Using the Poverty Stoplight to empower Braddock, PA
Written by Catherine Rieder, Roots of Renewal’s CEO
A statue of mythical folk hero Joe Magarac, a man made of steel who protected ironworkers, reigns over the town of Braddock, Pennsylvania. The ghosts of a once bustling town can be felt permeating the air. A once booming steel town, Braddock’s population has dramatically declined from 20,000 to just 2,000 people. With this massive decline came an inevitable increase in poverty. Now, blighted properties dot the streets, and abandoned cars are thrown about. The question remains, how can this once prominent steel town be reinvigorated?
This is the exact question that plagued Peggy Dague-Mannion. Peggy, a local resident of neighboring Pittsburgh, was struck not only by the poverty that existed within her own community, but also of the neighboring towns, including Braddock. Formerly on the Board of Directors of Roots of Renewal New Orleans, Peggy knew that the Poverty Stoplight could help. Roots of Renewal first implemented the use of the Poverty Stoplight in New Orleans to help understand the issues that citizens were facing in regards to poverty and incarceration. Roots of Renewal, a non-profit based in Louisiana, focuses on the successful reentry of formerly incarcerated young males. New Orleans itself is no stranger to poverty. It is a city of music, love and laughter, but it is also a city of poverty, mass incarceration, and failing educational institutions. Roots of Renewal is keenly aware of the effects that poverty has on families within New Orleans, and that is why when founder Amy Fottrell was introduced to the Poverty Stoplight, she knew immediately that the tool could be utilized to help assess the issues affecting New Orleans communities, and subsequently help its citizens find answers to fix their quality of life. Seeing the success of the Poverty Stoplight in New Orleans, Peggy knew that implementing this tool in Pennsylvania could prove to be a monumental asset in helping to address the pervasive issues of poverty in her own community.
The implementation of the Poverty Stoplight in Pennsylvania began during a week-long training in Pittsburgh. During this training, participants had the opportunity to help craft questions specifically for the people of Pennsylvania. Days were spent collaborating with teams of four and the issues concerning the residents of these communities were addressed in great detail. The customizing process of the Poverty Stoplight questionnaire was no doubt laborious and grueling, but the outcome was great. It was not only a week of training in the class, but an investigation within the community that helped enrich the process. The group toured Braddock and what participants found was that. while the city of Braddock may have felt the heavy handed nature of poverty upon its community, it had in no way dulled the brightness of its remaining citizens. This was demonstrated by the Free Store in Braddock, which was started in 2012 by Giselle Fetterman, and is stocked with donations provided by local businesses and residents who want to make a difference. The participants of the Poverty Stoplight training also visited a new incubator which allows female entrepreneurs to operate their businesses out of an affordable office space. Thus, the people of Braddock are doing the work to make this former steel town rise from the ashes, and it is the hope that Poverty Stoplight can be an additional tool to help the citizens of Braddock bring their town back to its full glory.
At the conclusion of the Poverty Stoplight training in Pittsburgh, the team was ready to implement the Poverty Stoplight to help end the pervasive nature of poverty encompassing their communities. Poverty knows no boundaries, and through the use of the Poverty Stoplight in Pennsylvania, there is hope that those boundaries can be broken down, and that each and every citizen can finally become the maker of their own future — a future filled with self-actualization, determination and empowerment.
