
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.
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.