True equity is about building the power for a community to shape its own future.
Last month’s NPP meeting marked a major milestone for the Larimer community. Bringing together residents, researchers, the Larimer Consensus Group, and City of Pittsburgh leaders, the session laid the groundwork for the highly anticipated Built Environment Action Plan (BEAP).
The evening featured two powerful perspectives on advocacy:
· Gabby Gray (Pittsburgh United): Shared strategies for building a unified voice around shared priorities.
· Ruth Howze (BEC Community Engagement Manager): Unveiled the strategic outline for the BEAP.
Community Voices: Advocacy to Action
Gray encouraged residents to build grassroots leadership. She emphasized that communities could turn local concerns into legislative wins by mobilizing their neighbors, city council, and state representatives around them
She highlighted two major campaigns that have benefitted from grassroots mobilization:
The Keep Pittsburgh Water Public Referendum: In May 2025, 78% of voters mandated that the city’s water and sewer systems remain public. This victory prevents privatization, ensures transparency, and allows for direct reinvestment into infrastructure.
Learn more about Pittsburgh Water’s Customer Assistance Program that provides financial relief for income-qualified residential customers.
The Fair Housing Campaign: Addressing a 15% vacancy rate and an average rent of $1,362, this campaign fights displacement and the disproportionate impact of evictions in vulnerable neighborhoods.
Learn more about housing justice and how to get involved through the Fair Housing Partnership of Greater Pittsburgh, Inc.
The Path Forward: Larimer’s Built Environment Action Plan (BEAP)
Larimer residents and NPP members can apply these advocacy lessons to their own community development through the BEAP. This plan focuses on five pillars of community health:
2. Urban Forestry (Trees) For Equity & Health
3. Street Lighting (Visibility)
4. Vacant properties (Revitalization)
5. Sidewalk replacement (Accessibility)
What’s inside the BEAP?
The final plan will be a data-driven roadmap, documenting progress since January 2025 and outlining short term goals like completing the traffic claiming mural and requesting soil samples, alongside long-term objectives to improve life expectancy in Larimer.
A recurring theme for the night was the need to involve Larimer’s youth. This energy is essential to sustain the generational changes this plan seeks to enact.
A Shared VisionIt was truly inspiring to watch community power move from conversation to a concrete path forward. This work is made possible with support from the deBeauomnt Foundation via the MADE for Health Justice Initiative.
