Grandparents and other relatives who are raising children are invited to the 3rd biennial Helping Hands Kinship Care Conference this Saturday (Oct. 3). The conference, which will take place at the West Philadelphia High School, is organized by Sen. Anthony H. Williams in partnership with the Philadelphia Kinship Care Committee.

The conference will feature a presentation on the new Community Umbrella Agency system (CUA) and workshops on issues that may be relevant to your family, such as Custody and the Law, Family Dynamics of Kinship Care, and Behavioral Health Resources.

This is a free event, but registration is required for lunch: Please call and leave a message for Adele Struble at Turning Points for Children at 215-528-3499 or Grand Central at 215-557-1554. Please provide the following for registration: Name, Address, Phone, Email, Kinship Caregiver relationship to child.

Date: October 3, 2015
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Location: West Philadelphia High School, 4901 Chestnut St.

Here’s some good news out of the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP). The college recently received a $3 million grant to help African American males succeed in college.

The college, which has a student population of more than 34,000, will use the grant to help fund its Center for Male Engagement, which provides access to academic coaches, computers and other education resources. The grant was provided by the Department of Education’s Predominately Black Institutions Program.

“This is a place where men gain the confidence to be successful in life and in their studies,” CCP President Donald Guy Generals said in a statement.

Minority students make up about 76 percent of CCP’s student body.

CCP’s West Regional Center, where the college’s Automotive Technology programs are based, is located at 4725 Chestnut Street.

Visit beautiful Garden Court homes and dine on gourmet meals on Saturday, Oct. 3.

This is a great chance to visit and learn more about one of the most beautiful West Philly neighborhoods and meet many of its wonderful residents. On Saturday, Oct. 3, everyone is invited to the annual Garden Court Community Association’s Progressive Dinner. Recently, three Garden Court blocks made it to the top 25 of the most beautiful streets in Philadelphia, and you can visit some of these homes during this event and dine on gourmet international meals. In addition, you can dance the night away at Take The Lead Dance Studio.

The event supports community projects (here‘s just one of the programs GCCA volunteers do in the area). You don’t have to be a GCCA member to attend; however members receive a perk of a discounted ticket price.  Continue Reading

This weekend, the city of Philadelphia will greet Pope Francis, an exciting time for Philadelphians and guests, but also stressful for many local residents. Here’s our summary on various closures, restrictions and cancellations associated with the papal visit. The schedule of events and activities during the Papal visit on Sept. 26 & 27 is available here. Also check out these useful links: Papal Visit Playbook, Philly Pope Map, Papal Visit FAQs. There will also be live streaming of events from the World Meeting of Families and the Papal visit stream (click here).

We will update this post as more information becomes available. Feel free to post comments or email us (editor-at-westphillylocal.com) if you know of any closures or cancellations not included in this post.

Highway Closures, Traffic Restrictions (“Traffic Boxes”)

Some road closures and parking restrictions have already begun ahead of the visit, but major highway closures and traffic restrictions will start on Friday night. Mayor Michael Nutter has announced Papal “traffic boxes” for parts of Center City and West Philadelphia, beginning on Friday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. respectively. Vehicles will be allowed to exit the traffic box area, but will not be allowed to re-enter it (except for emergency vehicles). There will be no SEPTA bus or trolley service within the boundaries of the traffic box, but there will be no restrictions to bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Here are the boundaries for the West Philadelphia Traffic Box:  Continue Reading

LCA members in 2014 (Facebook photo).

The Life Center Association (LCA), a community land trust in West Philadelphia, which owns several properties, is seeking a community of people – a group, a family, or families – to live in one of its houses on the 4800 block of Springfield Avenue. The house has seven bedrooms, two bathrooms, front and back yards, and a modern kitchen.

The LCA is a non-profit membership organization with a cooperative tenant management structure, where members share control of the housing as well as the responsibility for maintaining the houses. “Our goal is to acquire and hold houses permanently in order to secure access to long-term housing for community residents on a break-even basis,” reads the LCA’s announcement.  Continue Reading

Mosaic Community Church, 123 S. 51st St.

West Philly organizations and community groups have a chance to receive grants of up to $6,000 for their projects. Three years ago, as part of a capital campaign to raise money to renovate their new property at 51st and Sansom, Mosaic Community Church committed to give away 10 percent of all of the money raised to organizations who are doing good work in West Philly neighborhoods. This commitment turned into the Building It Together (BIT) Grant Program. This year, Mosaic’s BIT Grant Program has $26,000 to give away and invites local nonprofits and community organizations to apply.

The BIT Grant Program is comprised of two distinct funding opportunities:  Continue Reading