Braddock, PA

Yesterday was a total culture shock.  The medical students broke up into groups to visit underserved areas of Pittsburgh.  My group headed to Braddock, PA.

Here's a little background on Braddock.  In the early to mid-1900's, Braddock was the place to be in Pittsburgh.  It was the site of many steel mills, the first EVER Carnegie Library (fun fact, my hometown of Pickerington is the smallest town to have a Carnegie Library), and one of the premier shopping districts in all of Pennsylvania.  Then, the steel mills closed down, and the town's population plummeted from 30,000 to 2,500.  All of the store fronts on the main drag are busted in and shut down.  The area has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the entire country.  The average house price in Braddock is under $30,000.  If there was any way to accurately describe Braddock, it would be "ghost town." 

Now, the people of Braddock have no access to healthcare (the only hospital in the area closed down in January because it wasn't turning enough of a profit), or job opportunities, or even grocery stores.  Most of them do not have their own transportation, nor are there buses that cover the area.  

Still, in the midst of all of that resiliency exists.  I had the pleasure of shadowing a community activist who works for a group called Heritage Community Initiatives.  This particular group helps the Braddock area in three main ways: transportation, job training, and education.  They provide vans to get people around town and to the major bus stops that connect to Pittsburgh proper.  Instructional sessions are provided to educate unemployed adults on "green" jobs.  Most impressively, though, in my mind is the school the group runs.  It's called 4 Kids, and it is an "early education learning center," meaning that it is specifically for kids 6 months to 5 years old and serves as preparation for entrance into kindergarten.  Two amazing statistics stood out to me regarding the school: 1) over 1/5 of students from Braddock repeat a grade during primary or secondary school.  Only 2% of 4 Kids graduates eventually repeat a grade; 2) For every $1 spent at 4 Kids, $10 are saved by the local school district later in the educational process.

The best part of the day was actually visiting the school.  We stopped by during lunch time, during which the kids are provided a healthy, balanced meal.  After a tour of the facilities, we spent some time shadowing the 5 year olds.  One five year old ran up to me and told me he could spell his name.  He proudly told me all of the letters while he followed along with a name tag at his chair.  In an area that has astronomical levels of adult illiteracy, this to mean was an incredible mark of the difference 4 Kids is making.

It was extremely inspiring to see such triumph in the face of such adversity.  Hopefully, it's a sign of good things to come in Braddock.

Until tomorrow,

Brittany