Bridging the Gap: In the News

Clairton native with passion for the city aims to remake deteriorating Century Townhomes complex

Yasmine Brooks, president and founder of Impact Clairton, at Century Townhomes on March 9. She is leading the nonprofit group that wants to acquire and renovate the housing complex.
Yasmine Brooks, president and founder of Impact Clairton, at Century Townhomes on March 9. She is leading the nonprofit group that wants to acquire and renovate the housing complex.

A decade ago, Yasmine Brooks was a single mother with a young son, juggling a job as a phlebotomist at Jefferson Regional Hospital while trying to complete a degree at California University of Pennsylvania.

She found affordable housing and support with Sisters Place, a nonprofit that provided residences for low-income, single parents in Century Townhomes, a sprawling housing complex in Clairton.

Now an investment adviser who works with high-net-worth clients, Ms. Brooks, 33, is leading an ambitious effort to acquire the 400-plus units in Century Townhomes — many of which are vacant and deteriorating — and remake the community into thriving and attractive housing with recreation and green spaces.

“Getting this back as a tax-bearing entity would be really helpful to city officials and the residents of Clairton,” said Ms. Brooks, who grew up in the city, one of many Mon Valley towns still struggling to recover from the collapse of the steel industry decades ago.