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My full name is Teaira Kay Collins. I was born September 4th, 1974, and my family has been up here my whole life, so… I was raised by my grandmother. I have six siblings, five sisters and one boy, one brother. I have a brother who died before I was born and I was raised by a very big family. My grandmother has ten girls and six boys. I know people who don’t have big families and they’re always like they wish they had a bigger family, but I have a big family, and I’m actually grateful because I feel like because I had such a great big family, I had a lot of love and support. I was born with what they call as a cross eyed. By the time I had the surgery done, it didn’t work, so I’m legally blind in my left eye, so I only have vision in my right eye. My daughter, who is 30, was born with a very rare kidney disease. She was given up to 24 hours to live and then I was blessed with a 12 year old with Down syndrome. Having this baby with Down syndrome, and you going to the first appointment in fact, and they said that I’m telling you what you needed to hear. They told you what they thought you should hear. It’s like your baby has Down syndrome. And ohh, he’s not gonna walk or talk until he’s 5. That’s not what I wanted to hear. I wanted to hear your baby has Down Syndrome, and here are the resources we have to help you get you through how to get your baby on the right track to do whatever he or she needs to do, and that’s not what I was told. So I lived in Hazelwood, and I lived in a 2 bedroom apartment, and my apartment didn’t have a tub. It only had a shower. My baby has sensory issues and he doesn’t take showers. So my baby was only bathing three times out the week because he would actually go to his sister’s house to take a bath. So I put in to transfer. It took me two years, but I got offered a 2 bedroom in Crawford Square with a tub. So we moved in, and that’s how we got to the Hill, and we’ve been here for almost three years now. My first impressions of Crawford Square, and not even just Crawford Square, everywhere, I feel like they are doing a lot of moving us out and other colors, and I feel like they’re trying to gentrify neighborhoods, and I don’t feel like they’re doing it for the better. This building down here on the corner, that used to be a store. It used to be called Doc’s and there used to be apartments on top. I knew that person. He’s no longer here. I like what they turned it into, like them taking his building and turned it into an art studio was the best thing they could have ever done to preserve and keep something that, if not, would look like the building across the street right now. My favorite location in the Hill district, I’m going to say, is Oak Hill, used to be called Burroughs. That is where my kids’s grandmother lives and has lived for over 30 years, and that is a place that’s very familiar to me, and it’s a place that I feel like has been a great big part of my life because that’s where I got to be able to bring my kids to see their grandma and still do today. So I’ve worked in a hospital since I was 18 as a certified nursing assistant. I also have done home health as well for the last 30 years. I’m a jack of all trades. My very first job was McDonald’s. I’ve worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I’ve done telemarketing. I’ve worked in housekeeping. You name it, I’ve probably done it, but my love is for taking care of people. I have a nonprofit for people of color with Down syndrome, and my goal is to help single moms, even if you’re not a single mom. But if you have a child with intellectual disabilities, my goal is to help you not to struggle, to make sure that whatever support you need with your child that I can help you get those supports given to you or help find the resources you need. Being a mom with a child with intellectual disabilities and a mom of color that supports the resources that we need aren’t available, there’s not enough. So my goal is to try to make those resources available. My grandmother was a strong woman. I watched her raise all of her children, raised foster children, and then raised her grandchildren. I watched her feed and helped the homeless. I watched her never turn her back on anyone and always put God first. So she was a very strong woman and because of her, I am who I am today. I empower myself by making sure every morning when I get up, I thank God for waking me up and let me see another day. I make sure when I look in the mirror, I tell myself that I am beautiful, that I am worth enough, and I deserve better and others around me. I don’t care how old you are. I always make sure when I walk past, I walk past with a smile. I say “good morning”. Always smile, no matter how bad life is or how worse it is, smile, because someone out here is always doing worse than you. Speak because it amazes me that when I walk down the street and say “good morning,” especially to people of color, they don’t speak. Speak and be kind to each other and give a compliment. If you see somebody and you like the way their hair looks, tell them. “Your hair looks good,” or “you look beautiful.” There’s nothing wrong with that. I think that’s our biggest downfall. I most definitely know it can make their day. Just smiling and saying hello makes your day.