Hunting Park and Fairhill: Community Leaders Combat Opioid Epidemic With Their Own Hands
Community members in Hunting Park and Fairhill are no longer waiting for the city to resolve the dire opioid epidemic and its residual effects that impact the health and safety of their neighborhoods. Leaders are learning how to reverse opioid and heroin overdoses, picking up needles and drug containers from playgrounds and schoolyards, and having […]
Juniata Park: First-Year Principal Goes The Extra Mile To Help Students Succeed
Emily Mary Trunfio, principal of One Bright Ray Community High School, doesn’t want to just help kids who struggle academically get a high school diploma. She wants to help them achieve success after they leave school as well. The school helps at-risk kids who are behind academically to catch up and get that ever-important diploma. […]
Fairhill: Residents Discuss Street Safety Solutions
The Hispanic Association Contractor Enterprise (HACE) discussed Fairhill street safety at its monthly community meeting on Oct. 10. HACE, a neighborhood advisory committee, is a community development corporation focused on affordable housing, economic development and social services in the Latino community. Neighbors gathered at HACE’s Business & Visitor Center on North Fifth Street near West Lehigh […]
Fairhill: Artist Debuts Homecoming Ceramics Show
Ceramic artist Roberto Lugo (above) grew up in North Philadelphia but has been featured in collections around the world. This summer he brought his work back to the community that raised him with his show Boricua, Barrio, Barro at the Taller Puertorriqueño art gallery, located at North Fifth and Huntington streets. Taller, a nonprofit organization in Fairhill […]
Fairhill: Charito Morales Advocates For Those Affected By Opioid Crisis
Activist Charito Morales said she does not affiliate with a specific community organization because it distracts from the issues at hand in the Fairhill neighborhood. Morales is a registered nurse and has been volunteering in the Fairhill community since 1998. She spends some of her time teaching Latino youth at the Providence Center, an education […]
Latinx: The 197th District Elects Their First Dominican-American State Rep. Candidate
Danilo Burgos, former aide to Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez and Councilman Allan Domb, became the 197th District’s first Dominican-American State Representative candidate after defeating incumbent Rep. Emilio Vazquez and CEO of Pan-American Mental Health Services Fred Ramirez in the primary election this past May 15. Burgos, a democrat, will run unopposed in the November general election as there […]
Social Issues: Councilwoman María Quiñones-Sánchez Talks Income Inequality
María Quiñones-Sánchez took office 10 years ago representing District 7 in Philadelphia City Council. Long considered a party outsider, it is not uncommon to find her battling politically with Latino leaders in her own neighborhood, as well as other council members. Her sprawling council district is comprised of a wide area, covering all or parts […]
Kensington: Local Gardens Cultivate Community, Help Revitalize Neighborhoods
It was in the 1970s when drug use and the violent state of the neighborhood spurred a unique change among a small group of Puerto Rican women in West Kensington. These women, called the Grupo Motivos, worked with an elementary school teacher and a professor to reclaim land and create a place for growth and […]
Fairhill: New Chapter For Library Means Bittersweet, Temporary Closure
Rebekah Ray and the staff at the Lillian Marrero Library have been dedicated to the future of the branch, long before the building recently closed for renovations. Now, they are left wondering how the community is going to fare for the next two years, without the essential resources they provide. The Lillian Marrero Library at Sixth […]
Fairhill: Puerto Rican School of Music Reflects the Beat of the Community
The Puerto Rican Institute of Music sits on North 5th Street, a road surrounded by Latino influence. Walking by on any afternoon you might even hear the beat of plena – traditional Puerto Rican music – filtering out the upstairs windows. With only a couple of classrooms, the Puerto Rican Institute of Music has about 10 […]