Spring has sprung here at the MTR
We have been having a blast over the past few weeks with awesome themed respites, warm weather and more! As this semester is slowly coming to a close, we continue to cherish every moment we have hanging out, playing games and much more! We have been having an awesome time with themed respites like the moving thriving closet, spa day, snacks and movie and so much more!
Valentines day respites!
We had awesome Valentines Day respites at Wood St, Second Ave and Roots. Lots of cookie decorating, painting and snacks!
For a special Valentine’s Day celebration, residents at Wood Street partied with love by singing karaoke to some classic tunes by Stevie Wonder and Al Green! Residents also decorated cookies, cupcakes and other sweet treats while others used their creativity to make their own designed tie dye shirts, hats, and bags!
It was a Valentine’s Day well spent at Second Avenue with great snacks, great people, and lots of fun filled activities! We started off our evening by enjoying some sweet treats! Everyone gathered around to enjoy some brownies and painting! There were lots of beautiful artwork, ranging from abstract paintings to beautiful wooden cacti! It was awesome to get to chat and create artwork together and hearing just how long some individuals have been making art and what their pieces mean to them. It is beautiful to see everyone’s different creations and the significance behind them. The theme of the evening was cacti! We had loads of different types of cacti created in different styles of artwork! There was one thing they all had in common though- they were all beautiful! We also spent the evening creating valentines cards for the ones we love! Overall, it was a an awesome day filled with lots of laughs and love!
Art, Tacos and more!
We have been having a blast at Wood Street, Second Ave and Roots! Some of the respites we have been having include art studio as well as walking tacos! We are so happy to be seeing some familiar faces, as well as seeing and meeting new people. Our next respites include an awesome valentines day event at Roots, Second Ave and Wood Street!!
New Year, New location!!
We are so excited to be back for this semester with lots of fun and exciting things! First and foremost we have a new location!! We are so excited to be working with Roots and hanging out with all the fabulous people there! Last week we were able to go to Roots, Second Ave and Wood Street! Lots of fun exciting things we were able to do with everyone! We are also planning for some amazing themed days for the rest of the semester!
Happy Holidays from the MTR!! 🎄🎇
We just want wish everyone a happy holidays as well as happy new year! We hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable season and we will see you all in 2025!!!
One Last Respite For 2024!
We had a blast a few weeks ago at our last respite of the year! We were at Second Avenue Commons as well as Wood Street. There was lots of awesome nail painting, some festive holiday cards and some furry friends to say hi to! We cannot wait to go back to see all of our friends again in 2025!
Welcome Back Second Avenue Commons!
Last week our members were able to return to the 2nd Avenue commons location, and it was beautiful. “Some old friends reunited, and one of our pals from the spring, before the fire, explained to us that they had gotten an apartment not far! This was amazing news to hear. We had a great time chatting and doing nails. The new building looks great, it’s bright and has lots of color, and is just overall amazing. It was great to see everyone’s spirits so high as the building was back open. I can’t wait to get back there, and see some more familiar faces, as well as some new ones”.- Alex MTR member. It has been incredible being able to go back to second ave, we can’t wait to keep going and seeing more friends!
Spooky Respites🎃
Last weeks respites were filled with halloween actives such as pumpkin painting, spooky nails, and TONS of halloween candy! At Wood street, it was full of familiar faces, spooky movies and lots of pumpkin paintings! A few of the residents were working on their halloween costumes and we got to see all the creativity and hard work that was put into them. Overall getting into the Halloween spirit was awesome to see!
“To get into the spirit of Halloween, residents at Reedsdale enjoyed pumpkin painting, along with some residents gathering around to get halloween themed painted nails! From chips to pears to apples, and even vegetarian chili, a wide variety of food options were available for many to partake in that went by fast. Overall, the experience at Reedsdale was very heartwarming by getting to see some familiar faces again who thanked us for being there, and we were appreciative to converse with those that were excited to see us again” -Sam MTR member
New week, new location!
Last weeks respites were amazing! We have added our new location, Eliza Furnace which is part of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail! We were also back at Reedsdale. “At the trail met new and familiar faces, Eliza Furnace was a bright and exciting experience in which we played scrabble and shared some chili with people passing on the trail. We had a wonderful day interacting with the community passing by and thriving on the trail.” -Tyler, Respite member
“And for Reedsdale the respite this week was great. We saw some familiar faces, and reunited with a few of the same folks that have been hanging out with us the past few weeks, and we met some new folks that came around the general area we commune in for the first time. We had some brownies, that were gone within minutes. Seeing the consideration of the folks at Reedsdale, toward their neighbors is always heartwarming. Some will say, I wish I could take more but I want to leave enough for everyone else, which has been a common theme throughout the respites, and always puts a smile on my face.
This week, we continued our trend of painting nails. This week, we had two new people come over to get their nails done, that had been around before, but never necessarily showed interest, but this week we were approached my them, which was great. We also had one person teach some of the respite peers a game that was new to us all, speed. The game was fun to watch, and made us giggle as the new people tried to remember the rules. It was a great respite at Reedsdale, and spirits are high, as the move in back to 2nd avenue commons is in sight, and on people’s minds.”- Alex, Respite member
Another week of successful respites!
Last week our respites were awesome! At Wood Street there was lots of nail painting, music, movies to get in the halloween spirit and coloring! Reedsdale was also a fun one! There was some bingo being played and lots of good food for everyone! So far we have all been having a great time just hanging out with everyone and getting to know them more!
Kicking things off!
Even made some paintings!
Nails anyone?
We have gotten back in the swing of things for our respites! After preparation we have finally been able to go to two of our locations at Wood Street and Reedsdale. Meeting dogs, painting nails, playing cards and more have been on the agenda. Looking forward to the rest of the year!
We made some friends last respite!
Fall is Upon Us
The fall semester has arrived and we are back at it with some upcoming new location! Not only do we have some new partnerships, we have some new faces as well, pictures to come. We are excited to get the ball rolling as we keep you posted on events to come!
On Bingo & Haircuts
3/22/2024 - Today Sasha, Zana, Lacie, and myself headed to Hot Metal for some bingo, go fish, Heads Up, and live music! A new comer asked if he could play us some of his original music that he also combines with classical Mozart - it was a more upbeat/poppy collaboration. We were all impressed with his fluidity while playing the piano. Afterwards we all shared a laugh over how some people can play over 20 bingo cards at a time - our highest in the group was 3. Of course the gentleman who played with three cards had the most bingo’s - he’s a regular and states “I come for the games and the company”. He was also very generous with his contribution of chocolate chip cookies and lemonade. We had a delicious spread this respite.
3/29/2024 - Haircuts today at 2nd Avenue commons! Today we collaborated with Uptown Partners of Pittsburgh and they connected us with two barbers from Bonez Barbershop in Pittsburgh’s South Side. Also cutting hair with us was Jamie Scafuri from Alchemy Dry Cut Lounge, who has come to cut hair before. Because we had three hairstylists today, everyone who had signed up to get haircut was able to receive a one! They serviced over 20 people. It’s so much fun watching everyone get hair transformations and watching fellow friends lighten up from their new hair! As haircuts were going on - Zana, Emma, and myself painted nails, talked over coffee, and enjoyed some fresh fruit. We couldn’t have held such a lovely event without our partners, hairstylists, and of course the community at 2nd Ave.
What we’ve been up to this spring!
2/9/2024 - We are back after our winter break! A lot of wonderful things have happened since our last respite. The Mobile Thriving Respite was awarded money by the 100+ Women Who Care of Pittsburgh! We are going to put this money towards a van so we can transport all our supplies and materials to our locations. We have a new crew of students at our respite events - we have enough people to hold two respite events each Friday!
2/16/2024 - Today, we held a respite at Second Avenue Commons and Hot Metal Bridge! Of course, since Valentine's Day was just a few days prior, we had special treats for everyone. Chocolate-covered strawberries and apples with caramel! We had art supplies and nail polish for everyone to use. Our friend John, who we’ve seen at Second Avenue for the past few respites, explained how much he loves the nail polish. He explained how he misses us throughout the week, but the nail polish is something he can take with him afterward to remind him of the fun he had that day. We also got to meet a new friendly face who talked with us about his love for singing and music and his dreams of recording in a studio. We were so lucky enough to hear him sing! His deep baritone voice was amazing!
2/23/2024- You never know what a Pittsburgh winter is going to look like, so of course, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and set up our respite event in North Side Park across the street from Yinz Coffee. Our other respite event was set up at 2nd Avenue Commons, which we attend every Friday. Folks were walking throughout the park - enjoying the sunshine and stopping over to say hello and grab a cup of coffee from us. We made a fresh fruit salad and listened to music on our new giant speaker (the sound was amazing!) As school was let out, all the kids ran over to see what we had brought to the park community. It was refreshing seeing all different aged people share the park space. We are eager to have more park respites as the spring weather approaches.
3/8/2024 - Art was the activity that moved folks at 2nd Avenue Commons today! We are joyed when folks create art and take it with them for their own reflection, but we LOVE it when people let us keep their artwork! We had a secret top notch painter in the crowd today who left us with a painting of a bird in a nature scene - it was incredible (you can find this on our picture section of the website). The commons are always filled with music, laughter, and conversation. Zana and Sasha played a rigorous hand of UNO with three others, Kay held down the fort and assisted everyone with their art supplies and snacks, while I chatted with old friends who I see regularly about what they’ve been up to. After our respite event, all the student ethnographers agreed - we love this location and returning again and again. This is how we build connections and friendships and thrive together.
Holiday Party at Second Avenue
Julia Pugar
Art, games, and holiday music today at 2nd Avenue Commons! We brought hot coco, candy canes, and loads of goodies for our holiday party. Spirits were high – people were singing and dancing to their music! After some holiday art work, we got into an eight person intense UNO game. We love some good competition between friends.
Bingo at Hot Metal
Julia Pugar
Bingo day at Hot Metal! We played countless rounds of bingo and luckily we had a few winners. We were pleasantly surprised by a local community member who offered to cook the entire group dinner! He made seasoned rice, salad, and lentil soup – it was delicious and warm for a perfect cold day. Over this meal we talked about places we’ve lived and why we’ve all made our way back to Pittsburgh. We all bonded over the beautiful old neighborhoods.
Games at Second Avenue Commons
Julia Pugar
2nd Avenue Commons was the location for the respite event today. We saw tons of familiar faces – at this event we of course brought art supplies and games. Sometimes we can never decide on which kinds of activities to dive into. We changed it up and played Head Bands with a handful of folks. It was pretty funny to watch everyone guess what kind of object, animal, or food they were!
Bonfire at Hot Metal
Julia Pugar
Today we gathered at Hot Metal Bridge for some coffee, cookies, and games! Luckily the weather was beautiful for a November day – so we had a bonfire outside! Joined us today were some other students at Point Park who want to join the respite events in future semesters. They got to chat with some returning members from the community. We played Jenga one the picnic table – it was a crowd hit for some who’ve never played before.
Northside Park
Julia Pugar
The weather couldn’t have been better for this November park respite. We all sat around our picnic table and chairs and pulled out the game of Jenga (a personal favorite of the respite crew). A local member of the street community knew our event was happening and made it a point to stop by and stay until we were packing up the event! With art being such a big hit, we always make sure to carry some supplies even if it’s a game day. A few local kids who have come to prior events stopped by and created drawings of trees and scenic fields. It was enjoyable to have a beautiful day for our last outdoor respite for the season.