December 11-17, 2003

city beat

Charity Cases

Two North Philly nonprofits are thanked for their efforts.

by Audrey V. Hoffman

North Philadelphia has long had a rough, crime and poverty reputation but even before the neighborhood’s NTI/Safe Streets renaissance started, a pair of local nonprofit organizations saw more than despair.

And because of that foresight, both have won a prestigious award during the past two years. Those back-to-back winners of the Ford Foundation's Leadership for a Changing World Award, a highly coveted charity grant bestowing more than $100,000 to each of the select charities, are Project H.O.M.E and the Village of Arts and Humanities, respectively.

Both groups were officially founded in 1989 and have since worked to spur economic revitalization by offering job training and in-house employment opportunities. While H.O.M.E.'s emphasis is on housing, the Village's goal is to strengthen the community through art education.

"These awards recognize the achievement of remarkable people working to bring positive social change to their communities and beyond," says Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Henry Ford in 1936.

Each year, approximately 1,400 nominees are reviewed and then a small pool of finalists is chosen. From there, based on the individual or team's success record, their cause and their style of leadership, 17 to 20 recipients are selected for the grants, which are given out each October. Lesser-known leaders -- those who may only be recognized in their community and will benefit most from the award -- are preferred.

"It's an extremely competitive process," says Laura Chambers, senior director of the Advocacy Institute, the organization that makes the selections for the Ford Foundation. "Are they [nominees] tackling tough social problems with systemic solutions? Was it leadership that's strategic and is it getting results, leadership that continues to learn and is responsive to the community's ongoing needs?"

H.O.M.E. co-founders Sister Mary Scullion and Joan McConnon won last year's award after Chambers visited their home base. The award "brought Project H.O.M.E. national attention, and exposed Joan and myself to other organizations around the country," Scullion says.

Says Chambers, "it was so obvious to us that this is their life. It was very inspiring."

Chambers notes that while other past recipients have been in the same city, none have been as close in location as H.O.M.E. and Village of Arts and Humanities. (Roughly two miles apart, H.O.M.E. is headquartered at 1515 Fairmount Ave. and the Village is located at 2544 Germantown Ave. Chambers says it's a coincidence since the selection committee changes annually.)

Originally conceived to tackle homelessness, H.O.M.E. has branched out into preventative measures, says Scullion. The organization has almost 300 units of housing throughout Philadelphia, and anticipates the opening of Kate's Place, 144 affordable units near Rittenhouse Square, next summer. Another achievement is the Honickman Learning Center and Comcast Technology Labs, opening in January on the 1900 block of Judson St. to provide computer learning opportunities for children and adults.

Like H.O.M.E., the Village is concerned with providing community members with educational and vocational opportunities, as well as medical information and healthcare.

While Scullion says the award was humbling, Lily Yeh, founder and executive director of the Village of Arts and Humanities, was shocked.

Starting in the summer of 1986, Yeh worked with neighborhood residents and local artists to turn an abandoned lot at 2544 Germantown Ave. into a beautiful art garden, filled with colorful mosaic sculptures, benches and murals.

"I didn't think of myself as a leader," Yeh, who received this year's award in October, says. "I'm an artist, not an advocate."

That's one of the reasons that Yeh was chosen. Yeh's humility produces a form of leadership that is efficacious, not the "egotistical leadership" Chambers says her committee tries to avoid.

In 1989, the Village was officially established as a nonprofit organization, turning a part-time summer project into Yeh's life's work. Much more than just a garden, the Village offers various workshops and programs, from crafts to theater for youth and nutrition to construction training for adults.

"I never imagined it would be this big," says Yeh, a former University of the Arts professor who has already begun planning ways to use the award to develop housing units and work with Germantown merchants to revitalize the area. (Along with the $100,000, an additional $15,000 goes to organization leaders for personal development, like computer classes or leadership training, which is a much-needed luxury few nonprofits can afford.)

Like Scullion and McConnon, Yeh is intent on working with other award recipients to share learning from experience.

"This is a bad land, supposed to be high crime, anger, unhappiness," says Yeh, "but I saw humanity, [I] saw something different in the heart of inner city North Philadelphia. [Now there's] a reconnection of families, hope, strengthening of community fabric and glittering in people's eyes. People used to walk and curse, filled with anger. Now people greet each other, happy with smiles."