Harrowgate: Get Your Motor Running- Reentry Roadblocks Lead To Transportation Innovation
Freddy Castro put himself into a tight spot. After a few brush-ups with the law he decided to go the straight and narrow. But trying to land a decent paying job with a criminal record is tough. And having no driver’s license can tie you up even tighter than handcuffs. “I was interviewing for a […]
Mayfair: Benefit Programs Enrollment Assistance, Night Markets And More This Week
Looking to find out what’s going on in Mayfair this week? Our calendar round-up lets you know what’s happening in your neighborhood. BenePhilly Mobile Office– July 18-20, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Find out about and enroll in various benefit programs like health insurance, disability, prescription drugs, and utility bill and tax bill assistance. Their […]
Harrowgate: Outsiders Pitch In When Locals Don’t
Longtime community members fight for their neighborhood one block at a time in Harrowgate. Repelling drug dealers, moving addicts along and fighting opportunistic slumlords starts less with city-wide policy and more with in-person communication and leading by example. Local civic association leaders like Shannon Farrell and Jim Ridgway do it neighborhood-wide. But it’s the block captains […]
How To: Become A Block Captain
The City of Philadelphia provides support for citizens who’d like to become active in their community. While anyone can round up their neighbors to keep their street clean, the city can help by providing supplies and special trash pickups. The Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee (PMBC) runs a Block Captain program, and all you have to do […]
Point Breeze: Community Cookout And More Events This Week
Looking to find out what’s going on in Point Breeze this week? Our calendar round-up lets you know what’s happening in your neighborhood. Summer Concert Series: Wednesday, July 12, 6:30-8 p.m. – South Philly Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia (1700 S. Broad St.) Murph’s VHS Movie Night: Wednesday July 12, 8-11 p.m. – […]
Northeast: Brain Waste Drags Down Immigrants And Economy
All along Bustleton Avenue are businesses built by foreign-born people who came to the U.S. in pursuit of a better life. Yet many highly educated and skilled immigrants are underemployed in Northeast Philadelphia and the U.S. “Over 40 percent of immigrants in Philadelphia hold at least a bachelor’s degree,” said Nikki Pumphrey, director of strategic […]
Fox Chase: Survivor Of Danube Swabian Ethnic Cleansing Shares Her Story
Since the Danube Swabian Association moved to Fox Chase in 1972 it has been dedicated to passing on its Germanic culture and history, as well as honoring the memory of those lost to the ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia in the 1940s. One Danube Swabian member, 89-year-old Katharina Marx, is a survivor of ethnic cleansing. Marx […]
Kingsessing: AFRICOM Serves As Center Of African Immigrant Community
Eric Edi arrived in the United States in 1999 from his native Ivory Coast during a turbulent time in many West African countries. Conflicts in countries such as Liberia, Sudan and Eritrea left many refugees seeking shelter in the United States. Edi was attending Temple University on a Fulbright scholarship when he found out about […]
Juniata Park: Different But Still a Place to Appreciate
Residing in the heart of her neighborhood, Kate Clarke is the president of the Juniata Park Civic Association. The community-based organization meets the second Tuesday of each month to discuss and mitigate community issues. How did you first get involved in Juniata Park’s community affairs? Well, I’m a lifelong resident of the neighborhood. I grew up […]
Mount Airy: Redevelopment Projects Look to Eliminate Blight, Improve Livelihood of Historic Neighborhood
Dating back to the 1680s, when it was a just small part of Germantown, the neighborhood of Mount Airy has a rich history that has shaped the diverse and tight-knit community that it is today. In 1750, William Allen, a chief justice for the province of Pennsylvania, built an estate at the corner of modern-day […]