot going on. When Shacoya Bates from Every child, Inc. arrives for a visit Tracy has almost everything ready at her dining room table: a stack of paperwork, her planner, notes about the forms. Her 13 year old granddaughter, Anya, has just called to say she'll be staying after school for homework club.
A few years ago, Anya was living in a car under a bridge with her mother and brothers. Anya's mother, and Tracy's former daughter in law, struggles with addiction and mental health problems. Eventually Anya went to go live with her grandmother, Tracy. While they have a happy home there is still much work to be done in helping Anya work through the guilt of being the sibling who got out and her own personal struggles with PTSD from her childhood. This is where Bates, from Every Child Inc. comes in, she helps Tracy find outlets for Anya to work through her past and checks in how Anya and Tracy are coping with their new relationship. "You guys are a really good team" Bates says. "We're working on it. As you change from a grandparent to a parent, that's a big adjustment. She's used to being the parent. That doesn't work here." Tracy exaplains. Tracy herself is heavily involved in volunteer activities - advocating for Veterans' Court, mental health awareness classes, and sobriety groups.
Read the rest at storyburgh.org .
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#pgh #pitt #pittsburgh #pennsylvania #storyburgh #Veterans #service #grandparents #parents #children #teens #addiction #mentalhealth #sobriety #awareness #homelessness #PTSD #siblings #family #everychildinc #volunteer #love #usa #school #highschool #homework #rules #team #steelcity

Showing #robrogerscartoons on #homelessness during #OpenStreetsPGH with #alleghenycounty Homelessness Advisory

Lead Laden Soil "People are worried about water, and they should be, but water is not the main driver of lead poisoning among children.” It’s soil.

In the Steel City, groups like ACCD, DECO Resources, and Grow Pittsburgh have been able to conduct studies on soil lead levels in neighborhood vacant lots using an X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer, also known as the XRF. This handheld machine can test soil for lead and receive results in about 60 seconds. “We affectionately call it the soil ray gun,” said Anthony Stewart, president and environmental director of DECO Resources.

The XRF can be used to test lead levels in soil if the soil is processed properly. With a grant from the Hillman Family Foundation, the ACCD purchased an XRF.

To properly test the soil in a vacant lot for lead, Stewart said the lot is first broken up into areas that are usually 10 square feet and five samples are taken from each section. The soil must then be dried and processed into fine granules before being tested by the XRF. With this level of analysis, Stewart said they have been getting “laboratory grade results.” “We do send out 10 to 15 percent of our samples off to a lab for confirmation, and we are finding that we are spot on,” Stewart said.

Stewart said he would like to see collaboration between the organization and the City so “vetted scientists” would be allowed to access the City’s soil data that is currently internal and private. “It would be incredibly helpful… to use that data to drive policy and decision making,” Stewart said. “That’s kind of where I see the shortcoming right now.” Read the rest @ www.storyburgh.org
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#storyburgh #pittsburgh #lead #soil #water #hillmanfamilyfoundatation #steelcity #safety #environment #earth #keepitclean #leadpoisoning #children #activism #plants #city #xrf #dirt #mud #plants #drinkingwater #growpittsburgh #ACCD #DECO

To Drink, or Not To Drink “I drank from that spring when I went to Spring Hill School. People used to stand in line waiting to fill jugs up, daily.” Restoring the freshwater spring was the culmination of a dream for Pittsburgh District 1 Councilwoman Darlene Harris. “We’ve been talking about getting the spring restored for thirty seven years.” In May 2016, after a six-decade hiatus, fresh water has again begun to flow.

But is it safe to drink?
Read more at storyburgh.org .
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#water #drinkingwater #pittsburgh #springwater #springhill #restoration #citywater #cleanwater #pennsylvania