Hunting Park: Community Leader Preaches Squash and Family to Students
Nabilla Ariffin is the community impact director at SquashSmarts, a non-profit academic and athletic program which uses the game of squash to keep kids healthy, in school and on track to graduate. Since joining the program just six months ago, Ariffin has made an immediate impact in the Hunting Park community and looks to grow […]
West Oak Lane: Planting Seeds For Youth to Help Clean Up Streets
On the corners of many streets in neighborhoods throughout the city, there is trash and other debris strewn around. Events like the annual city-wide spring cleanup day were created to help keep streets clean and also teach kids that they should be keeping their neighborhoods in the best conditions possible. For parents, having their children alongside them […]
West Oak Lane: Expressions Of You Store Owner Offers More Than Just Cards, Gifts to Community
At the corner of Ogontz Avenue and Walnut Lane, a bright orange awning offered shade to a colorful storefront. Inside, owner Diane Caffie was bundling black and white balloon bouquets for one of her regular customers. Expressions of You: Cards and Gifts Shop is a West Oak Lane hub where customers have come to find a variety of cards, decorations […]
West Oak Lane: Simons Recreation Center Director Offers “Safe Haven for the Kids”
For Amenah Claiborne, her role as center director at Simons Recreation Center doesn’t feel like work. Instead, her job reminds her of a family, one that is helping to provide a safe haven for kids living in the West Oak Lane community. Claiborne has worked within Philadelphia Parks and Recreation for 18 years. After graduating […]
Roxborough: Local Baseball League Brings Community Together
There’s a reason why the 21st Ward Baseball League has been around for nearly a century. The children and parents of the community have maintained a certain type of dedication that has kept this league a place for them to feel at home every summer. Lou Fresta, the current Commissioner of the league, is a perfect […]
Roxborough: Preserving a Family’s Legacy, One Cheesesteak at a Time
For Steven Kotridis, the food industry has always been a huge part of his life, so purchasing and preserving Dalessandro’s was something that has meant a lot to him. The original shop was opened in 1961 by William Dalessandro and his family. But by 2008, only Dalessandro’s daughter, Franny, was alive and running the shop on her own. […]
West Kensington: St. Boniface Redevelopment Embraces Neighborhood Needs
West Kensington’s beloved St. Boniface Catholic Church stood for nearly 150 years on Hancock and Diamond streets, hosting a plethora of weddings, funerals, graduations and bilingual sermons to generations of families in the Norris Square community. The Norris Square Civic Association, now Norris Square Community Alliance, purchased the St. Boniface complex in 2007 for a $10 […]
South Philadelphia: Seeking Answers and Resolution to Refugee Mental Health
A growing population of Southeast Asian refugees comes with an exciting new culture to learn from, along with serious health needs that require specific attention. Those who lived or immigrated during times of unrest, like the Vietnam War era or the rule of the Khmer Rouge, arrived with specific mental health needs that not all […]
Chestnut Hill: Transforming The Bottom Of The Hill
“If you lit a match and held it close, the whole thing would probably go up in flames,” Marsha Moss, owner of Oxford Circus speciality boutique, said as she looked out her storefront window – past colorful toys and fantasy stuffed animals – to across the street. There a row of vacant stores stand, paneling […]
Taller Puertorriqueño: The Cultural Heart of Latino Philadelphia
Although Taller Puertorriqueño is divided into two buildings one block apart, the organization is united in its mission to develop and promote Latino art and culture in the community. Since 1974, Taller has been at the heart of the art scene in El Bloque de Oro providing the community with art and art-based educational programs for […]