Story by Bill Zlatos. Reprinted from Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Originally Published Sunday, April 29, 2012.

Photo:  Driver Bob Gravelle helps Judy Sabolic onto the Work Link van at the North Versailles Wal-Mart on Thursday April 26, 2012. The bus service allows her to do volunteer work for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Photo courtesy of Sidney Davis, Tribune-Review.

Tasheanna Smith likes having a 14-seat bus pick her up at Prospect Terrace in East Pittsburgh, take her to her job at Wal-Mart in North Versailles and then back. It sure beats walking up and down 106 weed-strewn, poorly lit steps in the woods.

"At nighttime, it's scary to go up the steps," said Smith, 26, who sometimes stays with family in Prospect Terrace. "It's a lot of help to have WorkLink take you up the hill."

For the past decade, WorkLink, a federal program operated by Heritage Community Initiatives in Braddock, has provided about 10,000 free rides a month for residents in the Mon Valley to get to work, child care or education. Now Heritage is working with businesses, government and other nonprofit groups to find out whether they can compensate for a 30 percent cut in service by Port Authority.

Story by Kellie B. Gormly, Reprinted from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Originally Published Friday, April 27, 2012.

A number of Pittsburgh-area artists have decorated 35 pieces of children's furniture and toys, and donated the pieces to a Saturday auction that will raise money for a nonprofit early-childhood education center.

The "Chair-ity," auction, the first of its kind from Heritage Community Initiatives, features colorfully decorated chairs, cradles, dollhouses and wagons with quirky designs from artists to be sold through a silent auction. A live auction will be held for five of the biggest items, including a Penguins chair autographed by Mario Lemieux.

Proceeds will benefit the organization's Heritage 4 Kids Early Learning Center in Braddock, which offers preschool programs for kids in the Braddock and Mon Valley areas, including Duquesne, Homestead and Trafford. About 95 percent of the families with kids at the center receive federal and state subsidies, says Michele Atkins, president and chief executive officer of Heritage Community Initiatives.