Former school superintendent Joe Lagana was walking out of a homeless shelter 20 years ago when he saw a young man writing on the hood of his car. He thought the vehicle was being vandalized, until he spotted the boy's alarmed expression and scribbled paper—he'd been doing his homework.
From that first revelation, Lagana created the Homeless Children's Education Fund as a learning center for homeless youth. It's since expanded to include 12 centers providing after school and summer programs, career readiness, college preparation and STEAM enrichment programs. Lagana joins HCEF's current executive director Carlos Carter to talk about the group's impact, how they're marking two decades of service and how the HCEF model works for similar nonprofits.
“Education is critical but first you do have to address their immediate needs–food, clothing, shelter, social and emotional. As you’re addressing their basic needs you’re able to get them to focus and see the bigger picture, because a lot of time people are in crisis mode,” says Carter. “We want to meet their needs and help them make healthy connections and feel good about themselves and then introduce education.”
Later in the program:
Some communities in Pennsylvania are discontinuing glass collection as part of curbside recycling programs. Kara Holsopple of The Allegheny Front reports that while this change came as a surprise to some residents, members of the recycling industry weren't surprised.
Blue-Hots founder, pianist and vocalist Ian Kaine, percussionist Dan McMillan and vocalist Reenee Montiverde explained their unique Mad Men-esque blend of jazz and doo-wop and with 90.5 WESA’s Bob Studebaker. The Blue-Hots perform Friday at the Wallace Whiskey Room in East Liberty.
And three years ago, a study by the Penn State School of Medicine found that a certain type of thyroid cancer was common to people who had been near the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the aftermath of the 1979 partial meltdown. As part of a look at Three Mile Island 40 years later, WITF’s Brett Sholtis reports on how the study has re-started the discussion around health effects due to the accident.
90.5 WESA's Alex Lenigan, Mick Stinelli and Julia Zenkevich contributed to this program.
The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESA’s daily news program. Tune in weekdays at 9 a.m. to hear newsmakers and innovators take an in-depth look at stories important to the Pittsburgh region. Find more episodes of The Confluence here or wherever you get your podcasts.
