Recent Penn Hills grad to combat gun violence by opening community center

Kahlil Darden calls it “turning pain into purpose.”

As with many in his community, the 2019 Penn Hills High School graduate is no stranger to the heartbreak of gun violence, having lost friends and family who were killed in area shootings.

But now, Darden, 22, a senior majoring in business administration at Clark Atlanta University, is working on creative ways to stop the violence.

On Saturday afternoon, he was joined on stage by community leaders and about 25 concerned citizens in the auditorium at Linton Middle School to announce plans to open a community center in Penn Hills later this year.

Darden told the gathering that when he came home to Penn Hills for winter break during his freshman year of college, his best friend was shot to death. The following May, his 18-month-old godson, De’Avry Thomas, died Downtown after shots were fired into the vehicle he was in near PPG Place.

“So, for me now, it’s being able to show young people what it’s like to turn pain into purpose, and being able to continue to make impacts,” Darden said. “I think, for me, the biggest impact is being able to at least change one life, to be able to change lives within our community center, to give (young people) something productive to do aside from the traditional day-to-day of (going) from school to the streets.”

Darden’s way of doing that is to provide a place for students to get off the streets once the school day ends, engage in extracurricular activities and explore possible careers.

“One of the biggest things for me in high school was when the YMCA was pulled out of the community. There wasn’t anywhere for us to go to,” Darden said. “So, now the young people are doing nothing but turning to the streets.

“And so our vision and goal is to open a community center within the Penn Hills community and create a safe space for young people to be able to come and have (after school programming) from STEM to arts and crafts, culinary, sports and different things — just have a creative space for the young people in our community.”

Darden is the founder and CEO of Young Black Motivated Kings & Queens (YBMKQ), a Pittsburgh-based organization serving children, youths and families. The community center is being designed for and by young people, according to Jessica Brooks-Woods, the organization’s board president.

“Often, young people are overlooked when adults attempt to solve society’s problems,” she said. “But it’s young people who have fresh perspectives and hold the answers.”

Former Penn Hills School District guidance counselor Amy Alexander, who also sat on the panel, said it’s important for the proposed community center to have resources for dealing with childhood mental health.

“I was reading that two-thirds of school-age children are affected by trauma. I would say it’s more than that,” Alexander said. “Every child who is in school now has been affected because we’ve all lived through covid. We’ve all had people who have passed away. Students have had teachers who have passed away, other family members, possibly even classmates.

“That really did a number on us. And to realize at the community center that there needs to be a mental health component is something I believe.”

The building, which will be at 200 Penn School Drive, is expected to feature reading rooms, study areas and state-of-the-art technology, including a computer lab and 3D printers.

Money will come from extensive fundraising.

Penn Hills School District Superintendent Nancy J. Hines articulated a call to action.

“We need creative ideas. These students have so much talent,” Hines said. “We have to work together to figure out how to get that talent out of them.

“Just look at Kahlil as an inspiration.”