Juniata Park: Everybody Knows Rose Webster
Rose Webster’s car transmission blew the other week. For most people waiting while the garage assessed the vehicle’s damage, the city’s public transit would have to suffice in the meantime. But Webster has customers, senior citizens from the neighborhood she shuttles to the doctor or the grocery store or wherever else they need. She counts […]
Juniata Park: Alumni Keep Spirit Alive In Word And Deed
When Northeast Catholic High School shuttered in 2010, many of its alums were understandably upset. Ask any of the graying men in their signature red caps and sweaters you might see around Northeast Philly, warming bar stools and diner booth seats: Their old haunt, the hallways and classrooms where they became men, was no more. […]
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 […]
Hunting Park: Bodegas and Bodyshops Revive The Economy of North 5th Street
Specks of sawdust shimmered in the sunlight as the shrill of power tools echoed throughout the skeleton of a body shop. The sight is no longer uncommon along the 5th Street Corridor of North Philadelphia, between Luzerne and Wyoming streets, but rather serves as evidence to the recent economic influx of Hunting Park. “I’ve been […]
Juniata Park: Carribbean Native Connects Local Community To Philly Creek
As litter from the sea washed upon the white sand beaches of Puerto Rico, Doryán De Angel discovered her zeal. Fueling her fervor for the recovery of Earth’s waterways, the environmentalist is now the community watershed leader of the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership (TTF), a Philadelphia-based initiative established in 2000 to promote community engagement with the body […]
Juniata Park: MVP360 Offers More Than Just Sports
Lighthouse Field is home of the Philadelphia Eagles. No, not the Eagles you’re probably thinking of, but the Eagles flag football team. Find yourself at the field on a Saturday and you may have a chance to see them in action. The Eagles flag football team is part of MVP360, a nonprofit leadership development program […]
Hunting Park: Latin Music Lessons Transcend The Classroom
Salsa rhythms pulsate beyond the basement of Esperanza College and flow into the streets of Hunting Park. The Caribbean-based beats resonate from Artístas y Músicos Latino Americanos (AMLA), a non-profit arts and artist’s organization established in North Philadelphia. Accentuating Latin composition, the music school, which was founded in 2006 by Grammy-nominated music producer Jesse Bermudez, recently […]
Hunting Park: Local Efforts Encourage Minorities And Millennials To Vote
Equipped with pledge cards, iPods, and polling data, a group of five millennials cramped into a minivan. Maneuvering through North Philadelphia, the team knocked door-to-door along nestled rowhomes in Hunting Park, Juniata Park, and Feltonville, greeted by residents stricken with consternations surrounding Election Day. The canvassing clan is a constituent of the National Council of […]
Juniata Park: The Juniata Action Committee Gives Back to Block Captains
Block captains are people who take it upon themselves to make sure that their neighborhood maintains a level of order and cleanliness. Many things are easy to overlook, from a piece of litter on the street to a crack in the sidewalk, but it is the job of the block captain to make sure they […]
Fairhill: Efrain Diaz Has a Plan to Take on Drug Addiction
Efrain Diaz had a bad addiction, a heroin addiction. “I lost my family. I lost my wife,” said the 58-year-old. Yet for the past 30 years, Diaz has been helping people overcome their addictions. This one-time addict is now the pastor of Alcance Victoria church. Pastor Diaz was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He […]