On April 3rd, 2019, after years of struggling financially, chair of Hill House Emma Lucas-Darby officially announced that the Hill House Association, self-proclaimed heart of the Hill, would be ceasing operations in June of 2019. Hill House had been struggling for years, selling off its property in hopes of staying afloat, but still amassing millions in debt. Hill House Association struggles alongside the Hill District for the entirety of its existence facing problems such as racism, gentrification, and dislocation. Hill House acted like a barrier between its people and these problems. With the upcoming closure of Hill House, the future of the Hill District might feel more bleak than ever. What is going to happen to the services it provided and the people it served?
Hill House Association “provide[d] services and activities designed to identify and reinforce the strengths of individuals, families and communities” (www.hillhouse.org). While the closure of such an important organization is devasting to its community, not everything is lost for the Hill District. Over the span of its 55 years of service to its community, Hill House offered services to the underprivileged and unfortunate such as the elderly and the uneducated. When they announced that they would be ceasing operations within a short few months, other non-profits were quick to act to acquiring their services. The Macedonia FACE non-profit organization will be picking up all of the senior services that Hill House offered, though they will not be purchasing the building that the services operated in as “[they] focus on quality services … [they] don’t manage buildings” (Gannon www.post-gazette.com). The Kaufman center is currently being eyed by the ACH Clear Pathways nonprofit which arts to disadvantaged youth. The nonprofit it hopeful to acquire Hill House’s cultural programming. Currently, its remaining services are still up in the air, but Hill House is working hard to find other agencies to which they can successfully transition their remaining services such as the First Source Center, though they are ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the future of these services. Though Hill House Association may be gone, the community will continue to assist the unfortunate in any way it can.
Even beyond these services, Hill House Association has acted as a leader in its community. The association owned many buildings within the neighborhood and treated them as a service to its people. The Hill House was responsible for bringing in the no longer in business Shop n’ Save was the first ever major grocery store that the neighborhood contained. With the Shop n’ Save now gone, residents are now forced to shop at Family Dollar for their food (which is also owned by Hill House) or leave their community altogether. All of the buildings that were owned by the association are up for sale in hopes of satisfying the debt, but this has upset many of the residents as they worry that this is leaving an uncertain future for much of the space in the neighborhood. The Hill District has been a repeated victim of gentrification and forced dislocation. There have been instances through the Hill Districts history in which entire street were wiped out and people were left without their homes. When a large portion of Crawford Street was demolished in order to make room for the civic center, resident Carlos Peterson recalls “I remember being able to look down from the third floor and actually see the bulldozers and the destruction of where we once lived … coupled with the sense of personal loss of friends and neighborhood, this event had quite and influence on my life” (Fullilove 12). This was not the only instance in which residents were forced from their home in the Hill District, and these instances have caused a sense of fear amongst its residents. The residents were fearful that should these building be sold irresponsibly, higher end development would overtake many of these buildings and they would be further forced to relocate. The buildings remain unsold for now and the community is fighting for a larger voice to whom the building is sold. The effect that this will have on the community is still in the air, but the fear of the residents is very much present. This is not to say however that Hill House is not putting thought into who purchases the buildings. The Hill House is attempting to pay attention to who does buy the buildings. For example, the building that housed the aforementioned Shop N’ Save is specifically being shopped around to other potential grocery store operators in hopes to bring a grocery store back to the Hill.
Hill House Association was a guardian for the neighborhood and its people. Even beyond these services that it provided, it acted as an essential part of its community. The people there would care about their community and help people where they could. They would host events, bring in volunteers to the community, and hear the voices of their people. Their website consisted of a wealth of resources for the community which could assist them with health, justice, and social problems. The Hill District, like any other neighborhood, is riddled with such problems, but being a predominantly black neighborhood, it suffers from social problems more so than others, racism being a large issue even today. Last year, a billboard simply displaying the message “There are black people in the future” had to be taken down due to complaints of “’distasteful, offensive, …, political’ content” (“There are Black People in the Future”). Simply a message of existence is enough of create anger amongst their neighbors. Hill House acted as a barrier between its people are these ideas of hatred. With the announcement that the organization will be shutting down, the Hill became a little more empty. Even with some of the services being saved by other organizations, their absence leaves a large hole in the community.
Works Cited
“Hill House Association.” Hill House Association, www.hillhouse.org/.
Fullilove, Mindy Thompson. Root Shock: How Tearing up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, and What We Can Do about It. New Village Press, 2016.
Gannon, Joyce. “Hill House Association Wants to Dissolve Operations by June.” Pitsburgh Post Gazette, 3 Apr. 2019, www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2019/04/03/Hill-House-dissolve-nonprofit-social-services-Hill-District/stories/201904020150.
Gannon, Joyce. “Lawrenceville Developer Has Support to Acquire Hill House Properties.” Gazette, 26 Mar. 2019, www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2019/03/26/Hill-House-properties-sale-E-Properties-Hill-District/stories/201903260137.
https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2018/04/06/There-Are-Black-People-in-the-Futire-billboard-Eve-Picker-Jon-Rubin-Alisha-Wormsley/stories/201804060115
Fullilove, Mindy Thompson. Root Shock: How Tearing up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, and What We Can Do about It. New Village Press, 2016.
Gannon, Joyce. “Hill House Association Wants to Dissolve Operations by June.” Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 3 Apr. 2019, www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2019/04/03/Hill-House-dissolve-nonprofit-social-services-Hill-District/stories/201904020150.