America’s best weekly Diane I. Daniels wins ‘Distinguished Neighbor Servant Leader’ award See Page A9
Pittsburgh Courier NEW
www.newpittsburghcourier.com Vol. 115 No. 29 Two Sections
JULY 17-23, 2024
thenewpittsburghcourier Published Weekly $1.00
How does $5,000 towards your down payment on a home sound? More African Americans taking advantage of Dollar Bank's programs by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
Five thousand dollars towards a down payment on a home. It’s all yours. All you have to do is desire to become a first-time homebuyer, which, for many African Americans, sounds like music to their ears, and participate in Dollar Bank’s “The Way Home” program and follow the bank’s qualifications. Ondrea Taylor, 30, who is Black, told the New Pittsburgh Courier she can hear the music. She's in the process of purchasing a home that Taylor and her two children will enjoy. "I'm tired of renting," she said. "It's just too hard to find a place, and they have all these rules when it's not yours...it's just a hassle to not own a home." Taylor told the Courier the final straw was when she rented a residence from a private owner, who assured her that there were no issues with rodents or other creatures. One week later, Taylor was out of there, after finding out the place was
infested with roaches. Taylor moved back in with her mother for a time to get back on her feet. When she went to her job, she would hear about co-workers purchasing homes. "I just heard about the processes and everybody successfully doing what they had to do to get these homes, and that's what really triggered something in me. 'You know what? I probably can buy a house if everybody else is doing it.'" Taylor has been a Dollar Bank customer since 2012, and she heard about "The Way Home," the Dollar Bank homeownership program that assists low-to-moderate income individuals in the Pittsburgh region who want to own a home for the first time. Taylor filled out the "intake form" in December 2023, a form that Dollar Bank requires individuals to complete, which details a person's employment status, social security number, etc. Susan Kelly, a Community Development Credit SEE DOWN PAYMENT A5
SUSAN KELLY IS A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CREDIT COUNSELOR FOR DOLLAR BANK. (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)
Actress Viola Davis lends support to documentary on Black maternal health ‘The Ebony Canal’ to be shown, July 19, at the AWAACC by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
Larissa Lane wasn't afraid to tell her story. Now 36 years old, she'll absolutely, positively never forget her son, Zuri. He was just two days old when he passed away on Sept. 24, 2022. One of the most traumatic events to ever happen to Lane, she said that she truly understood the meaning of the word "village" as she coped with Zuri's death. "People were dropping off food, people were donating money, sending me groceries, some people would come over and cook for me, I had people come over and do laundry for me and clean up for me. I'm very grateful to my village, during that time, it was such a crucial time," Lane said on her YouTube podcast. "It makes me really emotional because you don't really realize the people that are really
there for you until you really go through things." There's so much more that Lane shared to filmmaker Emmai Alaquiva as part of a new documentary called, "The Ebony Canal." The documentary will be shown for the first time in full on Friday, July 19, at 7 p.m. at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center. Alaquiva told the New Pittsburgh Courier the tickets are going like hotcakes. And for good reason. In addition to Lane, Alaquiva follows the pregnancies of Mariah Peoples, Rachel Strader and Alana Yzola-Daly. All except Yzola-Daly are from Pittsburgh. The premise of the documentary is to shed light on an often overlooked issue — Black maternal health...and the fact that in the U.S., more than twice as many Black babies die before their SEE EBONY CANAL A4
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EMMAI ALAQUIVA AND VIOLA DAVIS, IN LOS ANGELES. DAVIS NARRATED THE DOCUMENTARY FILM, “THE EBONY CANAL.”