Join OWL HOLLOW TRIBE in Making a Difference

 The seeds of the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center (COTRAIC) were sown in late 1969. In early 1970, when members of two Native American families met, they began discussing their situation, one which is common to all Natives: a sense of apathy, of "floating" in the mainstream population, being dispersed and isolated, denied native birthrights, discriminated against, deprived both culturally and otherwise, and of being looked upon as "others." 

  With few exceptions, this is the situation in which most Native Americans live, especially in the Eastern Untied States. Eastern Urban Natives face the additional challenge of being unjustly denied the benefits of programs run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Division of the Public Health Service. 

 Our mission is to promote the socio-economic development of the Native American community and others who experience similar types of economic difficulties in the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area. 

 The center is open to Native and non-Native people, with programs available to serve all. 

 Hazelwood Cafe’s slogan, “Contributing to the Community One Cup of Coffee at a Time,” sums up the cafe’s goal: to give Hazelwood a coffee shop that supports the people who live here. Owner Dasawn Gray was born and raised in the heart of Hazelwood and understood firsthand the benefits of having community-based businesses in the neighborhood. 

Dianne spent her first 16 years living in the vibrant East African countries of Tanzania and Kenya before coming to the United States to finish high school and get a college degree in Sociology. She then spent 20 years raising a family, during which she grew some of their food in backyard gardens, learned to can and freeze produce purchased from farmers’ markets or picked herself in pick-your-own farm fields, and cooked most of their meals from scratch using the “More With Less” cookbook and philosophy.

Upon moving to Pittsburgh, Dianne enrolled in the Masters in Food Studies course at Chatham University. She learned how the global food system works, focusing on markets and marketing and a particular interest in underserved urban communities. She completed internships at Penns Corner Farm Alliance (a specialized local food hub), Paragon Foods (a Pittsburgh-based produce wholesale company), and a stint at Matthew’s Family Farm (where she learned first-hand the realities of vegetable farming and marketing throughout a growing season). She wrote her thesis on “Food in Hazelwood: Making a Case for Fresh Produce in a Low-Income, Urban Community.” As part of her research, she got involved with the Fishes and Loaves Buying Club in Hazelwood, an ongoing effort to bring healthy, fresh food into the community. She dreamed of expanding this mission by opening a fruit and vegetable business.

Hazelwood Initiative grew out of two groups, the first of which started in 1994 when over a dozen determined residents founded the Hazelwood Neighborhood Maintenance Task Force (HNMTF), which sought to address day-to-day maintenance issues in the community. They maintained vacant lots, secured abandoned houses, and picked up litter in the business district and along the river

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     During the late 1990s, the neighborhood task force joined with the Hazelwood Economic Leveraging Partnership, a local group which garnered funds for local development and opposed the rebuilding of the LTV Steel’s Coke Works that employed most of the community, but also increased risks to the health of the community. Soon after plans for a new coke plant were defeated, the two groups merged into the Hazelwood Initiative, Inc. Chartered in 1999, HI was a recognized 501(c)(3) community-