I’m visiting the cities of Arnold and New Kensington, just outside of Pittsburgh. They’re both smaller, third class American cities. Both were thriving communities in the hotbed and heyday of the Pennsylvania steel industry. Then the Aluminum plant closed down. Followed by the glass factory, General Electric, Standard Railway, and continuing shut-downs or layoffs at the steel mills. Huge buildings sit vacant, adding insult to injury.
A guy named Steve and his wife Vona took me into their home and showed me around town. I tried to figure how a guy like Steve came to a place like Arnold.
Steve’s dad worked for McDonald Douglass as their Vice President of fighter aircraft. He did design work on the F4, F15, and F18 fighter jets. Steve actually spent 20 years in the Navy. Twelve years on subs. Eight years on destroyers. Six years as a high-ranking senior Chief. I found out this guy did his graduate studies in nuclear physics and chemical engineering.
But Steve wanted something the Navy’s subs and destroyers couldn’t provide. He had nurtured a private dream to help people in a different way. Retiring from the Navy, he turned his back on six figure salaries from two private firms and enrolled in a seminary. Some of his friends figured he was nuts.
Three years ago, Steve and Vona settled into Arnold, taking on the service of an older church in the heart of a somewhat depressed community. To listen to some people, the church was near death and the community close to extinction.
The house next door to their home is a crack house, as is the rooming house across the street. Now I felt like I was stepping on more familiar turf. “This is starting to feel just like Winnipeg,” I told him. But in my heart I feel there’s an important difference.
Winnipeg doesn’t have as much of an excuse for our problems. For too long politicians, planners and policy wonks just played “see no evil, hear no evil, fight no evil.” But you can only bury your head in the sand for so long before someone kicks you in the butt. Now that it’s hurting, they’re starting to work up a response.
This place is different. When the bulk of the major industries leave and the population drops to almost half of what it was in the “good old days,” calamity is almost expected. Unemployment and addictions have fractured families and crippled parts of the community.
There are neighbourhoods I was told to avoid like the plague, but walked through anyway. There have been three murders in the last few weeks. One guy got popped for actually putting a contract on one of the local cops. People at a community meeting complained of gunfire in the middle of the day. Last night a storeowner warned me to beware of drive-by shootings.
Many businesses in the area of New Kensington are vacant and boarded. Too many homes have “For Sale” signs with the desperation-induced “Reduced” signs. The old and the poor are hanging on – with nowhere to go and less energy to get there.
In Arnold, the mayor is a 91 year old character who would love for his city to run like his extended Italian family. But knowing those days are gone, there’s talk he’s moving over for someone new.
In Arnold, the Chief of police still covers some shifts on the streets. His department is working on some creative ways of tackling the drug and prostitution trade. We had lunch in a local café and traded frustrations and creative ways to re-establish respect for law and community. They’ll soon be getting some help to make some radical changes. I’m figuring some of their ideas should work in Winnipeg.
I’ve spent a week talking with politicians, police, bureaucrats and, most importantly, people on the streets. I met them in nice parts of town and even in the dreaded “projects.” We talked, laughed, dreamed and strategized. In spite of the problems, there are folks who are tough and determined to turn things around. I talked to a guy renovating a home. I saw signs of hope in community cleanups, and church people looking to get involved in their community.
This trip has turned into much more than a trading of practical ideas and policy analysis. None of us pretended to have all the answers. But for a few days we were privileged to share each other’s determination and hope.
Rev. Harry Lehotsky
514 Maryland Street
Winnipeg, Mb R3G 1M5
(204) 775-4929
lehotsky@escape.ca