Amani Lee, a senior at The U School, hadn’t given gardening much thought until this year. As part of her school’s horticultural program, she’s now researching crops in Ukraine, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. She is learning what the people in these countries grow and eat, and the stories behind their famous dishes. Under
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portrait by Mark Likosky “I was privileged as a youngster to live on a North Philadelphia block with neighborhood families who celebrated and thrived on the simple aspects of life: family, clean streets, safe places for children to play, learn and love. Today, I’m sure that my work and service to the community is inspired
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portrait by Mark Likosky “Energy efficiency is such a win-win. It truly is the cleanest, cheapest, safest and fastest energy resource, and it creates the most local jobs. In a city like Philadelphia, it’s also transformative. Harnessing our energy efficiency resource will transform our energy economy and enable our wonderful old buildings to last another
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portrait by Mark Likosky “When I found myself back in my childhood neighborhood, ravaged by time, I set a course that—through guerilla gardening with children on crime-ridden parcels—has methodically proven that by reclaiming land and respecting human life, no matter how depressed, a community can recreate itself, catalyzing individual and community health.” — SW It’s time
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portrait by Mark Likosky “Amazing things happen in communities when its most resilient members—youth—are empowered to visibly take the lead in designing, building and problem-solving for its future.” — AG Any designer can draft plans. This one is drafting an army of doers, makers and earth-shakers. Alex Gilliam is the indomitable force behind the design consultancy
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portrait by Mark Likosky “The central question of whether we are going to invest in a public system that educates all of our children with equity and justice—in a city where race and poverty play so heavily into their life experiences—is not just a question about our city’s future, but our standing as a moral
MoreIllustration by Narrator Essay by Christopher Putvinski Anyone who thinks they can change the world on their own is both wrong and dangerous.” It was in early 2013 when I first heard these words from distinguished anthropologist Wade Davis. I mistakenly took it as defeatist: Was he implying that a single person wasn’t capable of
MoreWorkshop School student leader and rising sophomore Quwontay Hunter works on acarpenter project By Alex Jones Quwontay Hunter has changed a lot over the past few years. Since enrolling at the Workshop School, his teachers, mentors and mom agree: the 16-year-old rising sophomore from West Philadelphia hasn’t just grown—he’s flourished. When the friendly, soft-spoken teen
MoreKids taking a hike with the Urban Blazers program learn which berries are edible | photo by Urban Blazers by Hannah Waters The woods of Fairmount Park are haunted. There, in a dilapidated hut, lives the Green Lady, according to local legend. She roams the park with a single purpose: to steal kids who venture too
MorePhillyEarth permaculture students at the Village of Arts and Humanities stand with their teacher, Jon Hopkins (center) in the middle of their garden | photos by Jared Gruenwald By Marilyn Anthony The cob oven, hand-built from Warnock Street clay, was nearly finished when it suddenly collapsed. Jon Hopkins, Director of the PhillyEarth project thought, “Oh my
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Free Library of Philadelphia President Siobhan Reardon | photo by Jon Roemer By Marilyn Anthony In 2008, Siobhan Reardon, the first female president of the Free Library of Philadelphia, had some challenging ingredients to work with when she arrived: a 30 percent budget cut, a stalled capital campaign, pressure to close many neighborhood libraries and the astounding
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