Homewood Operation Better Block marks 50 years
For several years, Brandon Walker has helped to grow produce in vacant lots in Homewood as a member of the Junior Green Corps. On Saturday, he got to sell some of the fruits of his labor.
Mr. Walker, a soon-be-be high school senior, manned the farmers market booth during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Homewood Operation Better Block in Westinghouse Park.
It was a task he relished, as he watched vegetables like zucchini and squash grown in a garden he helped to tend trade hands.
“It feels good, to be honest,” he said. “It’s satisfying to do, too. It’s just really beautiful how plants grow and we can help other people out.”
Junior Green Corps is one of the programs developed by Operation Better Block, a Homewood community group whose roots date to the social unrest in the late 1960s and which is now at the center of efforts to revitalize the East End neighborhood.
With weather so perfect Saturday that it seemed specifically ordered up for the event, Operation Better Block celebrated its halfcentury of existence with a day of free music, food and activities in the park.
It was a time to relax, to socialize, and to feast on some good cooking, from hamburgers and hot dogs to smoked beef brisket and pulled chicken, ribs, gumbo and catfish
nuggets — with Italian ice to top it off.
Jerome Jackson, the organization’s executive director, said the group wanted to do something special for the community after a year in which the pandemic forced it to cancel its usual gala.
Incorporated in 1971, Operation Better Block at first focused on beautifying and cleaning up the neighborhood after riots in 1968 and ensuring that residents got the services they deserved.
Since then, it has branched out to help residents in areas including housing, employment, block cleanup, and health and safety.
The nonprofit, Mr. Jackson said, “stands in the gap” to help “for whatever is not being fulfilled or not being addressed in Homewood” by government or others.
In the 1990s, for example, when the neighborhood was plagued by gang violence, it started a mentoring program to try to lure young people away from gangs and create a better future for them.
The Junior Green Corps is a more recent initiative, designed to address the high number of vacant lots in the neighborhood.
As part of the environment program, teenagers ages 14 to 18 maintain the lots, do soil testing, install rain barrels and rain gardens, and grow and tend to flower and fruit and vegetable gardens.
“It’s our way of doing something that the city doesn’t have the ability to do,” Mr. Jackson said. “We have over 2,000 vacant lots in Homewood, so there’s no way we can maintain them all. But we’re trying to maintain some in our critical corridors.”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazetteearlier this year chronicled in a series of stories the problem with vacant lots in theneighborhood.
The nonprofit also has been involved in economic development and home ownership initiatives over the years. One program is designed to help lower-income residents buy houses that it has secured at nominal prices and rehabbed.
On the development side, it’s involved in the rehab of the James T. Givner Building at 627 North Homewood Ave. into two first floor commercial spaces and six upper-floor apartments.
One of the vendors that participated in Saturday’s celebration, Roux Orleans, will open a restaurant at the location in December or January. It will be the first restaurant in Pittsburgh for the catering company, which specializes in New Orleans food.
Chef and owner Mike “Big EZ” Barnes said he decided to open the restaurant after being approached by Operation Better Block.
“I thought it was a great opportunity, especially for that neighborhood, to add my flavor, authentic New Orleans cuisine. It seems like everyone likes it here in Pittsburgh,” he said.
Denise Angell, a Homewood resident for 32 years, has seen the neighborhood rise and fall. She believes it is starting to turn the corner and credits Operation Better Block with helping with programming, resources, and outreach.
“I think [the group’s] been very important. If we did it on a scale of one to 10, I would say a 10,” said Ms. Angell, who has been on the nonprofit’s board for six years. “Just being here in the community and looking for things to bring into the community and stuff is phenomenal.”
For her, Saturday’s celebration meant more than just a day of food and fun.
“It sends a signal, an indicator, that it takes time to work toward change and issues and things that come up. The fact that we have been here that long is to let people know that you don’t giveup,” she said. “You keep working, you keep embracing the things as they come, butyou don’t give up.”
Erica Renfro, who lives in Point Breeze near the Homewood border, attended the celebration with her 4-year-old son, Steven Renfro III, who got his face painted and enjoyed playing in the inflatable bouncers for kids.
“It’s just good to see the community get together after so long being indoors and not being able to come out,” she said.
Ms. Renfro, whose dad was born and raised in Homewood, is thinking about buying and renovating a house in the neighborhood with the help of one of the Operation Better Block programs.
She had considered doing so in the past, and was happy to find that the nonprofit was still offering such initiatives. She believes the organization adds value for residents.
“I know they’ve been in the community for years and I know the community trusts them,” she said.