Stanton Heights, Pittsburgh PA The official blog of the Stanton Heights Neighborhood Association

At our community meeting on Wednesday, September 27, information was presented on three topics: Flexable, Pep Rally, and Allegheny Lead Safe Homes Program.  In case you missed it, please find a summary of the topics below:

Jessica Strong, community resident and co-founder of Flexable, described the new startup’s mission–to revolution childcare.  Created by two moms with five children between them, Flexable is working to bring childcare to parents exactly when and where they need it.  The Flexable platform allows individual parents to find care on demand and helps organizations and planners provide care at events.  Flexable was accepted to the 2016 AlphaLab Accelerator program.  You can read more about Flexable on their website, FlexableCare.com.

PEP Rally is a program housed at Lawrenceville United that aims to rally parents and community partners to support and strengthen our neighborhood public schools: Arsenal PreK-5, Arsenal 6-8, and Woolslair K-5.  This is done by engaging and empowering parents to be agents of positive change, and by creating partnerships to fuel community-supported initiatives.  Research shows that when schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more.  To learn more and get involved, please check out their website, LUnited.org.

Information on the Allegheny Lead Safe Homes Program was also presented.  This program will identify and control lead-based paint hazards in approximately 175 eligible units throughout Allegheny County, including the City of Pittsburgh.  Services are available to eligible families.  To learn more and determine if you are eligible, please call 412-227-5700 or check out the website.

With all of this important information for parents, we thought there was no better time to gauge interest in spurring an active parent group in the neighborhood.  If anyone is interested, please email stantonheightspgh@gmail.com.

Our next happy hour is on Wednesday, September 13 from 6:00 to 8:00pm at the home of Beverly Beisgen and Henry Kacprzyk–1343 Simona Drive.  This month’s theme is ‘Harvest Bounty’ and guests are encouraged to bring something made from their garden!  As always, you can bring whatever you want, and it is BYOB.  See you there!

Earlier this month at the 5th Annual Community Festival, SHNA launched a campaign to fund the creation of the Stanton Heights Mosaic Steps! Our vision is to transform a set of Pittsburgh city steps — at the gateway to Stanton Heights as you enter it from Lawrenceville — into a magnificent mosaic work of public art.

Artist Laura Jean McLaughlin has designed a whimsical, humorous, stunning image of diversity and nature that represents the essence of the neighborhood (see image left). This design will unfold on the outside of each of the 44 steps, and full image can be seen in one view.

Please visit our ioby fundraising page to contribute and make this project a reality!

This month’s Happy Hour is Wednesday, July 19th.  It will be hosted by Liz Tafel & Kevin Hurley in their Stanton Heights backyard. It is BYOB and the food theme is loosely called “Pie.” Last year we had meat pies, vegetable pies, cheese pies and dessert pies–all delicious. Please bring a pie to share! If you want to bring a side dish or snack instead, that’s fine too! Soft drinks will be provided. Family friendly–might even heat up the fire pit for S’mores!

It’s time for a happy hour in the neighborhood! Join us on Tuesday, June 20, from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. This month’s Italian themed event will take place at the home of Jim Heinrich at 4283 Coleridge Street. He will provide a vegetable pasta dish and guests are asked to bring a beverage or dish to share. All neighbors are invited to join us for these monthly events and they are a great way to get to know your community. Kids are welcome!