Two local communities targeted by the state’s Blueprint Community initiative are still working toward progress eight months after the program was established. Connellsville and the East End neighborhood in Uniontown are two of the 22 communities selected from across the state to participate in the Blueprint Communities Revitalization Initiative. And both are moving forward. “The organizers told us from the very beginning that the key to making this work will be our follow-through,” said Connellsville Mayor Judy Reed, who has spearheaded the initiative in the city. “They can only do so much — give us training, contacts — basically open doors for us, but it is our responsibility to walk through.” The city’s goals were outlined at a town meeting in October. There, members of the newly established Blueprint Community committee took cues from the public. The committee is comprised of Reed; Ralph Wombacker, director of the Connellsville Redevelopment Authority; Michele Ruth, manager of the city’s PNC Bank branch; Linda Sparks, owner of West Side Jewelry; and Dick Oglevee, owner of Oglevee Limited. Residents and committee members identified five projects to consider, including development around the Youghiogheny River; downtown revitalization; purchasing the abandoned National Guard armory; renovation of the Connellsville Community Center auditorium; and improving housing in city neighborhoods. “I think this has us focused,” Reed said. “It has made us aware of things that are happening in other communities, and I say, ‘Why not Connellsville also?’ ” The purpose of the Blueprint Communities initiative is to provide training for community leaders. Then, they can implement change on their own. Gov. Ed Rendell announced the communities that would participate during an August program in Harrisburg. Federal Home Loan Bank, of Pittsburgh, has led the initiative. No state money has been expended. The bank received 69 referrals, and 28 municipalities actually applied. As part of the program, Heartland Center for Leadership Development offered four full sessions of leadership and community training valued at $7,500 per participant. It is funded through the partnership of FHL Bank, Pennsylvania Rural LISC, Sovereign Bank and PNC Bank. Local committee members attended training sessions in September, October and December. Western Pennsylvania communities met at Hidden Valley Resort in Somerset. “A lot of the excitement has to do with (new city Councilmen Terry Bodes and David McIntire),” Reed said. “They are totally motivated to work for the city. I think wonderful things are going to happen with this. “We’re sitting on a historical gold mine, so to speak. The events that formed this country happened here on the same soil we live. We’re walking in the footsteps of very important people.” On the East End of Uniontown, the Blueprint Community committee is working to create opportunities for neighborhood children to become important people. Only 68 percent of adults older than 25 in the East End are high school graduates, according to 2000 Census figures. Only 8 percent of adults there have completed a bachelor’s degree. “My kids don’t want to go home at night,” said Tom Colebank, acting principal at the Lafayette School on the East End. “We have to get the parents to understand how to help their kids study.” A major part of the Blueprint initiative on the East End is a nearly 7-year-old effort to get a new community center built. A site is cleared along Butler Street, but funding has fallen short. The group believes status as a Blueprint Community will draw attention, and therefore, money, to the project. “The kids hear the talk, the talk, the talk,” Colebank said. “They don’t see the action.” Another problem facing youth in the neighborhood is an inordinately high crime rate. A California University of Pennsylvania study indicated that 43.2 percent of the criminal activity in Uniontown happens on the East End. Of the 694 serious crimes — assault, burglary, drug activity — mapped in the city between January and April this year, 300 were recorded in the East End. Both the Census statistics and the crime study provide a foundation of understanding for the East End group to build upon. In addition to the community center, leaders there are looking to address aspects of development, including housing, to force the criminal element out. One plan to fill empty lots and bring pride back to the area is a partnership among PIRHL Developers, of Ohio, Community Action of Fayette County, and Threshold Housing, of Uniontown. Families that meet income requirements may be able to rent newly constructed homes for $375 to $525 per month with an option to buy after 15 years for an estimated $15,000 to $20,000. “I don’t think we can afford to lose the point of this particular project,” said the Rev. Howard Dantzler, a board member at the East End United Community Center. “Home ownership builds pride in people. If you have more and more people involved in the future of their homes, they will take more pride in their future.” Other area towns chosen to be Blueprint Communities are Irwin and Brownsville.

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