the spirit of penn's garden – january 14, 2016

THIS

WEEKJANUARY 14, 2015

VOL. 1NO. 1

PRESS

HOTOFF THE

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

1

Coffee, Foster Youth and a Brewerytown Cafe

ACCU REGGIE

3

Seven day forecast for the Penn’s Garden region.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

7

Events and happeningsin Penn’s Garden.

HYPERLOCAL DONE DIFFERENTLY

FAIRMOUNT + NORTH CENTRAL + BREWERYTOWN + TEMPLE + STRAWBERRY MANSIONFRANCISVILLE + POPLAR + LUDLOW + SPRING GARDEN

His focused eyes and infectious smile do not suggest it, but Naje Taylor hasn’t always been the upbeat, talkative man he is today. He grew up as a part of the foster care system and, at age 21, he “aged-out.” Taylor doesn’t speak poorly of his time in the foster

system, but he says that’s where his trouble with self-expression began. “You keep things to yourself,” he explains, “You’re away from your fami-ly, you don’t want to show any weakness, so you bottle up your emotions.” He didn’t know it at the time, but when he began working with Lisa Mic-colis at The Monkey & The Elephant cafe (2831 W. Girard Ave), he started a journey that would help him overcome this problem. Miccolis and Taylor had both felt, at moments, directionless in life prior to the founding of the cafe, but it would only take a trip to South Africa, a pop-up store and a whole lot of coffee to change that. For many who are “aging out” of the system, what to do next isn’t always clear. The foster system guarantees a place to live, access to health cover-age and guidance from social workers and child advocates. When you age out, none of that is guaranteed. A 2015 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that, as of 2014, around 415,129 youths were within the foster care system in the United States. On top of that, more than 24,000 of these in-dividuals were between the ages of 18 and 20. For many foster kids, their 18 birthday marks the end of their time in the system. In Pennsylvania, it’s possible to continue in the system until the age of 21 if you meet certain requirements– like pursuing a GED or college degree or working full time. It was helping to guide these people through life after foster care that inspired Miccolis to found The Monkey & The Elephant in the first place. After graduating from college, Miccolis found herself unable to de-cide what to do next. She did humanitarian work through YouthBuild, a non-profit program that provides education and counseling to unem-ployed youths between the ages of 16 and 24. She even considered a career in documentary photography, but nothing seemed to fit. “With photography you have to be removed from what you’re shooting. I wanted something where I could be more involved.” During a trip to South Africa, Miccolis made a connection with a young man named Ephraim, who had been in the South African equivalent of foster care. Her time with Ephraim led Miccolis to explore the non-profit sector. Combining what she learned there with the knowledge that she had obtained from her previous experience working in coffee shops, Mic-colis founded The Monkey & The Elephant. The mission of the cafe is sim-ple: to employ foster youth who have aged out of the system and provide the necessary skillsets required to survive in the workforce. Miccolis, alongside friends and acquaintances of various backgrounds, designed the foster youth program at the cafe with several points in mind.

Some of the tasks that employees must complete include attending net-working events, learning about food access by visiting grocery stores and farmers markets, creating personal financing plans and conducting an informational interview, among other things. Miccolis says the program was designed to mix both practical tasks, such as attending career fairs, with learning experiences that can help expand an individual’s worldview, such as taking a walk through an unfamiliar neighborhood and engaging with people who live there. During the earliest days of the cafe, when it was simply a pop-up shop, Miccolis met Taylor. After he was hired, Taylor became a staple at The Monkey & The Elephant and went along with Miccolis to open up a stable location in the Brewerytown area of Philadelphia. While working in the cafe and going through the program, Taylor was able to confront parts of himself that he felt were holding him back. “I had jobs before, but I wasn’t good at communicating,” Taylor says, calling back to his inability to express himself while in foster care. Since a large part of the program at The Monkey & The Elephant has to do with communication, Taylor was able to face this problem head-on. Out-side of networking events and interviews, employees of the cafe interact with dozens of people on a regular basis. Taylor learned how to commu-nicate with others through the daily exchanges that he would have with customers. Miccolis also acknowledges the important role that the com-munity plays in the program at the cafe. “[Our customers] may not realize this, but they are acting as mentors every time they walk in, just by talking to the staff.” While working at the cafe, Taylor continued to pursue other job oppor-tunities. He was eventually able to land a position as Youth Advocate for Foster Care with Catholic Community Services, which offers opportuni-ties for foster youth to be adopted and provides counseling services for foster families. Here, Taylor has been able to test the skills he developed at Monkey & Elephant. “It’s easier for me to read people now. I find it easier to express myself, some might say I express myself too much, “ Taylor said, laughing, “And I’ve learned that approaching someone is not always going to be a positive experience. Sometimes you need to approach someone who seems nega-tive so you can test your strengths.” Not all of the problems that Taylor and other members of the staff, face are unique to those who have aged out of the foster care system. Taylor is quite familiar with a huge problem that members of his generation strug-gle with: student debt.

Continued on Page 4.

VillageIT takes a

written By Joe Palinsky

COMMUNITY FOCUS

2

Maiken Scott Tries Mobile Fitness.

RCO ROUNDUP

6

Upcoming programs from Fairmount CDC.

THANK YOU

5

A big thanks you to all of the people who helped make The Spirit of Penn’s Garden

a reality.

LETTER FROMTHE EDITOR

3

An introduction to The Spirit of Penn’s Garden by

it’s editor.

The Spirit of Penn’s Garden – January 14, 2016

I’m sweating like crazy and can barely catch my breath. “You’re doing great, and you’re almost done,” a voice behind me calls out. The first part is a lie. The

second part is the best news I’ve gotten all day. I’ve been running up and down the Art Museum steps with a group of about thirty people– if you can call my la-bored and increasingly slow pace “running”– and Gina Mancuso, the instructor leading us, passes me without even the slightest effort. Mancuso is sprinting up and down the steps like a moun-tain goat, not breaking a sweat, her shoulder-length brown hair is still looking freshly washed. Mancuso is tall, her toned body is nothing but lean muscle, and a few hundred steps seem like a very minor challenge to her. Between sprints up the steps, Mancuso yells out instruc-tions to the group - we all lay down on the ground for push ups and planks and bounce back up for jumping jacks. It’s exhausting and all I want to do is collapse right on the asphalt, but Mancuso’s energy seems boundless. A young, muscular police officer pushes himself almost to the point of getting sick. An older man offers me a sip of water as we arrive at the top of the steps panting, with bright red faces. Mobile fitness classes like the one I participated in that Saturday in December have become Mancuso’s trademark since founding “CoreFitness” in 2002. Trained as a physi-cal therapist, Mancuso worked at Moss Rehab Hospital in Philadelphia for years, but always taught fitness classes on the side. In 2002, she decided to make this her full-time job. “The thing that I enjoy the most is watching people learn what they can do and experience their abilities,” she said. CoreFitness is a mobile company without a brick and mortar home. The organization offers fitness classes six days a week outdoors and indoors around Fairmount loca-tions, like the Ukrainian League of Philadelphia. Trainers also see clients in their homes. Mancuso’s approach to fit-ness is simple and requires no gear or equipment. “To me it’s most important to handle your own body weight first,” she explained. “There are so many exercises you can do without any gear.” For Mancuso, exercising is not about weight loss or looks, it’s about bringing people together in a healthy spirit. “It’s about building a community of like-minded people who support each other in a healthy lifestyle and creating and

developing a lifestyle where fitness and wellness fit in.” She says participants in her classes get together for social events, sign up for races together and support each other in their fitness goals. This sort of buddy system is import-ant in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. “When you have your friend knocking on your door saying ‘grab your shoes, we’re going’ it’s harder to say no,” she said. Mancuso gets people to give their all during her class-es, she is a stickler for solid form while pushing people to try new things and expand their limits, but she always wants her classes to be fun. “Let’s move in ways we haven’t moved before, let’s try new things,” she said. This year, Mancuso is planning to participate in the Broad Street Run, her goal is to beat her 2015 time of 1:28.She’s also organizing a team for the “Big Climb Philly” fundraiser - where participants will climb the steps in the Comcast building in April of this year. The proceeds will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Mancuso lost her father to lymphoma in 2009. Mancuso says she has always loved exercising, but she

community focusW R I T T E N B Y M A I K E N S C O T T / P H O T O S B Y T H O M A S W E I R

M E E T F A I R M O U N T ’ S D R I L L S E R G E A N T G I N A M A N C U S O

acknowledges that staying on the healthy lifestyle wagon can be very difficult. “Find something that makes it fun for you,” she advised. “Get a buddy and go for a three mile walk, maybe that’s the time you get to spend with them and that’s why you’ll do it. Connect exercising to something that is fun for you.” As for me - I was sore for about four days after taking Man-cuso’s class at the Art Museum steps, but I’ve since decid-ed to sign up for “Commit 30” with CoreFitness. Basically, I’m going to take four classes a week for a month and also make some changes to my diet - so, wish me luck! ·

Maiken Scott is the host of WHYY’s health and science radio show “The Pulse” - heard Fridays at 9AM and Sun-days at 10 AM on 90.9 FM.

Follow her on twitter @maikenscott

GINA MANCUSO


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THURSDAY

CHILLY.

HIGH40

LOW30

FRIDAY

WARMER WITHINCREASING CLOUDS.

HIGH47

LOW39

SATURDAY

CLOUDY WITH SHOWERSIN THE MORNING.

HIGH45

LOW30

SUNDAY

HIGH40

LOW25

MONDAY

BRISK AND COLD, FLURRIES POSSIBLE.

COLD.

HIGH32

LOW19

TUESDAY

HIGH30

LOW22

TURNING COLDER;WINDY.

Last week started cold, got really warm once the weekend came and then ended on a chilly note. We are about to enter a volatile weather period as a new pattern tries to establish itself over the

region. This is make it or break it time for the winter: If we don’t see a cold regime establishing itself over the area in the next 10 days, chances are we will have be-low normal snowfall this year. Yes, we could get a lot of snow in February, but it will be hard to catch up. I will be watching this new pattern like a hawk to see if it will finally, if ever, deliver some winter weather. This week will start cold once again, warm up enough to

rain over the weekend and then cool back down to close out the week. It will be colder than last week, however. Snow chances this week: There’s one major storm roll-ing in late Friday evening and lasting into Saturday, but it looks to be all rain for Philly. If that changes, I will let you know. Some ice may occur in the Poconos at the start. Flur-ries are possible on Monday, but it’s looking like no big deal at this point. Wednesday starts our week in the icebox; brisk and cold as temperatures struggle to get to 30. Thursday is a touch warmer as temperatures jump up to 40. It will still feel chilly though.

Friday gets even warmer, but we introduce clouds and showers in the late evening. Saturday is rainy, especially in the morning. Tempera-tures will be in the 40s, so it’ll be chilly rain. Yuck. Sunday is a transition day; it will start nice before a fresh shot of cold air comes dumping in the region. Monday and Tuesday are all about the cold! Typical win-ter days with temperatures below freezing the entire time and wind chills making it feel colder. The weather winner of the week is Friday; the weather loser is Tuesday.

It’s been a while since a newspaper has been on these streets, but certainly not because of a lack or want or need. Today, that changes. Today, we be-gin The Spirit of Penn’s Garden.

For now, the paper is relatively small. We’ve only got eight pages to fit in all of the stories of gripes, concerns and hopes. It’s an impossible task, but we will do our best to select a collection of pieces each week that focus on you and your neighbors. And as time goes on and you continue to read and contribute to the conversation, we can increase the number of pages and breadth and depth of our coverage. Today, you will also visit our newly redesigned website SpiritNews.org. It will be updated regularly with original stories by Spirit News and aggregated pieces from news sources all over the city. It will be a one-stop-shop for your neighborhood news. Take some time to explore the site, join us on social media and sign up for our newsletter. As many of you know, The Spirit of Penn’s Garden has a sister publication in the Riverwards. It was over a year ago that we took on the task of revitalizing, retooling and re-shaping The Spirit of the Riverwards. With this work, we hoped to dispel some myths surrounding the print media industry: it’s ignored by millennials, it’s a dying industry, it’s a fool’s errand. So far, it’s been a rousing success. Now, it’s time to expand our efforts and offer the same benefits of a hyperlocal news source that the Riverwards have enjoyed to Penn’s Garden. In this first issue, you’ll find stories written by and about some amazing people. These folks are your neighbors, your baristas and, hopefully soon, your friends. I think you will read these stories and find some way to relate to them,

if not philosophically, at least geographically. Another important part of this newspaper is to help the community in more tangible ways. Over the next year, we will be organizing neighborhood cleanups, donation drives for schools and veterans and happy hour events to meet our staff and your neighbors. You see, I’m a persistent optimist. Where others see deeply entrenched differences in people, I strive to see the commonalities, the things that make us all neigh-bors. I hope this shows through in this newspaper be-cause now is a time when recognizing those commonal-ities is most important. The whole city is slowly shifting. The population is grow-ing, buildings are being rehabbed, rehashed and demol-ished, and all of this is happening whether we like it or not. But that doesn’t mean we can’t help to shape the future of this city and, more importantly, our neighborhood. To do that, to be a part of the conversation of change, we need to speak up. I hope that, in time, The Spirit of Penn’s Garden will be at the center of that conversation. It won’t be easy, but with your help, I’m confident we can do it. Remember, The Spirit of Penn’s Garden is part of a con-versation that you can participate in. If you want to write a story, share your concerns or give us a juicy tip, you can always reach me by email ([email protected]). And if you see me walking down the street, don’t hesitate to in-troduce yourself. I look forward to this new adventure. On behalf of all of us here at Spirit News, thank you for reading. I can’t wait to meet you and hear your story.

Matthew Albasi ·

editorL E T T E R F R O M T H E


After enrolling in college, Taylor had to drop out in order to help care for his family. Unfortunately, he missed the deadlines for reimbursement and went into debt for the tuition. This doesn’t seem to bother Taylor, who has every intention of paying off the debt and returning to college. “When I’m at work I see my ceiling. My co-workers have their master’s degrees and I can’t even go on Snapchat without seeing my friends in a college environment. It in-spires me, makes me want to go back to school.” Taylor has plenty of ideas for what he would like to do after returning to college. His time in the non-profit sector opened up his mind to all the good that could be done. He imagines a non-profit that could help out public defenders and those who experience heavy workloads in the court system. Though his wheels are turning, he admits that many of his ideas might not be ones he can accomplish on his own. Ultimately, he sees himself working with children. He wants to provide the guidance and understanding that he felt was missing from his own upbringing. “I wasn’t helped much growing up. My mom did the best that she could, but I know how it feels to not be handed anything. I’m learning to be self-sufficient and I want to give back and help others do this.” Taylor speaks of his future in an upbeat tone, acknowl-edging how his experiences have shaped him. He does not look at his past as something to be ashamed of or that should hold him back from obtaining what he desires. In-stead, he moves forward, pursuing new opportunities and openly communicating with others. At the present, he has successfully “graduated” from the program at The Mon-key & The Elephant, is awaiting a move to his own apart-ment and continues to go on job interviews and expand his career choices for the future. This positive attitude can be felt in his words of advice to other youth who are enter-ing the program at the cafe: “Anybody coming to work at The Monkey & The Elephant should use the opportunity to get in touch with them-selves. Once you know who you are, you’ll find it a lot easi-er to communicate with others.”

Taylor may have moved on, but Miccolis continues to oversee operations at The Monkey & The Elephant. On any given day she can be seen hustling around the cafe, aiding her staff in brewing and baking, and sitting in meetings with her team of mentors. When asked about her feelings regarding the success of the program, Miccolis laughs and responds in the tone of an exasperated parent: “[The staff is] always telling me that they are getting a lot out of the experience, but they might also just be telling me that because they know it’s what I want to hear.” ·

Continued from Page 1.

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Join the Spirit News team for a special Happy Hour celebrating the launch of our second news-paper, The Spirit of Penn’s Garden. This second newspaper is a hyperlocal weekly serving the areas of Brewerytown, Francisville, Fairmount, Strawberry Mansion, North Central, Poplar,

Ludlow and Temple University.

Stop by London Grill (2301 Fairmount Ave.) from 5-7 PM on Thursday, January 14th to talk about the new paper, meet the staff and share some stories. And, of course, take advantage of London

Grill’s Happy Hour deals, with discounts on beer, wine, well drinks and bar food until 7 PM.


RCO roundupW R I T T E N B Y M A R K B R A K E M A N

A P E E K A T W H A T Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y O R G A N I Z A T I O N S A R E D O I N G

The new year brings a new vision for the Fairmount Community Development Corporation. With sights on assessing two features of the neighborhood, CDC executive director Kevin Moran hopes to sharpen its character. In January and February, the CDC will begin the first project: to research

and create a report on the health of area businesses on the commercial corridors of Fairmount and Girard Avenues They will also conduct a study of neighborhood demo-graphics which will provide a snapshot of where the neighborhood is today and how it relates to the commercial corridor. The study will consist of ten neighborhood volunteers walking both corridors noting the types of retail operations that exist and the number of abandoned properties, Moran said. That assessment will be compared with demographic picture of the surrounding communities. Currently, Moran said, the assessment of business activity will be purely quantitative, but later in the year a more qualitative analysis may be taken. In addition to assessing and enhancing the economic picture of the neighborhood, the CDC is also looking at how to improve the physical background for any commercial growth with an eye toward enhancing the Girard and Fairmount streetscapes. Money for improvements to Girard Avenue have already been provided by the city’s Com-merce Department. The $1.5 million grant will provide work completed by the city for improvements that may include bike racks, signage and street trees, according to Moran. New signage under consideration would take the form of three or four gateway signs, announcing the West Girard commercial district. They would be placed between the zoo and Corinthian Avenue. Seven or eight “way-finding” signs will point the direction of landmarks in the community. The city grant would not cover work done on Fairmount Avenue so, the CDC is searching for alternative sources of support. They are also addressing the lack of public funding by looking at more creative strategies on how to make improvements, Moran said, such im-provements may include upgrading pedestrian lighting and installing decorative plant-ers from Broad Street to Fairmount Park Moran would like to initiate a long-term planning committee for Fairmount Avenue that would include planners and architects to create concrete ideas for aesthetic im-provement projects. As part of that effort he plans to look beyond the problems of today with an eye on the long-term to points only imagined. He suggested, as an example, planning for the effect of driverless cars on parking availability. This month, the CDC will form a committee within the community to bring back and revamp the Fairmount Arts Crawl. Moran said he will invite residents, businesses and potential exhibitors to join the committee. Last year, after problems felt by the general community, the artists and businesses who hosted exhibits, the event transitioned from small exhibitions within area businesses into a street fair on Fairmount Avenue. But Moran

said after a year without the popular event, people talked about how much they missed it and a decision was made to revive the event. Moran began as the CDC’s head at the end of June 2015, when the organization’s fiscal year ended. Before that, he honed his community service skills at the Philadelphia office of the Washington D.C.-based International Downtown Association (IDA), which helps to “create healthy and dynamic cities around the world.” There he helped assemble in-formation for IDA’s Local Employment Data index, a comparison of a neighborhood’s daytime and nighttime populations . Moran says he would like to create a similar index for Fairmount. The information would be helpful to allow businesses to adjust their services be supportive of the community at ei-ther time, benefiting both businesses and residents. But life in Fairmount is about more than business, and Moran would like to see resi-dents take better advantage of existing recreational amenities. Though Fairmount lies next to the green space that shares its name, streets and landforms deny easy access to and use of Fairmount Park by neighborhood residents, and Moran wants to build on the connection between the park the neighborhood. He will start by determining how people currently using the park and looking at what kinds of improvements can be made to create a seamless transition between it and the neighborhood. Although throughout the city many neighborhoods have a local park, Moran added, there is a lack of small green spaces in Fairmount and its surrounding neighborhoods. He would like to strengthen ties to the nation’s largest municipal park system to make it feel like the neighborhood park. ·

This column will be your guide to the various registered community organizations (RCOs) throughout Penn’s Garden. An RCO is a group whose goal is to improve the neighborhood through things like zoning readjustment, community meetings and out-reach programs.


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Saturday, January 16LOBSTER FEASTMaster Chef Joseph Poon’s “Lobster Feast, Off the Menu” Pop Up Restaurant. Turnkey Startup Space is proud to launch its monthly Pop Up Restaurant Series to create a pipeline for restaurateurs that do not have a brick and mortar yet. Six courses of delectable lobster dishes with beer and wine. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Susan B. Komen Foundation and breast cancer re-search and start at 6PM. Reservations are required, pay-ment is needed up front. Turnkey Startup Space is located at 3060 W Jefferson St, Ste D in Brewerytown.

Tuesday, January 19SM COMMUNITY RESOURCE GARDENInterested in growing your own vegetables and herbs? Join us at the Strawberry Mansion Community Garden and learn how and when to grow food naturally from 11AM-2PM. There are a limited number of plots available so come out and join the club soon! The garden is located at Ridge Avenue & North 32nd Street.For more information call the East Park Revitalization Al-liance at 215-869-4208.

Tuesday, January 19GETTING MY IDEA TO FLY Join Entrepreneur Works and Turnkey Startup Space for a free workshop about what it takes to start a new business.Questions that will be addressed during this workshop in-clude: Is my idea feasible? What kind of business is right for me? Where do I start? Why do businesses fail? The workshop will take place from 6-7:30PM at Turnkey Start-up Space, 3060 West Jefferson Street, Suite B in Brewery-town.For more information visit turnkeystartupspace.com.

Wednesday, January 20GAMBA UTax Tips for Small Businesses. It’s tax season. Join a lo-cal professional for a review on how to make tax season less painful and learn about what you can (and can’t) deduct. Afterwards, reward yourself with cold brew, you deserve it! The review will go from 6-7:30PM and the lo-cation is to be announced.For more information and to register, visit fcdc.wildapri-cot.org.

Monday, January 18MY SISTERS’ SHOULDERSIn honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day, please join the Temple community and alumna, Joan Sadoff, SSW ’71, for an exclusive screening of her civil rights documenta-ry Standing on My Sisters’ Shoulders, which explores the courageous fight of three women whose actions altered the course of American history. The screening will take place at Mitten Hall, 1913 N. Broad Street, at 12:30PM. After the screening an engaging question and answer session will follow. For more information call the Temple University’s Alumni Relations office at 215-204-7521.

Wednesday, January 27WEST GIRARD FOOD CUPBOARDThe Food Cupboard distributes food to neighbors in need, people who are either in between jobs, seniors who may be on low fixed incomes, or people who are working but still can’t make ends meet. Most of the food we distribute is free government food that comes through SHARE Food Program which distributes to individual community or-ganizations such as WGCC. We supplement the free gov-ernment food with donations from the community as well as food that we purchase.New, first time people come be-tween 3:30-4PM to Fairmount CDC, 2712 West Girard Ave. Bring with you a photo id, (and a copy for our records) and social security card for yourself and each family member. Returning clients come at regular appointment time. The West Girard Food Cupboard is operated by West Girard Community Council in partnership with Fairmount Com-munity Development Corp. and East Park Revitalization Alliance.

Thursday, February 4MINDFUL STRESS AND ANXIETY MANAGEMENT Mindful Stress and Anxiety Management Center of Phila-delphia is offering an 8 week Mindfulness Class starting at 7:30PM, donations only. It will take place at the The Phila-delphian, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave, Suite 1C-52.For more information call Harold at 610-517-3127. To reg-ister, visit anxietyocdbala.com.

SINCERELY, A MIGHTY KIDIn this letter-writing workshop, we’ll explore the im-portance of friendship, camaraderie and connection. We’ll look beyond our own lives and question the world at large through pen pal relationships. In six sessions, we’ll write six letters, one each to US Soldiers, US War Veterans, kids at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, students in a different country, someone we love and ourselves. The class takes place at 1801 Diamond Street

on Tuesday, January 19 & 26, February 2, 9, 16 and 23 from 6:30-7:30PM. The instructor is Marlie Derstine and the class is for kids ages 7 to 13. To sign up for this workshop and others, visit mightywriters.org.

THE WRAP ON RAP In this two week session, we will discuss the the roots of rap. We’ll listen to the original rhyme masters and analyze their flow. We will discover rap’s origin, look into how it has developed throughout the 20th century into modern day “rap”, and turn our own lyrics into raps during each session. This class takes place on January 15 and 22 from 3:30-5PM. The instructor is Joseph Patrick Murphy, the class is for teens ages 13 to 18 and the workshop is at 1801 Diamond Street. To sign up for this workshop and others, visit mightywriters.org.

the spirit of penn's garden – january 14, 2016

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