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.

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.

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.)