CENTER OF LIFE

Community empowerment. Col is committed to the kind of community empowerment that ultimately strengthens families in greater hazelwood and other underserved ommunities. This commitment leads to advocacy with community partners (such as the greater hazelwood community collaborative), as well as access to fundingand resources. Through various partnerships, col exposes families and youth to opportunities that affect their careers, education, finances, and ability to own a home. Center of life hosts three programs through its community empowerment efforts as follows: col's family and community engagement program was created with the goal ofproviding parents and caregivers with the tools, knowledge, and strategies needed to move from a state of merely surviving to thriving. Activities of the family and community engagement program assist families in every aspectof their lives to improve their personal well-being, and range anywhere from organizing a food pantry, performing regular wellness checks organizing weekly parent meetings, providing families with information about vital resources and referrals and more. By tending to the individual needs of the parents we serve, we can be sure that we are impacting the success and the wellbeing of the entire family unit. To provide holistic education opportunities for the entire family unit, col offers wellness workshops that operate to give parents and caregivers the tools necessary to strengthen themselves and their families. Topics discussed have included mask-making, mindfulness and meditation, resources to help constituents pay rent, mental and physical health information (hosted by healthcare professionals), election information, and events such as "ask-a-teacher" workshops for parents with questions related to their students' virtual learning. To further our educational efforts, col formed a social justice resource center (sjrc) to educate and inform community members regarding socialjustice issues. As a black-led anchor organization with over 20 years of history in the hazelwood community, col already has deep and trusted relationships with community members,and over the course of col's existenceas a community-empowerment organization,community members have routinely relied on our staff and leaders to help them navigate life's trials and tribulation. The sjrc seeks to educate people about the social injusticesthey face and move them toward states of agency, able to oercome the issues that preade their lives. In collaboration with duquesne university, center of life has brought several community health workers to the community to address the socioeconomic disparities of health and provide referrals and servicessurrounding chronic disease management. Community health workers are housed in col offices and often visit hazelwood community residents in their homes to provide assessments and referrals.

Alta (aspiring leaders teen academy) is a teen after-school program. The program provides opportunities for teens to develop their leadership skills in preparation for the next chapter in their lives. Alta participants have an opportunity to explore their unique interests while gaining important life skills and enrichment through independent projects, career and workforce development, and leadership skills development.