At the corner of 39th and Lancaster Ave., residents and city officials gathered inside a cluster of aged but still impressive Victorian buildings known as Hawthorne Hall. They were there to celebrate the finished version of the “Make Your Mark!” Lower Lancaster Revitalization Plan.

The plan was devised by the People’s Emergency Center (PEC), a West Philadelphia based nonprofit and community development corporation, and has been in the works since 2011. The area addressed in the plan includes Lancaster Ave. from 37th to 48th and the surrounding neighborhoods of Mantua, West Powelton and Saunders Park.

The planning process was intentionally inclusive and resident-driven. PEC organized numerous public meetings, private interviews and focus groups for specific interests and demographics.

Just two weeks ago, the PEC released a nearly finished version of the plan to give residents one more chance to comment. Now, the plan is ready for implementation with a $750,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation, a long time partner of the PEC and also the primary funder of the planning process.

Small-scale improvements are a major facet of the plan, such as street cleaning services and improvements to facades, signage and sidewalks. But the plan also outlines a long-term strategy for marketing the corridor, expanding transit access and reducing blight.

Specifically, a few of the major additions to the corridor include a skatepark, a second location for the young writer’s workshop Mighty Writers and the restoration of Hawthorne Hall itself.

An additional trolley stop on Lancaster Ave. and streetscape improvements such as the promotion of car sharing, bike racks and parking kiosks are also planned.

Kira Strong, Vice President of Community and Economic Development at PEC, explained that the plan is broken down into six categories:

1. Better quality of life
2. Healthier environments
3. Housing options for everyone
4. Balanced streets
5. Revitalized Lancaster Ave.
6. Unique identity

For each of these categories, PEC has set up a committee that residents may join to stay involved with that that particular aspect of the implementation process. There will also be “neighborhood plan update meetings” for residents to keep a general tab on the progress made so far.

The event held at Hawthorne Hall exemplified the inclusive spirit of the planning process and used the opportunity to celebrate some of the neighborhoods current assets. Laptops set up in the back of the hall showed videos of local technology projects, such as a commercial produced by students for a local business. Events and services located in the corridor were also advertised on a table stuffed with handouts.

Key stakeholders in the community concluded the event with a ceremonious “bricklaying.”

The People’s Emergency Center (PEC), a West Philadelphia based nonprofit, produced a report on how homelessness impacts youth by combining its own research with data from a national survey. The report concluded with 34 ideas for solving youth homelessness.

The national data came from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), a biannual report issued by the Center for Disease Control that uses a sampling of public and private school students from across the country to determine health risks affecting youth, including drug-use, sexual behavior and depression.

Prior to 2009, the YRBS did not include questions about youth homelessness. So the PEC requested that these questions be added to the Philadelphia segment of the national survey:

• Where do you typically sleep at night?
• During the past 30 days, did you live away from your parents because you were kicked out, ran away, were abandoned, or removed from your parents?
• Have you ever considered yourself to be homeless?

With the added questions, the report revealed that 8% of Philadelphia high school students in 2009 experienced homelessness and 11% had been “kicked out, run-away, or been abandoned.” The report also noted that youth who experienced homelessness were nearly three times more likely to get pregnant, commit suicide or be forced to have sex.

Farah Jimenez, President and CEO of PEC, said that the questions were specifically designed to shed light on youth homelessness and to leverage the national survey for their work in West Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Now, PEC is moving forward with an initiative called “Growing Up Homeless,” which will consist of seminars bringing together social scientists and social practitioners to address youth homelessness.

“This is the beginning of a long term initiative to marry social policy with social practice,” Jimenez said.

Part of this strategy is actually bringing social scientists and academics into the organization. Dr. Staci Perlman, of Kutztown University, helped produce the report and will remain as a visiting scholar. Leigh Wilson, a fellow of the Stoneleigh Foundation, will also work with PEC as a visiting scholar.

“Rather than social scientists just accessing our data, they are living and breathing inside the organization,” Jimenez said.

PEC is already deeply involved in helping homeless children and families in Mantua, West Powelton and Saunders Park neighborhoods. Its new strategy is an attempt to combine data and academic expertise with the knowledge and wisdom gained by working with people on the ground.

Here are several of the specific solutions outlined in the report:

• Extending after hours school building usage to serve community needs by, for example, engaging parents through community meetings, dinner, and services.
• Including both youth and parents in interventions.
• Ensuring that school staff, social service providers, and families are aware of  available resources, including online databases. (i.e. http://www.211sepa.org)
• Developing a strategy to effectively reach out to homeless students who are not in shelter through a collaborative process that includes community leadership, students, and families.
• Placing social workers and psychologists in schools.
• The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness using the YRBS in its data strategy to better understand the prevalence and characteristics of youth.
• Developing a safe space for students in each school, and keeping “a door open” for students to talk to a safe person (i.e. a nurse or peer counselor)
• Increasing cross-system communication.
• Providing community centers (i.e. safe  places in communities for teens to go to.)
• Clarifying the law regarding the right to education, and accordingly educating all school staff.

The full report can be found here.

The Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN) is joining with the Urban Affairs Coalition (UAC) to offer Philadelphia youth, ages 14-21, the opportunity to gain career exposure and resume and interview training by connecting them with local businesses for paid summer internships.

PYN will pay interns’ wages from July 1st to August 9th, reducing the burden on employers to pay out of pocket. Interns will work an average of 20 hours a week, totalling $870 in wages.

UAC will employ interns itself, but it is also reaching out to businesses to help place interns in appropriate positions. Last summer, UAC placed over 500 interns while employing 165 interns itself, according to the organization’s website.

UAC offers two program models:

• Work Experience Program: Ages 14-21: no prior experience required, pre-dominately social services sector placements

• Summer Career Exploration Program/ Internships: Ages 16-21; prior job experience, resume, and interviews required; private sector placements

Past employers have included an array of sectors and industries, including government entities like the Free Library of Philadelphia, and large and small nonprofits like Temple University and the Urban Tree Connection. There is no cost to employers and the program is currently seeking additional companies to come onboard.

Interested students can stop by UAC offices at 1207 Chestnut Street for help with filling out their applications. Additional information, for students and potential employers, is available here.

What You Should Know About the Philly Student Walkout

New Tool for Mapping Philadelphia 40k Vacant Lots
A new online tool by former UPenn grad student Douglas Meehan maps Philadelphia’s 40,000 vacant lots. Technically Philly highlights the tool’s features, which is also designed to facilitate action by organizations already involved in revitalizing vacant land, like Public Workshop and the West Rockland Street Project. [Technically Philly]

City Grant Funds New Shelter for Victims of Domestic Abuse
Over the last few year, Philadelphia’s only shelter for battered women has been turning away victims of domestic abuse due to a lack of beds. “In fiscal year 2008, the shelter had to turn away abuse victims 1,906 times,” reports Newsworks. Now, with a $2.5 million city grant, the nonprofit Women Against Abuse is building a second shelter, scheduled to open at the end of 2013. [Newsworks]

Department of Making + Doing Launches
A coalition of three youth-oriented organizations (The Hactory, Breadboard, and Public Workshop) are setting up at a new combined headquarters in West Philadelphia, reports Technically Philly. The Department of Making + Doing will serve as a space for the individual organizations, but also as a shared programming space. [Technically Philly]

Nutter Proposes Tax Hike on Cigarettes and Alcohol to Fund Schools
Philly.com reports that Mayor Nutter, in an effort to generate an additional $60 million in funds for the School District, is proposing a tax hike on cigarettes and alcohal. Nutter says that if something is not done to close the gap in the district budget students will be deprived of real “educational opportunity.” [Philly.com]

But the app has become more than a simple add-on to the call center. By placing “widgets” on its main menu that connect to other apps, such as the L&I Property History app, it has become a central digital access point for city services and information.

Civic-minded users can now scan through bios of city officials and get detailed election information, all through the portal of the 311 app.

Philly311 Widget Contest
Running with this success, the City has announced a contest inviting users to pitch their ideas for new widgets and even develop and submit fully made apps. The winning widget will be added to the app’s main menu and the creator will get full recognition.

Anyone is welcome to pitch their widget ideas for the Philly311 app, regardless if they know how to build them.

A Hack Night will be held May 21st at 6PM at Devnuts, a hacker-space at 908A North 3rd Street, where non-programmers will have a chance to discuss their ideas and get help with their development. The contest page stresses that participants do not need to have tech skills:

“Not a programmer? No problem – post your idea here or show up at the Hack Night and meet one.”

All suggestions will be accepted, but the contest guidelines recommend that the widget address any of the following categories:

• Community Improvement
• Digital Access (lack of access to computers/internet
• Traffic
• Public Health
• Education
• Environment

Small Contracts, Big Ideas
The announcement was made on a new city website called Big Ideas PHL. The site is designed to connect city departments with local technologists and entrepreneurs for projects costing under $30,000.

“We’re targeting these smaller projects and reaching out to local firms with the idea that we’ve got talent right here in our own backyard that can help the city,” said Mark Headd, chief data officer for the city, a position created by Mayor Nutter last August.

Headd and Director of Civic Engagement Tim Wisniewksi explained that contracts under $30,000 do not have to go through the regular bidding process. They can be labeled as “miscellaneous purchase orders,” which allow the city to reach out to no less than three contractors to get an idea of the cost of the project.

In most cases, Headd said, city officials directly contact contractors for these kinds of smaller projects. The website is designed to open up that process.

“We’re not really doing anything different than what’s already been done in the past, except improving visibility into this process which has existed in the city for a while,” Headd said. “Its really just us layering a modern web platform onto an existing city process.”

So far, over 100 users have signed up to receive notices on job opportunities being offered by the city. The City Commissioners office had its website redesigned for $40,000 less than the anticipated price by reaching out to a local firm.

But programmers and web designers are not the only people with big ideas for civic engagement. Headd and Wisniewski said that they intend to expand the site to also target small local companies outside of the tech sector.

Ventureneer provided a great post about how to fix a board that micromanages instead of supporting the organization.

“Does your board spend time secondguessing program decisions, reviewing the merits of various copier machines or discussing the color of this year’s annual report?”

Read more from How to Fix a Micromanaging Nonprofit Board.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy discusses the new landscape for organizations and ways to impress your donor base despite the new normal for finances. The value that organizations add to the community is undeniable and there are ways to keep people interested and to keep them engaged to see your mission flourish.

“In the past few years, measurement has quickly evolved from a “nice to have” to a “must have” for nonprofits. Government agencies, foundations, and private donors have been demanding answers to the question: Did that program make a difference?”

Read more from How to Impress Donors with Your Programs in a Tough Economy.

In their most recent post, Idealist provides some information all the way from New Orleans on the new trend of social innovation start-ups and how to fund your idea. Philadelphia is no stranger to this idea but here is a look at what another city is doing to influence the greater good.

“Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation is a New Orleans-based nonprofit whose mission is to tackle the city’s toughest challenges by supporting the creative solutions of its community members. Guest blogger Julia Stewart talks about community-focused ways to finance your nonprofit or social venture when you’re just starting out.”

Read more from Need money for your idea? Creative financing starts locally.

With such an incredible response from the people, organizations that rallied to help receive donations and procure supplies showcased the type of response needed for organizations in any situation to provide the highest level of service.

Getting Attention Blog provides some useful tips to help organizations reinforce responsible reporting and effective response in the time of crisis.

“…Make sure your organization is prepared to respond to coming crises whether they be directly affecting your organization and/or region, or not. We will face others together—both man-made and natural—that undermine our collective sense of safety and well-being.”

Read more from Be Prepared–Crisis Communications Checklist.

Passionate Giving wants organization to consider thinking big. What they propose is that if an organization want to stay alive, the leaders need to see their resources in new ways. Scale up through purposed investment.

“A non-profit spends so much time focused on and delivering their programs that they forget how to pay for them.”

Read more from Think Big–Or Die, Thats is NOT a Lie!