The daffodils are starting to bloom, birds are chirping, and someone needs to recalibrate Punxsutawney Phil! The last six weeks have definitely not been “six more weeks of winter.” Whether this recent weather has lifted your spirits or left you anxious about climate change, our newsletter is here to connect us amidst stress and celebration. Read on for the latest updates!

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From the EJGP Project Team Desk

Americorps Civic Engagement Grant

EJGP and Dr. Mary Ohmer of the Pitt School of Social Work have been awarded a grant from AmeriCorps to support the development of community organizers and advocates. For this project, we will be facilitating a co-created organizing and advocacy training that will (1) pay training participants to plug in to the EJGP network, (2) pay people already in the network to work with the training participants, and (3) support the participants in executing a project that will benefit all of their communities. Our steering committee, which includes several members of our EJGP Advisory Group, will soon start planning the training. We anticipate the training will take place over the summer, and our funding will support 15 or so participants. We’ll share more details as they become available.

Next Full Network Meeting

Our next Full Network meeting will be Thursday, April 13th from 9-10:30 a.m. on zoom! We hope to see you there!

EJGP's Cross-Community Network

The Cross-Community Network (EJGP-CCN) is a network of community groups, community-based organizations, and residents who want transformational, people-centered change in their communities and across the Greater Pittsburgh region.

We've set our meeting schedule for the first half of the year. As with the full network meetings, we're going to rotate the days of the meetings. If you can't make one night, hopefully you can make another. Two goals for this year are to expand the size this group and better support and serve more neighborhoods! Join us! Our meetings will be:

Thursday, May 18th

Tuesday, July 11th

 All of our meetings will run from 6-7 p.m. The zoom doors will open at 5:45 for those who would like an EJGP refresher!

December 2022 Full Network Meeting

Thanks to all who were able to attend the Equitable and Just Greater Pittsburgh December Full Network Meeting! (Click here for full meeting notes)

We hope you enjoyed the conversations with Germaine Patterson of Women for a Healthy Environment and Ana Hoffman of CREATE Lab. We thank them for sharing their knowledge, expertise, and experiences with us! If you have any questions for them about air quality monitoring or it's impacts or want to learn more about how to get involved in their work, please feel free to reach out at: germaine@womenforahealthyenvironment.org or ana@create.org.

February 2023 Full Network Meeting

Thanks to 70 people who joined our most recent network meeting in February, including about 15 first-time attendees! The theme of the meeting was “Reclaim and Repair.” (Click here for notes!)

Donna Jackson (Larimer Consensus Group), Ariam Ford-Graver (Grounded Strategies), and Dan Sullivan (ACTION Housing) spoke about the importance of rehabilitating vacant lots and housing in need of repair. We thank them for sharing their knowledge and experiences and vital importance of this work to create healthy communities. The need for more funding to make homes healthy and reclaim lots is huge. Keep an eye out for upcoming campaigns to support this work.

Platform Update and Expansion

Our platform update is on hold until we hire a new network coordinator, which will hopefully happen soon!

Campaign Updates

Fair Fares for a Full Recovery

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services discounted fare pilot program is underway! The sign-up period ended mid-January, and a total of over 14,000 people are participating in the pilot program. That includes over 4,700 low-income riders who are paying half-fares and over 4,800 who are riding for free! As this PublicSource article highlights, this pilot is improving lives!

For more information about the Fair Fares campaign, visit: fairfaresnow.org or contact Sam Applefield at sam@pittsburghfoodpolicy.org

If you or someone you know is participating in the pilot program and wants to share their story with the campaign, please contact Dan Yablonsky at dan@pittsburghforpublictransit.org

Level Up: Greater Pittsburgh Pay Equity Campaign

Spearheaded by the YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh, the Black Women's Policy Center (BWPC), and the Women and Girls Foundation, the Level Up campaign works to bring attention to the stark and compounding economic disparities felt by women of color hopes to grow support for equal pay for all.

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The Level Up campaign will be asking companies, local businesses, and non-profits throughout the Pittsburgh region to take the Pay Equity Pledge to strengthen our regions economy, and building strength in our region's families.

Get the Lead Out

The trial for the case against the City of Pittsburgh's lead ordinance brought by landlords and real estate has ended, and they will be putting together their final statements over the next month or so. Then the case will be in the hands of the judge. His decision could come quickly or take longer, though it is anticipated that it would come before the end of the summer.

For more information or if you’d like to get involved, please contact info@gettheleadout.org.

In the Community

Downtown bus route changes!

Pittsburgh Regional Transit is exploring new downtown bus routes for many routes that travel downtown. They are asking for feedback on their website (https://nextransit.network/downtown). These changes may mean the buses get through downtown more quickly, but also that riders may have to travel farther between their bus and their destination. Pittsburghers for Public Transit’s (PPT) monthly meeting TODAY (Wednesday 3/8) from 7-8:30 p.m. will discuss the proposed changes and what they might mean for riders.

A group of organizations, including several from the EJGP network, are hosting an Allegheny County Executive candidate forum this Thursday, March 9th, from 6:30-8 p.m. Candidates will cover several topics related to equity and justice in Allegheny County that community members helped create.

Food Justice Fund Update

When Pittsburgh City Council approved $3 million for the Pittsburgh Food Justice Fund in December, they required a plan for the fund's administration be presented to Council within 6 months. The Food Justice Fund Committee continues to meet weekly to build out this plan. Committee members will be meeting with members of the Mayor's administration and City Council to discuss details of this plan in the coming weeks. Our goal is to make sure that the Food Justice Fund is a transparent, accessible, and impactful opportunity for those within the Pittsburgh community living under food apartheid. All are welcome to attend Food Justice Fund Committee meetings, Monday mornings at 11 AM.

New Sun Rising Creative Advocacy Workshop

New Sun Rising has a commitment to elevating and encouraging the voices of communities and organizations in their pursuit to create a more vibrant future. To help people like you build powerful campaigns that strengthen community movement towards their goals, NSR + RiverWise will host the Ignite Creative Advocacy virtual workshop from 1-3 p.m. on Thursday, March 30.

This virtual workshop will support participants in developing a plan that uses public forms of engagement and artistic practice to disrupt prevailing narratives and strengthen community movement toward their goals. It will include information about applying concepts and strategies from our Creative Advocacy Playbook, individual mentoring for campaign plan development, and an optional pitch competition where participants can share their campaign plans with a panel of judges. Three Creative Advocacy campaigns will then be selected to each receive a $5,000 grant and technical assistance to support the implementation of their plan.

Get Involved!

Join the Network and Share Your Neighborhood and Topic Area Updates and Information!

Want to share your upcoming initiatives and events with our network? It's as easy as 1-2-3!

1. Email your upcoming event, petition, report, survey, or job opportunity to info@ejgp.org

2. Be sure to include any vital information such as deadlines, registration links, and/or eligibility criteria

3. Follow us @ejgppgh on Facebook and Instagram and don't forget to like and share our #EJGPtopics post to grow the network!

 
Looking for information related to a specific topic? Search the hashtags #ejgpfood #ejgphousing #ejgplivelihoods #ejgpenvironment 
#ejgpeducation #ejgptransportation #ejgphealth #ejgpneighborhoods 
 
Visit our website www.ejgp.org and leave your email to sign up for our newsletter!