After enduring a troubled childhood in West Philadelphia, near 56th Street and Lansdowne Avenue, 19-year-old Rodney Mobley began utilizing his past experiences to positively impact his community. He now serves as the community connector and engagement coordinator for People’s Emergency [continue reading…]
Bernadine Hawes is a Washington D.C. native who moved to West Philadelphia in 1972 to get her master’s degree in Medical Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. She has since been a very active member [continue reading…]
The White House designated part of West Philadelphia as one of five Promise Zones one year ago this January. The designation will last for another nine years, but while most organizations involved look positively on the first [continue reading…]
People’s Emergency Center, or PEC, has been a helping hand to the community for many years. Most known for its abundance of programs for helping families, PEC has now taken on small businesses. The dedicated staff provides [continue reading…]
Everyone’s seen it. Just a block into the Lancaster Avenue Commercial Corridor stands a sizable, brick red facade. Inside lay remnants of a rich past that most would never know. This structure, Hawthorne Hall, has [continue reading…]
The People’s Emergency Center‘s mission is to nurture families, strengthen neighborhoods and advance change in West Philadelphia. “One of the suggestions, which came out of our recent neighborhood planning process, was the desire to turn up [continue reading…]
[vimeo 69132791] Poverty, unemployment and homelessness are prevalent issues in Philadelphia and often wholly connected. In Mantua, the 23 percent unemployment rate among adults is the most direct contributor to poverty for households and individuals who [continue reading…]
There was hardly breathing space at Reed’s Coffee and Tea House on 38th Street and Lancaster Avenue this past weekend as community members came out to support a clothing drive while they danced alongside Denise [continue reading…]
When Jane Golden, the executive director of the Mural Arts Program, received an application for a project intended to address homelessness in the city, she said she was “deeply moved.” Submitted last year by a law [continue reading…]
With the help of a $100,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation, People’s Emergency Center has embarked on “Make Your Mark,” a yearlong neighborhood planning process in West Philadelphia. Throughout October, PEC hosted several [continue reading…]
© 2025 All Rights Reserved. Philadelphia Neighborhoods: A program of the Department of Journalism at the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University.