PITTSBURGH — Channel 11 is getting results. A week after we shared the story of an 82-year-old Pittsburgh woman living without a working sewer because a tree crushed the line, the city, a non-profit, private contractors and total strangers came together to do something about it.
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“I was over the moon, over the moon,” Emma Johnson Byas tells Channel 11.
Johnson Byas is talking about the moment she learned non-profit, Tree Pittsburgh, volunteered to take down the massive sycamore damaging her home. We were there with our cameras when they started work this morning, meticulously removing massive limbs - a daunting and dangerous job.
We first shared Johnson Byas’s story last week. A historic sycamore crushed her sewer line and she hasn’t been able to take a shower at home since February. It was also threatening neighboring homes and was at risk of falling over N. Negley Avenue.
Within a week, Johnson Byas’s GoFundMe raised nearly $24,000. That will help with the bill to repair the sewer lines.
“I’m overawed,” Johnson Byas tells Channel 11. “I’m overawed at the goodwill, the prayers, the generosity of strangers that don’t even know me. It’s just amazing.”
Johnson Byas’s story also got the attention of District 9 City Councilman Khari Mosley.
His team coordinated with public works, the forestry department, a non-profit and private contractors.
“In moments like this, to get really challenging situations solved, it takes collaboration,” Councilman Mosley said. “To be able to work with WPXI once again to get something done - we’re actually on quite a streak of getting things done in the community.”
Councilman Mosley wants the community to know there is someone to go to bat for them.
“That’s why I stepped into this role, to get things done for people and show that there is someone on Grant Street who cares about them, who is working for them,” Councilman Mosley said. “Even when it looks like there is not a way, we find a way.”
As for Johnson Byas, she says put your trust in God and keep your faith in humanity.
“Pittsburgh is amazing,” Johnson Byas said. “We have some amazing agencies in the city. To just reach out and believe that things can be taken care of and will be taken care of.”
Johnson Byas says it’s emotional to see this tree go, but it had to happen. Once it’s removed, a plumber will be able to go underground 15 feet to replace the sewer line. That will cost Emma tens of thousands of dollars.
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