Free programs on North Side help kids escape violence

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Violence is a real problem among young people in Pittsburgh, as we saw most notably when 11 were shot and two killed at a party in the city's East Allegheny neighborhood on Easter Sunday.

But there's a school on the North Side offering young people another option. Manchester Bidwell Corporation offers free after-school and summer programs for kids and teenagers, and it's changing lives.

When you step inside the facility, everywhere you go, you're surrounded by art, beauty and peaceful sounds. But when Bill Strickland created Manchester Craftsman's Guild in 1968, he wanted a place where kids could escape the race riots and street crime in the same way that art changed his life when he was a troubled teenager on the North Side.

"I would have been in jail or dead," Strickland told KDKA's Kristine Sorensen.

He says he had no direction until he met Frank Ross, who taught him ceramics at Oliver High School.

"I'm very grateful for my teacher. I'm very grateful for my mother because she raised me not to let race be a barrier against learning," he said, particularly because Ross was white and Strickland is black.

Ross mentored Strickland and helped him to go to the University of Pittsburgh. After graduating, Strickland started arts programs for students with the help of prominent Pittsburghers including Elsie Hillman, the Mellon family, John Heinz and Governor Dick Thornburg.

"A lot of the students we deal with are coming from very challenged environments. Some are poor. Some of them are economically discouraged," Strickland said. "And I figured out that if you put people in a nurturing environment and you give them good food and a lot of encouragement and a competent faculty, you can actually change the way they see the day. So rather than seeing the day as a series of disappointments, they can see the day as a series of opportunities."

What's now called MCG Youth and Arts offers free after-school and summer programs for kids and teens in ceramics, photography, fashion design, painting and more.

On top of that, Manchester has partnered with Bidwell Training Center since 1972 to offer vocational training in programs like culinary arts, horticulture and medical technology.

Strickland now focuses on spreading the message of how this model can work anywhere. It's already in 10 cities around the U.S. and in Israel, with the newest opening in Westmoreland County this summer.

In 2016, Bill and Kristine visited the hospital where he had a double-lung transplant after years of smoking damaged his lungs. That focused him even more on making a difference.

"So you better be serious. Every day matters. If you don't think so, wait til you're down to your last week of life, and every day will come more than you think," he said.

Manchester Bidwell recently named the building after Strickland to honor his legacy, but for him, it's not about recognition -- it's about helping more people achieve the American Dream.

"I started dragging kids off the streets to save their souls with clay and I'm still doing that."

Bill was very influenced by jazz and built a world-class auditorium and recording studio, and MCG Jazz now has five Grammy Awards.