Victorian Garden at The Woodlands Center Circle (rendering).

In an effort to take The Woodlands cemetery grounds “from eternal rest to garden best,” 20 people are sought to join a newly established garden community, The Grave Gardeners, for the upcoming growing season.

Each Grave Gardener will adopt a grave in the Center Circle of the cemetery and tend to it throughout the season. All the supplies and knowledge you need will be provided, in exchange for your work. At the end of the season, you’ll get a chance to show off your plot to the rest of The Woodlands community at a Garden Fête.

The season will start with three workshops, where The Grave Gardeners will learn how to design a Victorian-style garden and how to keep it beautiful throughout the growing season. The workshops are led by local experts.

The first workshop, “Gardens (and Houses) in Graveyards,” presented by architectural historian and vice president of The Woodlands Aaron Wunsch, will be held on February 25.

So, if you have some free time this spring and summer and are not afraid to get your hands dirty, you’re welcome to fill out an application here: woodlandsphila.org/gravegardeners.

Application are accepted through Friday, Feb. 12.

Delaila Aryee (left) and Lyndsay Brown (right) with former Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter.

A new fitness and physical therapy private practice with a focus on affordable physical therapy and rehab, fitness classes and open gym options, has recently opened at 5008 Baltimore Avenue. Vital Step Physical Therapy and Fitness co-owners Delaila Aryee and Lyndsay Brown, both Doctors of Physical Therapy, are young entrepreneurs who were featured on A Woman’s Nation in September 2015. Their dream then was to open their own, compassionate practice that would serve their community.

“We are very passionate about making an impact in our local community because we have spent many years here as clinicians, residents and graduates from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (also located in West Philly),” Aryee and Brown told A Woman’s Nation.

Thanks to the women’s passion and a little help from KIVA Zip, which provided a microloan allowing to renovate the space and to purchase necessary equipment and supplies, Vital Step opened its doors in November.

At Vital Step, you can get physical therapy services for various neurological conditions, including stroke, brain/spinal injury, Parkinson’s disorder, Multiple Sclerosis and more; orthopedic conditions, including joint replacement therapy, arthritis/joint pain, lower back/neck pain, sports injuries and more. The facility also offers balance and fall prevention programs, CHF and COPD management, postpartum therapy, diabetes and high blood pressure management, and other services.

Rehabbing an ankle injury at Vital Step.

As concerns fitness and health education, Vital Step offers general and specialized fitness programs, including yoga, low impact aerobics and Zumba/dance, and nutrition education.

Vital Step Physical Therapy & Fitness is located at 5008 Baltimore Ave., on the 2nd floor of the Mercy wellness center (it is not affiliated with Mercy).

For more information, visit: http://www.vitalsteppt.com/. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

(Photos from Vital Step’s Facebook page).

UPDATE (2/9/2016): Due to the low snow accumulations, Streets Department crews will be collecting Tuesday’s trash and recycling on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Residents whose trash collection day is Tuesday can now put their materials on the curb.

On Monday, the Streets Department announced  that it cancelled Tuesday trash and recycling pick-up ahead of an expected snowstorm that will put garbage trucks to work as snowplows.

Photo courtesy of International House Philadelphia.

This year on the Chinese calendar is the year of the Monkey. It starts on February 8, and there will be celebrations around the city this weekend and on Monday.

Families are invited to the following events:

• International House Philadelphia (3701 Chestnut St.) is hosting a celebration tonight (Friday, Feb. 5), beginning at 7 p.m. There will be traditional musical and dance performances and a sampling of delicious traditional Chinese cuisine. The program includes:

7:00 p.m. – Traditional food tasting and vendors in Galleria
7:45 p.m. – Show featuring traditional dance, song, lion dance, and more begins in Ibrahim Theater

Tickets are $12 (general public); $8 (IHP members and alumni); $5 (children 12 and under). No tickets are required for children small enough to sit on your lap.  Continue Reading

“Racism is a Sickness,” an art installation that uses photography and personal stories to showcase the devastating effects of racism on American society, is currently on display at the Art Church of West Philadelphia (5219 Webster St.).

The photo essay, which is presented by Germantown-based photographer and blogger Tieshka Smith, highlights the disastrous socioeconomic effects of racism on the health and well-being of people of color and on society at large. The author hopes to jump start community conversations leading to action and increased cross-collaboration between community members, academics, elected officials, businesspeople and health care practitioners.

“Racism is a Sickness” events program (click to enlarge).

The soft opening of the exhibition was held on Monday, Feb. 1, and tonight everyone is invited to the opening reception, from 7 – 10 p.m., featuring a performance by Philadelphia-based vocalist and rapper DMNQ LNDN.

The installation will be on display until Feb. 29 and will also include the following programs and events throughout the month, such as The Letters Project, “White Like Me” film screening and discussion, an evening of performance art inspired by “Racism is a Sickness,” and more (please check this page for more details).

A closing reception and a community showcase, “Let the Community Speak” will take place on February 27 at 6 p.m.

For more information, visit: http://racismisasickness.tumblr.com/ or the event’s Facebook page.

A new apartment building will break ground at 4050 Haverford Avenue on Tuesday, Feb. 9. The project, called 4050 Apartments, will provide affordable housing for low-income artists, a group that is an essential part of the Lower Lancaster identity.

The 24,350-square-feet building replaces a large vacant lot in a highly visible area, just off of the intersection of 40th Street, Lancaster Avenue, and Haverford Avenue. The project will consist of a new three-story building with 20 living units and a shared exhibition and workshop space for artists. The apartments will have one- two- and three-bedroom layouts.

A community room on the ground floor will be open to all residents and will offer arts and educational programming open to the public.

The $7.2 million project is being carried out by the PEC Community Development Corporation, which has been building affordable housing in Philadelphia’s Promise Zone area for more than 20 years.

Community members are invited to the groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday at 11 a.m. Please check the event’s Facebook page for updates.