The Dakota James Foundation has been busy during the pandemic and is keeping its promise to help make Pittsburgh safer

PITTSBURGH, PA (PittsburghNewsWire.com) — Last month the foundation partnered with the Neighborhood Resilience Project and gifted 23 homeowners, located around the University of Pittsburgh, security kits to include flood lights for the front and back of the home and two cameras, one for interior and exterior. The foundation also gifted $2,500 to assist with the next neighborhood security project.

 

“I think it was our second or third meeting that we talked about needing security in this neighborhood,” said Tyra Townsend who is the Neighborhood Resilience Project Program Manager. “And that night I answered my emails and the Dakota James Foundation offered us this gift. It’s amazing how God works. Father Paul Abernathy and I were humbled by the tremendous generosity of the foundation. It is an honor to partner with such dedicated and passionate servant leaders.”  She said her project is committed to working hard to make their communities a better place to live, work and play – one block at a time. 

 

Months before placing cameras in this neighborhood, the Foundation partnered with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and mounted two cameras on the Byham Theatre building facing the Robert Clemente Bridge (6th Street). These cameras will allow the Trust’s security team and the City of Pittsburgh Police to access viewpoints on the Allegheny Riverfront Park.

 

This project was bittersweet for the group because it’s the location where their loved-one, Dakota, was last seen on camera after walking through Katz Plaza toward the 6th Street Bridge on the night he went missing on January 25, 2017.  Since then, family and friends formed a foundation in his honor to help keep other families from going through the tragedy they faced.

 

“This was a hard year for us with all of our fundraising events getting cancelled,” said Jeff James, father of Dakota. “But it was a successful year because we focused on our camera project and we are excited to make this progress.”