Haverford North: The Health And Resource Festival Returns To West Philly
St. Ignatius Nursing and Rehab Center collaborated with Alain Locke School, West Philadelphia Seventh Day Adventist Church and the Department of Public Health to bring back the Health and Resource Festival Saturday Sept. 29, which had been absent from the neighborhood since 2015. The center started what had been the annual festival in the early […]
Immigration: The Welcoming Center For New Pennsylvanians Assists Those New To Philadelphia
The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that seeks to help those in need, including immigrants and refugees, with improving their lives and socioeconomic status. Philadelphians who are foreign born often find themselves at a disadvantage in the job market and require additional assistance in getting the education, language skills and connections […]
Immigration: Councilman Mark Squilla Helps Serve Immigrant Communities
Councilman Mark Squilla is the councilman for the First District in Philadelphia City Council. Squilla is the representative for several Philadelphia neighborhoods such as Chinatown, Kensington, Bella Vista, Northern Liberties, Fishtown and Port Richmond. A native of South Philadelphia, Squilla has been engaged in public service for close to 30 years, serving on the Philadelphia Democratic […]
Immigration: Cambodian Youth Leader Talks Literacy Challenges And Solutions
Rex Yin has been the youth development coordinator at the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia for the last three years. He said his favorite part of the job is seeing the growth of the students he works with. Yin helps lead several youth programs, including the SumOur Roots program, a collaboration with VietLead and the Bhutanese […]
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 […]
Nonprofits: Providing Education For People During And After Incarceration
While Abdul Lateef was incarcerated, he spent most of his time reading. At first, spy novels were his favorite. Then, he moved on to heavier material, like biographies of civil rights leaders and accounts of historical revolutions. “If I didn’t have access to literature, then the culture that permeates the prison environment could have easily […]
Strawberry Mansion: Preschools Are Important, But Underfunded
Amanda Bowman always imagined herself as a mother. When the time came for her to have children, she was presented with two surprises. The first: she would have to raise them as a single parent. The second: she was having twins. Despite the challenges that faced her, she knew she was going to send them […]
West Philadelphia: Libraries “Plant A Seed” That Brings Success And Literacy For West Philly Children
Out of the 339 schools within the Philadelphia School District, only eight have full-time paid certified librarians. Louis Lozzi, a Philadelphia native and teacher said that the lack of library funding in the school system has been an issue since he began his teaching career 15 years ago. “I’m used to being in schools without […]
Sharswood: Vaux High School Reopens Under New Management
Vaux Reopens Kelvin Jeremiah was shocked when he spoke to children from the Sharswood Blumberg towers that many of them didn’t know the “Rocky steps” were in Philadelphia. Many of them had never been to the Philadelphia Museum of Art or seen the Liberty Bell. “They didn’t know the rich history,” said Jeremiah, who is […]
East Kensington: Community Center Helps Adults Strengthen Literacy Skills
In a small classroom on the second floor of Community Center at Visitation, which refers to itself as “A Beacon of Hope in Kensington,” a group of eager students sit ready for the day’s lesson. These aren’t just regular school students, however. They are adults from the United States and countries beyond set on improving […]