In fact, as the organization ACH Clear Pathways celebrated its groundbreaking of a new addition to the Kaufmann Center, the building in the Hill District now owned by ACH Clear Pathways, Dr. Butler joked about his moment to speak to the crowd, sandwiched in between well-known local orators like state Rep. Jake Wheatley and City Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle.

The organization has operated out of spaces such as the Blakey Center and Ammon Recreation Center, but last summer, ACH Clear Pathways moved its offerings to the Kaufmann Center, next to the Hill House on Centre Avenue.

(Photo by Courier photographer J.L. Martello)

Fast forward to June 12, after Allegheny County had moved into the “Green Phase” during the coronavirus pandemic, and more than 150 people came out to celebrate (with masks, of course) not only the fact that ACH Clear Pathways was able to purchase the Kaufmann Center, but that 2,500 square feet of space would be added to the center for a digital media studio and an art studio.

Other political dignitaries that attended and spoke at the event included Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, who said that he loved “everything about this project,” particularly how, in the face of the Hill House Association dissolving in 2019 and the Kaufmann Center’s future in limbo at the time, “we found a way from within to be able to save it,” Peduto said.

But even before Pittsburgh’s mayor knew Battle, or before ACH Clear Pathways was ever formed, Dr. Butler was there, front-and-center with Amon, the boy whose life made it possible for all that’s been achieved in his namesake by his mother, Tyian Battle.

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