Community News

Philly study focuses on learning how to use public transit as path to independence for people with learning disabilities
Researchers at Temple University will look at the effectiveness of the Chance to Ride travel training program and recruit participants in Philly. Nicole Leonard Apr 2, 2025 At the corner of 4th and Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia, Luke Tomczuk waited for the 57 SEPTA bus. Soon it came rumbling down the street and riders…

Here’s how a Pennsylvania school is setting students with autism, intellectual disabilities up for success
By Madeleine Wright Updated on: March 8, 2025 / 12:11 PM EST / CBS Philadelphia People with autism often face barriers to employment, but a private school in Middletown Township, Delaware County, is coming up with a solution. Davidson School, operated by the nonprofit Elwyn, opened a café on Feb. 3 so students can get real world…

Philadelphia opens first urgent care walk-in clinic for mental health needs
The clinic is funded by the city and officially opens to patients beginning September 3. It will not provide emergency crisis services. Philadelphia now has its first urgent care facility for mental health needs that will provide psychiatric evaluations, quick counseling sessions, prescription refills, and referrals. A white brick building near North Broad Street and…

Philadelphia’s median income rises, Pennsylvania’s falls
By Mike D’Onofrio On September 18, 2023 Philadelphia households saw modest gains in median income last year, new census data shows. Why it matters: While incomes fell nationally and statewide, Philly bucked that trend as the city’s poverty rate ticked downward. Yes, but: Philly maintains its status as the poorest big city in the country. Its 21.7%…

FEMA designates several Pa., Del., N.J. areas as ‘disaster resilience zones’: Here’s what that means
The new designation prioritizes the areas for federal funding related to climate change resilience. By Kenny Cooper and Sophia Schmidt On September 8, 2023 The Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing a shortcut for hundreds of vulnerable communities to get easier access to funds for climate resiliency projects. FEMA announced Wednesday the initial designation of…

PA. will track voting machine malfunctions under new settlement with election security groups
By Carter Walker of Votebeat On August 18, 2023 This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. This article is available for reprint under the terms of Votebeat’s republishing policy. HARRISBURG — Thanks to a new settlement between Pennsylvania and a coalition of election security…
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Local Organizations
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Philadelphia Coalition for Affordable Communities
Philadelphia is becoming a more desirable place to live. There’s increased development in many neighborhoods, which has resulted in a rise in property values and in the cost of living. While this development is critical for improving Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, for too many of us it has meant being forced out of our communities. This has especially affected those of us who are disabled, are seniors, or are part of working families living below the poverty line. We need to preserve affordability in gentrifying neighborhoods so that those who are committed to and invested in our communities can afford to stay.
Eastwick Friends & Neighbors Coalition
EFNC actively supports the Eastwick Lower Darby Creek Area (ELDCA) Community Advisory Group (CAG), which was established to inform residents about Clearview Landfill clean up, and provide opportunity to voice concerns and provide input to the process.
MANNA
MANNA uses nutrition to improve health for people with serious illnesses who need nourishment to heal. By providing medically tailored meals and nutrition education, we empower people to improve their health and quality of life.
Why Not Prosper
Our mission is to help women from prison systems discover their own strength by providing them with the support and resources that will empower them to become responsible, economically self-sufficient and contributing members of the community.
Esperanza
Driven by the Biblical mandate to serve “the least of these” we strengthen Hispanic communities. For more than 30 years, Esperanza has been empowering those on a pathway out of poverty in the Hunting Park section of North Philadelphia by offering programs that cultivate self-belief, grit, and knowledge acquisition, allowing clients and students to develop agency, voice, and influence over their own lives.
Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Free Library has its own foundation, but the neighborhood branches get by with a little help from their friends. The Friends of the Free Library is an independent nonprofit organization that supports library groups and is totally dedicated to the city’s 54-branch library system — one of the most extensive in the country. Active volunteer Friends groups provide additional support to their local librarians, helping to enrich programming, boost services, and improve the collection.
Project HOME
Philadelphia has one of the highest rates of poverty of any large U.S. city but has a relatively low rate of those experiencing street homelessness. That’s due in part to the work of Project HOME. “None of us are home until all of us are home” is Project HOME’s famous motto, and getting all of us home will require finding affordable housing for more than 5,600 people who will be without shelter this winter.
Hopeworks Camden
Hopeworks started as a training program to connect disenfranchised youth to opportunity. But the organization soon discovered that success required much more than providing those youth with chances. Young people also needed trauma-informed services — and these proved to be the ingredient that allows them to take advantage of life-changing opportunities.
New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia
Some 170,000 undocumented immigrants live in Pennsylvania, and providing them with a place of refuge is either an act of civil defiance or radical hospitality. New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, an interfaith, multicultural immigration justice organization, calls it a radical welcome. For 14 years, NSM has worked to secure rights for the undocumented — and its latest battle is to allow such residents to get driver’s licenses.
SEAMAAC
Philadelphia’s Asian American community represents a variety of countries, including Bhutan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos as well as China and South Korea. The Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Association Coalition, better known as SEAMAAC, seeks to help them all.
Upcoming Events

E-SIDE STORY- a dramatization and fundraiser to prevent teen Gun Violence.
E-SIDE STORY is a contemporary dramatization about Black /Latina teen life in urban cities in a season of social media beefs & gun violence A NITE OF THEATER THERAPY… LIVE STAGE VIGNETTE & BONUS “TALK BACK”- HOSTED BY DR. GEORGE JAMES, LMFT…EXEC. DIRECTOR C/O GEORGE TALKS, LLC. ALL UNDER THE STARS @ THE AFRICAN AMERICAN…

Opera in the Park – Fairmount Park Conservancy
Join the Fairmount Park Conservancy and Opera Philadelphia for free performances at FDR Park on September 10 from 6:30—9:00 PM. Bring out the whole family for an evening of live music sets, food trucks, and opera on the big screen! This event is a partnership between the Fairmount Park Conservancy and Opera Philadelphia. 7:00: Live performances by…

Garden Tenders: How to Start and Sustain a Community Garden
Are you involved in a new community garden or looking to start one? Join us to learn what it takes to get a community garden started, and how to keep it going. This is not a gardening class — we will cover recruiting and keeping volunteers; assessing and finding resources in your neighborhood; garden management; land ownership/security;…

WPSR’s 2023 Health Justice Gala
About the eventWPSR’s 2023 Health Justice Gala Join WPSR for our annual Health Justice Gala on September 22, 2023! At WPSR’s annual fundraising gala, WPSR supporters like you gather to support and celebrate our work. This year, with your help we will raise $200,000 to fund our critical work confronting the gravest threats: the climate…

Poets Laureate Reading
This event is FREE and ADA accessible. Laura Da’ is a poet and teacher. A lifetime resident of the Pacific Northwest, Da’ studied creative writing at the University of Washington and The Institute of American Indian Arts. Da’ is Eastern Shawnee. She is the current Poet Laureate of Redmond, Washington and Poet Planner for King County, Washington. Her…

“On the Edge: 2nd International Latinx Performance Art Festival”
On the Edge: 2nd International Latinx Performance Art Festival is the second Latinx performance art festival based in Seattle, showcasing a wide range of experimental performance grounded in the themes of inclusion, identity and intersectionality. Featuring a wide range of pan-Latine/x artists and supporters, these performances will range from intimate, single-person storytelling, to medium-length, mixed-media group performances,…

The Social Justice Film Festival
Through strategic partnerships with Pacific Northwest organizations working on issues of social justice, the Social Justice Film Festival features short and feature-length documentaries and narrative films related to social justice. As a movement, social justice promotes a global culture where equality is achieved on all levels. This includes issues pertaining to incarceration, the environment and…

Seattle Broadway Inclusion Program
STG’s Broadway Inclusion Program provides theatre arts programming to neurodivergent and/or disabled community members and their families and caregivers. Participants tend to be between 8-50 years old, but all ages and abilities are welcome! Participants meet once a week to explore musical theatre and movement-based activities in a creative and safe environment. At the end…

CL56: Heeding the Call of the Student
Where do the voices of students call you to take them? What do you hear that points to a path where their concerns and passions can drive a richer exploration of what you had hoped to cover anyway? Join us as we kick off our 8th season of Collab Labs with a discussion focused on…

Forest Rescue at North SeatTac Park
“North SeaTac Park is a 200+ acre urban oasis four miles south of Seattle filled with creeks, wetlands, towering trees, and amazing recreational amenities. Tub Lake, thought to be the last true peat bog left in the Seattle area, is also in this park, Join us at this Green SeaTac Partnership event to help free…
Local Hero Spotlight
Members can nominate a local hero for recognition on their local LoveJustice.com city page!
Anyone and everyone can make an impact, and at LoveJustice we believe that they deserve to be recognized for their good, necessary work!
