Proud to be from Pittsburgh: The Coffee Connection

People go to coffee shops to meet up with friends or to get work and studying done. Channel 11 found out how one group wants to turn coffee shops into community engagement hubs. We checked out a coffee shop in Lawrenceville recently, where strangers of all ages got together to share a bite to eat.

Age Friendly Greater Pittsburgh has started organizing #CoffeeConnectPGH events to encourage the old and new residents of communities to meet up and make new relationships. They say it's revolves around thinking of public gathering spots in communities as places where neighbors can connect.

Channel 11 met up with the group at Caffe D'Amore, where they partnered with Lawrenceville United to organize the latest event. The group says Lawrenceville is the perfect neighborhood for it.

"We have a lot of legacy residents in the neighborhood mixed with a new influx of young professionals and people returning to the city," said D.S. Kinsel of Lawrenceville United. "So this program is the perfect opportunity to collide worlds."

The goal is to have these coffee meetups in communities around Allegheny County. There's no set schedule, but participants say they are eager to see the events grow.

"Me and my husband just moved back to Pittsburgh after a while, so we were interested in getting involved and meeting new people," said participant Kathleen Donnelly.

You can find a calendar of events on the Age Friendly Greater Pittsburgh website: https://www.swppa.org/agefriendly/

Cox Media Group