Strawberry Mansion: Property Developers Strive To Improve Neighborhood
When walking through Strawberry Mansion, you may notice an overabundance of vacant properties and abandoned houses. It was not always like this. Due to redlining, a racist collusion between banks and city government, where people of certain races were prevented from buying homes in certain sections of the city, the historic neighborhood on the edge […]
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 […]
Sharswood: PHA Grocery Store Can Improve Food Access
For Joe Wise to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, he has to walk nearly a mile away to the Fresh Grocer of Progress Plaza on Broad Street near Oxford. Wise, who lives at 21st and Jefferson streets, often gets food from Wendy’s or Burger King. He calls himself a “fast-food junkie.” But in the next […]
Social Issues: “There Is An Affordable Housing Crisis That Confronts The City In Some Real Ways.”
Kelvin Jeremiah, the president and CEO of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, has brought unique ideas from previous stops in Springfield, Massachusetts and New York City to help develop better living conditions for some of Philadelphia’s low-income citizens. How did you get started with the Philadelphia Housing Authority? So I came to the PHA about […]
Sharswood: Proposed Transformation Of Struggling Neighborhood Raises Concerns, Hope
Talmadge Belo narrowed his eyes under the shadow of his baseball cap, his gaze zeroed in on something across the street. “That used to be the nicest house on the block,” said Belo, the vice president of the Brewerytown-Sharswood Civic Association. But that house is boarded up now. A torn mattress tumbled out the back […]
City Hall: PHA Receives Grant to Plan Revitalization of Area Around Blumberg Apartments
The Philadelphia Housing Authority announced last month that it will receive a $500,000 grant to plan redevelopment at the Norman Blumberg Apartments in North Philadelphia. The grant was part of $4.37 million that was awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the form of Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants to nine cities. […]
Point Breeze: Philadelphia Youth Music Partnership Presents Opportunities to Youths
On the exterior, Wilson Park Apartments may not look any different than the dozens of other project housing units owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority but as the saying goes, looks can be deceiving. During after-school hours, from three to six, sounds of sung harmonies and rhythmic raps being composed can be heard coming from […]
Germantown: Future of Queen Lane Apartments Concerns Residents
A community meeting was held last night at Mount Moriah Baptist Church on 5333 W. Pulaski Ave with the Philadelphia Housing Authority officials and Germantown residents to address concerns about the future of the Queen Lane Apartments. Residents came to get answers about the demolition of the apartments as well as limited parking, property safety […]
Hunting Park: Abandoned Buildings Plague the Neighborhood While City Organizations Work Toward Improvement
Residents of the 4000 block of North Darien Street are like a family. Whether it’s giving the kids a safe place to play after school or forcing thugs and drug dealers off the block, the residents are constantly battling negative elements to improve the quality of life in their area. Yet for all their efforts, […]
Germantown: Organization Offers Future for Addicts, Homeless
In The State of Homelessness in America 2012, The National Alliance to End Homelessness reported that in Philadelphia, Pa. and surrounding metropolitan areas, there are more than 11,000 homeless living on the streets and in shelters. Dignity Housing is a nonprofit organization staffing 17 employees located in the Germantown neighborhood that helps homeless Philadelphia residents […]