Immigration: Sundrop Carter And The Energy Of The Philadelphia Activist Community
Sundrop Carter of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition recently celebrated her five year anniversary with the organization. Now in her third year as the executive director, she enjoys working to infuse the collective thinking of those seeking justice for immigrant communities across the state. What influenced your current focus on immigration? It sounds bad […]
Immigration: Kiera Kenney Connects African And Caribbean Immigrants And Refugees With Health And Social Services
The African Family Health Organization, located on Chestnut Street near 44th Street, works with African and Caribbean refugees to connect them with health and social services around the city. AFAHO’s services include ESL courses, case management programs and helping community members set up and go to doctor’s appointments. Kiera Kenney works as the manager of […]
Bella Vista: An Immigrant Himself, Eugene Desyatnik Now Serves As The Bella Vista Neighbors Association President
Eugene Desyatnik is the president of the Bella Vista Neighbors Association. Desyatnik, a naturalized citizen hailing from the former Soviet Union, has lived in Center City for more than 12 years, recently moving to Bella Vista with his wife and children. The BVNA, a nonprofit organization, helps facilitate various city services to a very diverse […]
Immigration: Gretchen Shanfeld Connects Immigrants And Refugees with Health And Mental Health Services
The Nationalities Service Center at 1216 Arch St. helps more than 5,000 immigrants and refugees every year adjust to their new lives in Philadelphia. They offer a range of services including English classes, legal services and connecting people to health services. Gretchen Shanfeld has worked at NSC for more than eight years and currently serves as […]
Immigration Law: Joe Gordon Explains The Ups And Downs And Political Shifts
Joe Gordon has been an immigration lawyer since 2012. His office may be based in North Philadelphia at 4719 N. Broad St., but his work takes him throughout the city and the effects are felt around the globe. Gordon is an all-around family man – practicing family-based immigration law by day and spending his evenings […]
Immigration: VietLead Pushes Back Against Federal Government Policies And Practices
Nancy Dung Nguyen has made her career in social justice work, focusing originally on domestic violence issues and youth organizing. Now, she uses her advocacy skills to help her own community as the executive director and one of the co-founders of VietLead, an organization that works with the Vietnamese community in Philadelphia, as well as other […]
Education: An Assistant Principal Helping Craft Inclusive Environments
Odamis Fernandez-Scheinbaum is the assistant principal at Independence Charter School. Fernandez-Scheinbaum, having worked previously as reading specialist and assessment coordinator at the K-8 community-based charter school, has been at ICS for more than 10 years. The school, located at 16th and Lombard streets in Center City, emphasizes second language acquisition and teaching students to become […]
East Passyunk: An East Passyunk Native Who Has Grown With The Community
John Medica has been a recreation leader and facility supervisor at the East Passyunk Community Center for four years, since they first opened as a city-run community center. During his time here, he has seen the positive change, particularly for children, that the center has provided in terms of having a safe space to play […]
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 […]
Immigration: A Snapshot Of The Korean Immigrant’s Experience In Philadelphia
In many ways, Bok Won Kang’s immigration story is like that of many Korean immigrants to Philadelphia. Kang, who is now the officer of civil affairs for the Korean American Association of Greater Philadelphia, first came to the United States as a student in 1968 during his high school years. Kang liked his experience in […]