Leon Ford, founder of The Hear Foundation to partner with Pittsburgh Public Schools

LEON FORD is co-founder of The Hear Foundation. His organization is partnering with Pittsburgh Public Schools’ CTE Division. (Photo by Rob Taylor Jr.)

The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Emergency Response Technology program, one of the programs offered under the district’s Career and Technical Education Division umbrella, has a new partner. A very well-known partner. A partner that has overcome his own set of challenges.

Leon Ford is in full support of the high schoolers in the EMT program. He wants them to learn, be their best, and then do what he’s doing, and give back to future generations.

Ford is the co-founder of The Hear Foundation, which bills itself as the “first and only nonprofit in Pittsburgh dedicated to collaborating with community leaders, police, and residents to create a safe, thriving community for all.”

Ford was shot multiple times by Pittsburgh Police officers following a traffic stop in Highland Park in 2012. He was paralyzed from the waist down due to the shooting. Ford and his attorneys always said he was wrongly pulled over, and when officers were handed Ford’s ID, he was mistaken for a wanted gang member with a similar name, and officers tried to pull him out of the car.

After a civil rights lawsuit filed against the city, eventually the city settled with Ford for $5.5 million.

“Here, they have this beautiful lab, they have access to students, they have a fantastic curriculum,” Ford said at a Jan. 16 event at Pittsburgh Westinghouse High School announcing the partnership. “But what does it look like when we leverage philanthropic dollars to invest in programs like this? We ensure not only that our students graduate, but that they actually go into the careers they’re training for.”

In the Emergency Response Technology program, students learn entry-level duties in firefighting, EMS, and law enforcement. Confidence skills are also emphasized due to the nature of those occupations. Students get training in the areas of criminal justice, fire safety, emergency management and pre-hospital care.

“As a teenager, talking about going into law enforcement is not the most popular thing to do,” Ford added, referencing the program being offered at Westinghouse and Westinghouse being located in the mostly-Black Homewood neighborhood. “Oftentimes, they (the students) don’t have support from their peers, they don’t have support from their family, they don’t have support from their community. So to have someone who actually was shot by a police officer not only encourage them, but invest in them so they can have this wealth of experience, and feel prepared, supported and inspired to go out and not only be a police officer, but be a really good police officer who leads with love, love of consciousness and appreciation of community.”

Angela Mike, director of the CTE Division, told the Courier the partnership “builds in another supplemental layer of partnership and support for students, especially around social justice…and to also be comfortable with going into public safety careers. Many of our students are hesitant about looking into being a firefighter or especially police. But Leon’s perspective and his foundation is able to come in and help students understand that these are essential careers; we need them.”

About Ford, Mike said he’s hands-on with the 35 students who are currently in the ERT program. “He’s here. Weekly. In the classroom. He’s also helping us get the word out. This is a gem that’s located in Westinghouse in the heart of Homewood, and there’s still a lot of folks who don’t know that we’re here. It is a one-of-a-kind program that any student in the district starting in tenth grade can come here.”