Community Impact

Neighborhood Funding Stream
2007-2008 Grantees

Economic Development

The NFS granted awards to three projects that will improve commercial corridors in the American Street Empowerment Zone, potentially attracting new businesses and encouraging existing businesses to invest in their facilities.

  • Shared Security - A $25,000 grant was awarded to Impact Services Corporation to provide a private security guard who visits business properties in the American Street Empowerment Zone throughout the night. Fostering a higher level of information sharing among businesses, the police, and neighborhood organizations about public safety concerns, the program is part of a larger strategy to create a safe environment in the Zone.

  • Clean Corridors - A $50,000 grant was awarded to Ready Willing and Able to improve the physical appearance of the American Street Empowerment Zone by providing regular trash removal from the sidewalks and curbs of commercial corridors within the Empowerment Zone.

  • Challenge Grants - A $50,000 grant was awarded to American Street Financial Services Center to help improve the appearance of small businesses located inside the American Street Empowerment Zone. The program provides grants of up to $5,000 to businesses for interior or exterior improvements.

In addition, the NFS also awarded a $10,000 grant and a $15,000 grant to Campaign for Working Families to expand access to the Earned Income Tax Credit by providing free tax preparation services and asset development counseling to residents of the American Street and North Central Empowerment Zones. The Earned Income Tax Credit increases income for low wage-earners, and this income is often reintroduced into the local economy or invested in assets that improve financial stability for families.

Agency and Emergency Assistance

The Neighborhood Funding Stream of the American Street Empowerment Zone made funding available for strategic organizational capacity building projects and unforeseen, one-time emergency expenses. Funding is still available.

  • Community Women’s Education Project was awarded a $2,000 grant to improve organizational capacity by receiving board training in strategic planning and governance, and working with a consultant to create a strategic organizational plan.

  • Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc. was awarded $2,000 to allow staff to achieve American Society for Training & Development Train-the-Trainer certification as part of Congreso's internal professional development initiative.

  • Empowerment Group was awarded $2,000 to improve their existing marketing plan and implement new strategies and branding expressions.

  • Hune, Inc. was awarded $2,000 for the creation of a succession plan and development tools that supplement Philadelphia HUNE's strategic plan.

  • Norris Square Neighborhood Project was awarded $2,000 to develop strategic fundraising plans for both individual contributions and a capital campaign and create grant templates to allow NSNP to apply for funding from more grantors.

  • Taller Puertorriqueño was awarded a $1,750 grant to address emergency roofing repairs on one of the agency’s facilities.

NFS announces new round of Grantees!

We’re pleased to announce that 30 grant awards totaling $332,300 will be made from the Neighborhood Funding Stream to organizations that will serve children and youth from the American Street and North Central Empowerment Zone communities.

The American Street Empowerment Zone Community Trust Board awarded $216,000 to nineteen grantees:

  • Maternity Care Coalition was awarded $15,000 to serve ASEZ young women who are pregnant or new mothers. MOMobile staff travel to women's homes and educate them about the impact of violence on themselves and their children, support them in accessing the legal and specialized services they need, and work with them to attain the self-esteem, skills and resources they need to lead violence- free lives.
    www.momobile.org

  • Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc. was awarded $15,000 to provide ASEZ youth with the nationally recognized Freedom School summer program. Freedom Schools promote literacy, cultural awareness, leadership, parental involvement, and civic engagement through the planning and implementation of a city-wide social action project.
    www.congreso.net

  • Spiral Q Puppet Theater was awarded $15,000 to provide a collaborative, anti-violence arts education program for ASEZ children and youth at Norris Square Civic Association's after-school program at McKinley Elementary School. The program will bring Spiral Q resident artists to McKinley School to teach students about conflict resolution, working across difference, and constructive creative expression through puppet-making and parades.
    www.spiralq.org

  • B. Someday Productions was awarded $13,500 to provide dramatic instruction to 22-35 drama students of Kensington CAPA High School who will explore "What Violence has Wrought," creating their own 40 minute performance piece that will be performed for organizations, peers, family, and community members.
    www.bsomeday.org

  • Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsibility was awarded $13,000 to will work together with Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center to train staff in the Peaceful Posse after-school program model, sustain the newly formed Peaceful Posse group for adolescent boys and provide conflict resolution training for parents from the community with the goal of creating a "Parent Posse”
    www.psrphila.org

  • EducationWorks was awarded $13,000 to support an 8-week full-day summer camp with the theme “Growing Peaceful Communities,” as well as in-school 100 Book Challenge and Get Real About Violence programs at Ludlow Elementary School.
    www.educationworks-online.org

  • Empowerment Group was awarded $13,000 to offer students involved with Norris Square Neighborhood Project’s after-school program the opportunity to come up with their own business ideas and put them into action with actual business projects. Students will have additional opportunities to gain experience running a business through participation in Empowerment Group’s entrepreneurship conferences and student expos.
    www.empowerment-group.org

  • Norris Square Neighborhood Project was awarded $13,000 to provide computer literacy lessons to 55 youth. The age-specific lessons will focus on giving participants (as well as adults in the community) basic computer skills and knowledge, encouraging exploration of their neighborhood and the world by using computers as research tools, creating individualized career plans, providing information technology job training to interested teens, and assisting students with homework.
    www.nsnp.com

  • Good Shepherd Mediation Program was awarded $12,000 to conduct Conflict Resolution trainings on-site at ASEZ schools and community organizations to youth who have been identified as at-risk for violent behavior. The trainings will be interactive sessions that build leadership skills, address triggers of unproductive conflict, and teach anger management, conflict resolution and communication skills.
    www.phillymediators.org

  • Friends Neighborhood Guild was awarded $7,500 to provide ASEZ youth with the nationally recognized Freedom School summer program. Participants will receive literacy and mathematics enrichment, plan and implement a civic engagement project, participate in arts and crafts, photography, drama and dance, and go on weekly field trips.
    www.friendsneighborhoodguild.org

  • Timothy Academy was awarded $7,000 to provide scholarships for ASEZ youth to attend their Summer Educational Enrichment (SEE) Program. The SEE Program focuses on academic improvement, enriching reading skills through exposure to literature, writing composition exercises and cultural expositions, creating and implementing interactive mathematics activities, and developing computer skills.
    www.timothyacademy.org

  • H & S Learning Center was awarded $5,000 to support the maintenance of their newly created "Peace with Justice" garden, which youth will cultivate and tend, growing flowers and vegetables for church and community use.

  • Journey Home was awarded $15,000 to engage ASEZ youth in a social entrepreneurship called "Teens4Good." Teens will learn about entrepreneurship, horticultural science, nutrition, health education, business plan development, financial management and marketing as they work during the summer to plant, grow and harvest vegetables, fruit and herbs in an urban farm. The produce will be sold to local restaurants and at farmer's markets, and distributed to local food cupboards.
    www.journeyhome.org

  • Project Home/Drueding Center was awarded $15,000 to support their Drueding Teen Network, which provides a space that is open to youth during after-school hours and schedules some activities during the weekends. The program offers daily after-school programming for children ages 6-12; weekly "dinner and discussion" group for teens, weekly karate classes for all ages, and regularly scheduled field trips. Participants can also participate in workshops on entrepreneurship, dance and art classes, environmental awareness, and conflict resolution.
    www.holyredeemer.com/page.php?id=516

  • Art-Reach was awarded $13,000 to work with The Fabric Workshop and Museum to provide an after-school hands-on anti-violence silk-screening and fashion workshop. The workshop will encourage young people to brainstorm slogans to stop youth violence and to translate their ideas visually onto clothing.
    www.art-reach.org
    www.fabricworkshopandmuseum.org

  • CARIE was awarded $10,000 to recruit teenage volunteers to plan social, cultural, and recreational programming for isolated elderly residents in a project called Grupo Generando that aims to benefit 40 residents of the American Street Empowerment Zone.
    www.carie.org/

  • The Philadelphia Society for Services to Children (PSSC) was awarded $10,000 to support their Family and Schools Together (FAST) program that provides family-centered activities that develop healthy relationships between children, families and care-givers, school staff, and their community. Sessions take place at Hunter Elementary School and promote healthy child development, strengthen parent care-giving skills and enhance parental involvement in their children’s education.
    www.pssckids.org

  • Kensington South Neighborhood Advisory Council was awarded $6,000 to create and distribute a quarterly newsletter that focuses on activities and services available for ASEZ children and youth, and to organize a Police and Firefighter Appreciation Picnic and Concert.
    www.ksnac.org

  • La Salle Academy was awarded $5,000 to support their summer extended enrichment program which features hands-on learning opportunities and educational field trips. The theme of this year’s programming is “Color the World with Peace.”
    www.lasalleacademy.net

The North Central Empowerment Zone Community Trust Board awarded $116,300 to eleven grantees:

  • Temple University (University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia) was awarded $14,000 to provide the Temple VOICES program to NCEZ youth. The VOICES program builds academic, technical, critical-thinking and interpersonal skills by combining media training with youth leadership development. Youth in the program identify issues of community-wide significance, conduct research, and develop a position and an action plan to address the issue.
    www.temple.edu/uccp

  • Journey Home was awarded $14,000 for their Pathways 2 Peace Program, which engages 6th graders with a 16-week resilience-building curriculum. The program includes an interactive didactic performance, a live arts component and a juried Youth Art Show. Activities will lead to the creation of the first school-based Peace Center at Ludlow Elementary.
    www.journeyhome.org

  • The Village of Arts and Humanities was awarded $14,000 to support their Leadership Corps program. As part of the program, teens develop the organizational newsletter, plan special events, participate in community public art projects, and attend cultural events and conflict resolution workshops. Teens will have an opportunity to participate in a local exchange with South African youth in January 2008.
    www.villagearts.org

  • Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania was awarded $13,000 to maintain 32 mentoring relationships with NCEZ youth, as well as match additional NCEZ youth with caring mentors. Mentors will commit to meeting one-on-one with their mentees 2-4 times monthly throughout the year, and will be professionally supported by BBBS staff.
    www.bbbssepa.org

  • Maternity Care Coalition was awarded $10,000 to serve NCEZ young women who are pregnant or new mothers. MOMobile staff travel to women's homes and educate them about the impact of violence on themselves and their children, support them in accessing the legal and specialized services they need, and work with them to attain the self-esteem, skills and resources they need to lead violence- free lives.
    www.momobile.org

  • The Salvation Army was awarded $12,000 to work with Good Shepherd Mediation Program to provide interactive anger management, conflict resolution, and peer mediation sessions to children in Salvation Army's after-school program at their community center at 11th and Huntingdon Streets. Training will also be provided to parents, staff, and participants of the community center’s summer program.
    www.salvationarmyphiladelphia.org

  • New Freedom Theatre was awarded $11,000 to provide full scholarships to NCEZ youth to participate in their Performing Arts Training Program. Funding will also support a stipend for one NCEZ youth person to be hired by NFT as an intern. Internship duties will include helping to put on the Journey of a Gun production and assisting in New Freedom Theatre’s summer camp.
    www.freedomtheatre.org

  • The Institute for the Development of African-American Youth, Inc. (IDAAY) was awarded $10,000 to engage teenage fathers from the NCEZ in weekly Young Fathers United sessions that include training on parenting skills, setting goals and developing plans for educational attainment, and obtaining after-school jobs.
    www.idaay.org

  • Women’s Christian Alliance was awarded $8,300 to provide NCEZ youth with the nationally recognized Freedom School summer program at Meade Elementary. The Freedom School will promote literacy, cultural awareness, conflict resolution, parental involvement, and civic engagement.
    www.wcafamily.org

  • Spiral Q Puppet Theater was awarded $5,000 to support collaborative, anti-violence arts education program at Reynolds Elementary and Vaux Beacon. For 10 weeks, students will work with a resident artist to create puppets and masks to be used later in a community parade.
    www.spiralq.org

  • Uptown Entertainment & Development Corporation was awarded $5,000 to support their 6-week summer program in which students will use unedited film material about the Uptown Theater to learn about video production, interviewing techniques and set design.

Neighborhood Funding Stream
2006-2007 Grantees

Youth Violence Prevention: The Neighborhood Funding Stream selected applicants from community groups, community-based providers, and non-profit organizations to address the growing problem of violence in the community.

The North Central Empowerment Zone Community Trust Board awarded $76,000 to seven grantees:

  • Education Works was awarded $15,000 for an after-school program focused on community-building and violence prevention activities reaching students in 3 NCEZ schools.
    http://www.educationworks-online.org

  • The University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia at Temple “Voices Project” was awarded $11,000 to provide leadership, communication and conflict resolution skills for youth ages 14-18.
    http://www.temple.edu/uccp

  • Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania was awarded $11,000 for a mentoring program as a strategy for violence prevention for youth ages 7-17.
    http://www.bbbssepa.org

  • Journey Home was awarded $11,000 for an interactive, multimedia conflict resolution and resilience-building program offered to 6th and 7th graders at Ludlow School.
    http://www.journeyhome.org

  • The Village of the Arts and Humanities was awarded $11,000 to support the Teen Leadership Corps program for youth ages 13-19.
    http://www.villagearts.org/

  • Art-Reach was awarded $11,000 to work with young NCEZ residents at the William Penn High School to design and create T-shirts with slogans calling for peace in community as a counter response to the “stop snitching” mentality.
    http://www.art-reach.org/

  • Town Watch Integrated Services was awarded $6,000 to provide training to the volunteers in the North Central Safe Corridor Program.
    http://www.phila.gov/townwatch/


The American Street Empowerment Zone Community Trust Board awarded $141,000 to eleven
grantees:

  • B. Someday Productions was awarded $7,000 to engage drama students at Kensington CAPA High School and their audience in the creative expression of “What Violence has Wrought.”
    http://www.bsomeday.org

  • Congreso de Latinos Unidos was awarded $13,000 to provide career opportunities in IT, clerical and journalism professions to out-of-school youth through their E3 Center.
    http://www.congreso.net
    http://www.e3philly.org/

  • Education Works was awarded $15,000 to provide an after-school program at Ludlow School that encourages kids to “Get Real About Violence.”
    http://www.educationworks-online.org

  • Girl Scouts of Southeastern Pennsylvania was awarded $14,000 to provide an anti-violence relationship program for girls called Positive Power.
    http://www.gssp.org

  • Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center and the Empowerment Group were jointly awarded $14,000 to empower youth through entrepreneurship training and leadership development.
    http://www.familyservices-phl.org/cardinalenglish.html
    http://www.empowerment-group.org/

  • Maternity Care Coalition was awarded $15,000 to support pregnant women and new mothers and to educate them about the impact of domestic violence on themselves and their children from their MOMobile site.
    http://www.momobile.org/

  • Norris Square Civic Association was awarded $15,000 to provide Friday Safe Nights at McKinley School where children and their families can have fun, express themselves, learn about violence prevention, and stay safe on Friday night.

  • Norris Square Neighborhood Project was awarded $7,000 to support their after-school program which offers homework assistance, technology education, substance abuse prevention programming, life skills training, and leadership development.
    http://www.nsnp.com/

  • Good Shepherd Mediation Program was awarded $13,000 to provide targeted outreach in the ASEZ to recruit 100 at-risk youth and first-time juvenile offenders to attend their workshops on the impact of theft and conflict resolution.
    http://www.phillymediators.org/

  • Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsibility was awarded $13,000 to implement Peaceful Posse, a program for middle school boys that equips them with the social and emotional skills they need to heal from the trauma of witnessing or being victimized by violence.
    http://www.psrphila.org/

  • Spiral Q Puppet Theater was awarded $15,000 to work with students to create socially conscious works of art that will be used in a parade themed “What’s Going On? A community’s act of peace in a time of violence.”
    http://www.spiralq.org

Energy Loan Program: In October, the United Way Neighborhood Funding Stream made $55,000 available to support an Energy Loan Program for residents of the American Street and North Central Empowerment Zones in Philadelphia. The program was implemented in partnership with the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition, the Philadelphia Office of Housing and Community Development, and the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. This funding will be used to help approximately 200 low-income and moderate-income homeowners in the targeted Empowerment Zone communities make energy conservation home improvements.

To apply or find out more, visit: http://www.formyphillyhome.org/

Economic Development: In the American Street Empowerment Zone, the NFS provided a $50,000 grant to the Shared Security Patrol Program, which seeks to improve the environment for businesses and residents by offering a dedicated security service to participating businesses. The NFS also provided funding to support the salary of a Business Organizer.

Neighborhood Funding Stream
2005-2006 Grantees

The American Street Empowerment Zone awarded $100,000 to the Asociación de Puertorriqueños en Marcha to work with their partners in the Equitable Community Development Collaborative to produce a plan for Equitable Community Development in the American Street Empowerment Zone.

The American Street Empowerment Zone Community Trust Boards also awarded grants to the following organizations for projects that benefit the youth of the ASEZ.

The North Central Empowerment Zone Community Trust Board awarded grants to the following organizations for projects that benefit the youth of the NCEZ.

Visit United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania on:
UWSEPA on Facebook UWSEPA on MySpace UWSEPA on YouTube UWSEPA on Flickr
Learn more about United Way Give to United Way Advocate for United Way Volunteer for United Way Learn more about United Way
Give. Advocate. Volunteer.