The 5400 block of Woodland Avenue has been officially named “Dr. Minnie Moore Johnson Way” after longtime Southwest Philadelphian and community leader, Dr. Minnie Moore Johnson.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier also presented a resolution honoring Dr. Johnson’s service to Southwest Philadelphia and the city at large.

Dr. Johnson moved to Philadelphia from Brooklyn as a teenager and became a social worker and community servant. She volunteered to provide food to seniors at Thanksgiving in 1968. Two decades later, in 1988, she hosted Thanksgiving dinner for more than 25,000 seniors at the then-Philadelphia Civic Center, garnering recognition by the Smithsonian Institute for her efforts, which was credited as the largest “one-day feeding in the history of the City.”

Dr. Johnson was founder and CEO of Concerned Parents, Inc., a group that worked with the Pennsylvania Society of Prisons to provide community service opportunities to their clients. Inspired by this work, she returned to school to study criminal justice, earning her doctorate in the subject. She went on to work full-time for the Prison Society, eventually becoming the first Program Manager for the Re-Entry Service Project, where she created the only certified Job Development Course at Temple University.

Dr. Johnson was also involved with Philadelphia Safe and Sound – disrupting the cycle of violence by nurturing young people. Later in her career, she worked as a program coordinator of Fathers and Children Together, or FACT, helping incarcerated fathers at Graterford Prisons by organizing one-on-one visits with their children. She currently serves on the board of directors of Greater Philadelphia Health Action.

“Southwest Philadelphia has been Dr. Minnie Moore Johnson’s beloved community for decades – and she nurtured it with love, tenderness, and dedication,” Councilmember Gauthier said. “[Her] home on the 5400 block of Woodland Avenue is well known among neighbors as a safe haven where they can always find a hot meal or place to stay.”