West Oak Lane: Volunteers Want to Keep Up with the Sweep Up for Philly Spring Cleanup
Each spring, brooms, rakes and buckets of paint come alive as the neighborhoods across the city participate in citywide cleanup days. But what about the rest of the year? Vernon Smith and Carlton Williams, legislative assistants and community outreach liaisons to state Rep. Dwight Evans, who serves the West Oak Lane area, helped orchestrate the April […]
West Oak Lane: Planting Seeds For Youth to Help Clean Up Streets
On the corners of many streets in neighborhoods throughout the city, there is trash and other debris strewn around. Events like the annual city-wide spring cleanup day were created to help keep streets clean and also teach kids that they should be keeping their neighborhoods in the best conditions possible. For parents, having their children alongside them […]
West Oak Lane: Expressions Of You Store Owner Offers More Than Just Cards, Gifts to Community
At the corner of Ogontz Avenue and Walnut Lane, a bright orange awning offered shade to a colorful storefront. Inside, owner Diane Caffie was bundling black and white balloon bouquets for one of her regular customers. Expressions of You: Cards and Gifts Shop is a West Oak Lane hub where customers have come to find a variety of cards, decorations […]
East Oak Lane: Raise of Hope, Inc. Provides Affordable Housing for Homeless Families
Homelessness is nothing new and for Raise of Hope, Inc. founder Habeebah Ali the issue resonates on a personal level. As a survivor of domestic violence and someone who was once homeless, Ali knows how challenging life can be for a family with no place to call its own. Having lived twice at the Women Against Abuse […]
West Oak Lane: Simons Recreation Center Director Offers “Safe Haven for the Kids”
For Amenah Claiborne, her role as center director at Simons Recreation Center doesn’t feel like work. Instead, her job reminds her of a family, one that is helping to provide a safe haven for kids living in the West Oak Lane community. Claiborne has worked within Philadelphia Parks and Recreation for 18 years. After graduating […]
East Oak Lane: Non-Profit Program Director Helps Provide Scholarships To Students In Need
Portia Fullard, a longtime resident of East Oak Lane and graduate of Temple University, is program director for Sky Community Partners, Inc., a local non-profit organization that identifies children in underserved communities and helps pay for them to attend private schools in the city. The organization has been able to award more than 500 students […]
West Oak Lane: Five Things That Bring The Community Together
West Oak Lane is home to many community centers, churches and offices that serve as gathering places for its residents. The West Oak Lane area is focused on building “community” by bringing residents together through different opportunities in the neighborhood. These efforts help make the area close-knit and allow people in the community to contribute in a way that helps the […]