I'm standing on the newest bridge here in the city of Pittsburgh, which happens to lead into one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, Squirrel Hill.

And you may think you know all about this community, but do you really?

Coming to Squirrel Hill actually was a no brainer.

It's amazing how diverse it is, and you really see people from everywhere.

It's just I love it here.

So there's always been just this loving engagement that I've had with Squirrel Hill.

You can't help but walk down the street and see somebody that you know and receive, a pat on the back and a handshake, a good morning.

It makes my day.

It really does.

This is Destination: Squirrel Hill.

Walking down the street, you could see and hear all sorts of different languages.

You know, there was a, global, you know essence to this, neighborhood.

And so at once we felt very at home.

And it's just been just a love.

You know?

Yeah.

Love story of sorts.

When you are in global market, it's like you're traveling the world.

Many people say it's like traveling the world without a passport.

Can you talk a little bit about your immigrant story and how you met your husband, who is also an immigrant?

It's a funny thing we met in Squirrel Hill.

Came from Different parts of the world.

Yes, hes from Morocco.

I'm from Belarus, and we met in Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill.

So now your daughter also works with you.

Third generation.

It was my father's.

He passed away young.

It's close to 100 years old.

And it was up to my sister and I really to take it over.

I was probably 14 years old when I started.

So I've been in here a long time.

What was sort of the fiber of this community as you remember it, or as your parents might remember it?

When I was younger, it was a more traditionally Jewish type of neighborhood, and I remember things like Bageland or all of the kosher delis that were here.

So that was reall the fabric of the neighborhood.

It has shifted and changed, but we still have that heritage here today.

This place is such a hub in Squirrel Hill and has so much history.

The organization began as a, immigrant settlement house.

It was originally known as th Irene Kaufmann Settlement House, started by the Kaufman family.

Right.

The department store of Fame.

And at a time of great need, that near the turn of the century, in 1895, when folks were literally sort of flooding to Pittsburgh.

The Kaufman swooped in and said, we can play a role here.

As the community moved and the needs evolved so did the the settlement house from the Hill District to Oakland with a brief stop in Stanton Heights, and then eventually here in Squirrel Hill.

Ever since our humbl beginnings, that sentiment of, all our welcome has reall permeated everything that we do.

I chose Pittsburgh because it's a city of possibilities.

It is absolutely so hard to be an immigrant.

And all you can think about is, how can I just get my family organized, get a job so that I, you know, can succeed here and just get through the day?

Right.

So we forget that that that that is a lot.

And, you know, let alone trying to learn the language, then the culture, trying to understand what American needs are.

And then that sometimes is not necessarily the answer way.

So having to learn what that means.

Right.

And Marian's right, it's hard to be an immigrant.

Pittsburgh is changing and it is not always easy.

But in a place like Squirrel Hill, most people seem to be open t the change and are embracing it.

We still have our Jewish heritage, but we've added a especially Asian inspired community and that is really exciting to us.

If you walk down commercial streets, Murray and Forbes, you're going to see no less than 30, 35 restaurants of Asian origins, right?

Oh my gosh.

I mean, like, this is a little neighborhood, you know, as it were.

And we have cuisines represented just this is just Chinese o five different regional tastes.

So there are eight.

Food is a way that we feel love.

In fact, we don't say in Chinese, how are you?

We actually say, have you eaten?

I love that.

What is it?

Being a part of those change as this sort of steadfast space.

Wow.

Everything.

You know, the whole Squirrel Hill, it was all clothing stores, and now it's just it's all restaurants.

So it's definitely it's changed.

It's changed a lot.

What made you decide on Squirrel Hill as the neighborhood you wanted to be in?

It's a very multicultural neighborhood.

You meet people here from all over people in Squirrel Hill.

It seems it's the only neighborhood wher people can really walk places.

If they live here, they go to movie theater.

They go there to grocery shopping, just walking around business like ours.

It requires foot traffic, and you're not going to have a lot of foot traffic if people can't afford to open businesses.

And while we've seen a lot more development down here on Murray where the rent is cheaper up on Forbes, which was more well-known for shopping, we're seeing more empty storefronts because 15 years ago, when we opened Murray Avenue, wasn't nothing like it is now.

It was very empty, like the Forbes was busy.

It seems it's always was busy, but Murray Avenue was very empty.

But we couldn't afford the rent on Forbes.

Even some businesses from Forbes moved to Murray Avenue and it attracted more and more people.

So on top of the hyper local economic issues that Squirrel Hill and other communities are facing, and how the current administration is treating immigrants, it's just making it that much harder for peopl to go about their daily lives.

And that has a direct impact on local communities and the local economy.

And Squirrel Hill is a perfect example of that.

Transnational students, are feeling a little skittish, you know, even choosin to come into the United States.

We also know that there's som that are in a holding pattern, so they can't seem to get their visas right now.

I, I really want us to understand that there's a ripple effect.

So there's an economic impact, but more so as an individual who loves going into these shops and enjoying whether it's foo or, just some sort of a service, I won't be able to have that because they're not here.

So I might choose to live somewhere else.

Right.

And so that's another, you know, piece for the city to think about as a tax base.

We will vote with our feet.

It's not just about investing in one another from an economic perspective that makes a community strong, but from a humanistic one as well.

And those investments pay dividends when they're needed most.

And they really were on October 27th of 2018, after the Tree of Life shooting happened that terrible day, it was really beautiful to see how this neighborhood came together across religious lines, cultural lines, racial lines.

That is so true for us.

It's a very resilient community where when something happens, we all step up.

Lots of the restaurants donated lots of food at that time.

As you know, it was getting sorted out as they were doing the investigation.

So so there was a lot of that and some fundraising that went on.

We were very happy to stay you know, in the shadows of it, because it wasn't about us.

You know, this is again reciprocating.

And you talk abou not just being on the giving end of that kind of acceptance and love, but what it also felt like to receive it when your community needed that.

Look.

I think that it takes a lot of work.

And I might suggest that if not for the intentional approach that that not only the JCC but the Jewish community at large put into developing those relationships with our neighbor prior to the synagogue attack?

It may have been a very different story.

And those decades of community building led the JCC to create the center for Love and Kindness and Interfaith Agency whose mission is to strengthen connectedness between peopl from all different backgrounds.

We moved to create a new initiative following the the demonstrations in, Charlottesville.

We were contacted by our funders and they said, it's go time.

We were able to assemble 40 interfaith leaders, walk through the main spine of our of our building here in Squirrel Hill, and ended up on the corner of the historic corner of Forbes and Murray.

And folks just spoke out against, hate of all kind during the pandemic.

You know, when we realized that the Asian community seemed to really no have had the opportunity to get and I mean, support language wise, cultural wise to get the vaccinations that they needed, the JCC opened their their doors and said, we know you don't have a building for this, our center yet.

Come, come in here.

It's all set up for you.

And 800 came and this is where I come back to.

It can only happen when the existing neighbors and they're not Asian, so they didn't have to do it.

Said we see this need, this very human need, and we're very, very happy to lend a hand to a neighbor.

That's a need.

We are in this together.

We have to be in it together, because at the end of the day, no one organization, no one single community can, can create a better, a better tomorrow.

There's so much functionality.

But that exists because we've opened our doors to others.

Yes.

And embraced them where they are, who they are.

Yes.

I love how you phrase that, embracing who they are and very much as they are.

Right, we not only see you, we reflect how we see you.

So how does Squirrel Hil position itself to be the place where people want to live, shop and flourish in the future?

We have so many incredible, place here, like the Manor Theater or, little who are kind of our flagships.

So keeping all of those wonderful flagships here and just creating a more and more offerings fo our community would be amazing.

It's really tie shoes to my heart, when customers come and they say, I used to come here when I was a child and I was like, I see a young adult in front of me, and it's like, oh, are we that old?

You know what I don't understand?

I just wanted to keep on going.

I wanted to stay safe in and you know, just the big community as it is.

How can we make Pittsburgh and Center Pittsburgh a place for future immigrants and futur community members from all over to want to be here and call it home?

We have to challenge ourselves to, not only create safe spaces, but to create brave spaces.

And I think bit by bit, day by day, organization by organization.

If we lock arms and do that work together, we will create an environment that is welcoming for folks to, want to call Pittsburgh home.

Change can be for the good.

It is the only constant that we have when, you know, individuals of difference, come into a space we're perhaps this is that opportunity for us to share what it is that has made us made Squirrel Hill stand so solidly.

Squirrel Hill could be a model of how we can live side by side and embrace one another's differences.

And as my daughter used to say, differences can taste yummy.

One comment about Squirrel Hill.

Another period until I was ten and I have relatives who still live nearby, and I only get that 75 years.

But now 5, 10 years ago, 1 years ago, still feels like home Oh so great to hear.