Kingsessing: Bartram’s Garden Serves Community For Centuries
In Southwest Philadelphia is something beautifully unexpected: the nation’s oldest surviving botanic garden. Bartram’s Garden is a 45-acre national landmark and public space, sprawling along the Schuylkill River in the Kingsessing neighborhood. The Garden is owned by the city but is operated by the John Bartram Association, a nonprofit and namesake of the founder’s historic […]
Arts: Philadelphia Open Studios Tour Returns To The City
The Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA) is holding its annual Philadelphia Open Studios Tour (POST) throughout October. For the first two weeks of the month, visitors can get a behind-the-scenes look at the work of nearly 300 artists, with stops located in four different quadrants of the city: Northwest, Northeast, West, and South Philly. […]
Point Breeze: Urban Farmer Shares His Craft With Community
Twenty-seven-year-old Atiba Ellerby is a part-time barista and full-time urban farmer. When he’s not making coffee at The Pharmacy, a coffee shop in Point Breeze, he is tending to gardens throughout the city. Farming is a craft he learned 14 years ago through the Urban Nutrition Initiative. How do you feel you impact your community? […]
Latinx: Hispanic-Owned Businesses Continue To Grow in the Greater Philadelphia Region
On a national level, the Latinx baby boom is expected to increase the population by 167% in the next thirty years. With an ever growing population of about 1.6 million residents, the Latinx community in Philadelphia brings vitality not only culturally but economically. Concentrated in Hispanic-populated areas, these businesses are multiplying just as fast as […]
Southwest: The Rewards of Helping a Community Grow
Donna Henry loves the feeling of helping someone in a tough situation. It’s part of why she loves working for the Southwest Community Development Corporation. She first went to the Southwest CDC for a position she thought was preservation-based. She was quickly appointed the executive director of the organization, a position she has held for […]
Kingsessing: African Cultural Alliance Pushes For Small Businesses
As a young child in Liberia helping her mother and aunt in the kitchen, Nafisa Sillah stumbled upon her passion for cooking. “I would mess up the food but I would fix it, cook, cook, and then, I just enjoyed it,” Sillah said. “I would cook and feed everybody, even if I don’t eat.” Once […]
Kingsessing: In Changing Neighborhood, ‘Play Terrains’ Project Opens Dialogue
Meghan Talarowski thinks play can bring anyone together. “There’s no race, there’s no economic status related to play,” Talarowski said. “Everybody plays. That’s what we do. It’s like a basic human nature.” Talarowski, a landscape architect, developed such a passion for play that she made it her career. Almost three years ago, she founded Studio […]
City Politics: Larry Krasner Campaigns For District Attorney In North Philadelphia, Kingsessing
Nearing the end of his campaign for the November 7 election of new district attorney in Philadelphia, Larry Krasner doesn’t get a day off. The long-time defense attorney is recognized in Philadelphia and beyond as a man who has sued the city’s police department a whopping 75 times, representing individuals and groups including ACT UP, […]
Technology: New Grant Helps Job Seekers in Southwest Philadelphia
As more job applications migrate to websites, under-served communities struggle to connect with opportunities. At the Southwest Community Development Corporation and the Paschalville Library branch, new computers purchased with grant money offer applicants a chance to find work and learn new skills to explore the digital landscape. The CDC opened a Job Readiness Center to help job seekers in […]
Kingsessing: Through Teamwork, Coach Teaches More Than Football To Youth
As a sixth grade student, Dontae Privette walked by the Kingsessing Recreation Center every day to get to school. “I’ve always just been connected to Kingsessing and this neighborhood,” said Privette, who grew up nearby in West Philadelphia. Now he’s constantly at the center, where he works as the executive director of the Kingsessing Roadrunners, […]