OLD - Oakland Planning and Development Corporation

OPDC Purpose Statement: We build a better Oakland and help neighbors thrive. OPDC Vision Statement: Oakland is a beautiful, well-designed, sought-after neighborhood, in which a diverse mix of residents and visitors flourish.

OPDC provides a variety of services to those in need to create a healthy, diverse and safe neighborhood:

Affordable Rental Housing: We provide quality homes that our low-income neighbors can afford and new homeowners can access. We own and manage a portfolio of 78 affordable rental units. We pride ourselves on maintaining them in quality condition and renting to working people who need quality affordable housing. We also have one building that serves low-income elderly residents and those with special needs. In 2017, we will add 25 new units to this portfolio using an award of tax credits from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Authority.

JobLinks Financial Opportunity Center: We help those who are out of work secure a job and create a financial plan to build wealth. We create resumes for first-time job seekers, conduct mock interviews with clients, help people build or repair credit, draft reasonable household budgets, and save more money toward their financial goals. We offer training specific to health care employment, and partner with UPMC to prepare top candidates for its entry-level positions. Our work is tailored to individuals' circumstances and talents, and our candidates do more than get a job - they build wealth over time by creating a long-term plan for financial success. JobLinks is based in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood, but offers services to job seekers from all over Pittsburgh.

School 2 Career Youth Program: We give at-risk teenagers the support they need to succeed in school and work with professionals in their chosen career field. School 2 Career annually engages 40 low-income teenagers primarily from poor urban neighborhoods. We place students into professionally mentored work placements (most in science, technology, engineering, and math fields), provide daily tutoring and academic support, and ensure that each student graduates on time, with a customized career plan in place, headed to college with eligibility for the Pittsburgh Promise. Our model works: each student who has spent his or her senior year with us has graduated on time and headed to college - most as first-generation college students - with Pittsburgh Promise eligibility.

Neighborhood Preservation, Advocacy and Leadership Development: We build social capital in the community - connecting people to each other and the information they need to act on behalf of a healthy, desirable neighborhood. We host planning initiatives and community meetings to discuss our own development projects as well as projects proposed by private developers and/or institutions. We provide opportunities for community members to be well-informed about proposals and have their voices heard.

Real Estate Development and Rehab-to-Resale: We assemble vacant lots and abandoned homes for either rehab or new construction, eliminating blight from the neighborhood and increasing home ownership opportunities. Through our Rehab-to-Resale program, we purchase homes from residents who care deeply about the neighborhood and do not want to sell to speculators. Word of mouth and our relationships with neighbors are central to these efforts.

Community Beautification, Greening and Infrastructure Planning: The relationship between people and place is central to our work. We're privileged to work with neighborhood leaders to make the community more beautiful and attractive for everyone. Through a partnership with the University of Pittsburgh, we engage hundreds of volunteers annually to keep streets clean through our Adopt A Block and Keep it Clean, Oakland programs. We helped create and continue to support the Oakland Green Team, which beautifies the neighborhood by planting and caring for new trees and flowers, cultivating community gardens, and installing public art. The Oakland Green Team also serves as Oakland's bicycle/pedestrian committee, focused on community organizing and advocacy to make Oakland's streets safe and accessible for cyclists, pedestrians and transit riders.

Testimonials

"It's good to see that OPDC maintains the focus with which it began 35 years ago, recognizing that while Pittsburgh is famous for many other things, it is primarily a city where people live. Adding affordable housing units to Allequippa Place, where 27 years ago, the organization restored 24 rental-housing units, is in keeping with OPDC's goal of serving the Oakland community. I'm proud of what OPDC accomplished in the '80s and '90s, and I continue to be proud of what the organization is doing today."-Martha Garvey, former OPDC executive director and current South Oakland resident.

"The support School 2 Career provided was unlike anything I received anywhere else or from anyone else...