Month: March 2021

Civic and Community Engagement

Want to start a community fridge? Here’s how to do it.

March 31, 2021

Since the start of the pandemic, more than a dozen community fridges in Philly have opened to help alleviate the deepening and long-existing systems of racism and oppression that contribute to food insecurity in the city. Sometimes known as “freedges,” community fridges are a type of mutual aid project that offer fresh fruit and vegetables, prepared meals and non-perishable items that are free for all and can be accessed through an outdoor refrigerator at any time. | From: The Philadelphia Citizen (Read more.)

coronavirus

Philly college students are struggling to afford food, housing

March 31, 2021

In 2020, 195,000 students from more than 200 colleges and universities across the country responded to the survey — including students attending schools in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia — and provides one view on the impact of the pandemic on students’ lives. The most common obstacle respondents faced this year was not being able to afford rent, mortgage, or utility bills. The number of students who said they experienced housing insecurity in 2020 rose by almost 10% from 2019. | From: WHYY (Read more.)

coronavirus

Los residentes dicen que no había que llegar a esto, si la ciudad hubiera invertido en la comunidad de Kensington cuatro años antes.

March 29, 2021

As recently as late February, the five Philly ZIP codes with the lowest median income were also the least vaccinated. As of March 22, that’s no longer the case, according to a Billy Penn analysis of city data. The change shows progress in the concerted effort to address under-vaccination in certain pockets. | From: Billy Penn (Read more.)

Latest

‘Unacceptable’: Kensington residents protest closing of SEPTA’s Somerset Station after one week notice

March 29, 2021

SEPTA closed the Market-Frankford Line’s Somerset Station in Kensington on Sunday, March 21, to repair two elevators, citing public urination and trash disposal for the damage. The elevators will take months to repair, and those 800 average riders every weekday — 40% of pre-COVID’s average — are met with several dilemmas in transportation, ranging from inaccessibility, safety, and the solidifying sense that the city isn’t paying attention to the real problems in Kensington, and refuses to meet them with real action. | From: AL DÍA (Read more.)