From Left to Right: Lewis Harris Jr., Founder of the Wharton Center for the Homeless and Block Captains Rights, Malik Aziz, Founder of the Elders Council for Violence Reduction, and Van Stone, Founder of VSP Foundation for Anti-crime & Women Leadership Support. They are all together in the planning process for 10,000 women to aid the 10,000 men trained through Philadelphia Town Watch Integrated Services for violence reduction in Philly street hot spots.
Aziz, Harris Jr., & Stone’s 10,000 Women and Church Call Supporting 10,000 Men
by Van Stone vspfoundation@yahoo.com (215) 747-8746
Malik Aziz, Lewis Harris Jr. and I are pondering an organizing process to help support the success of the Action group 10,000 Men in Philadelphia. Aziz, is the Co-chair of Men United, and founder of the Elders Council and Ex-Offenders Association. Lewis Harris Jr. formally worked out of the Office of Councilwoman Blackwell specializing in assisting the homeless, Building Block Captain and Crossing Guard Guilds, and voter registrant recruiter in Philadelphia. Van Stone, I, am the founder of a non-profit called Van Stone Productions Foundation (VSP Foundation) that establish youth, education, health and human services programs in the community citywide. I also develop neighborhood policing and fundraising initiatives volunteering as a town watch patroller, after-school program director and Faith-Based group community activist representing the Philadelphia Police Clergy. Together we are promoting finding 10,000 working women that are already established as leaders dealing with safety, clean environment, therapeutic change, jobs for ex-offenders, and social-welfare counseling to assist the 10,000 men to help primarily black families to get ahead in life in Philadelphia.
Based on a most recent survey describing that in Philadelphia women are 80-20 percent more: employed than men, actively taking leadership roles in Church, participating in volunteer duties, boosting job support, making sure kids get across the street to-and-from school safely, fostering abstaining from sexual activity, talking up resolving disputes, advertising safe blocks and police partnerships, assisting the poor to keep their homes, and raising funds Malik, Lewis and I are preparing to meet with some of the women that are in very high positions to influence anti-crime and education improvement planning in Philadelphia.
We are discussing meeting with Senator Shirley Kitchen to develop the legislation process that is needed the make changes so that in Philadelphia 10,000 women can aid young black people and other families and cultures to avoid becoming victims of gun homicide, youth violence and gentrification. Also, financial planning is being worked on dealing with every Church or Faith-Based group stationed in areas where the 10,000 men are positioning themselves on corners that are violence hot spots determined by local police districts. Since the majority of the volunteer 10,000 men will be men that are in desperate need of a job I am calling out to the Church that they should take the responsibility to hire members of their own congregation using the Church funds to do so. Most likely the 10,000 men are active members of a Church. Further, having even a stronger impact in supporting the 10,000 men I am calling for the large and small Church to help reduce disputes citywide by taking the vast amount of money the organization or society have employing each member that doesn’t have a job at least part-time. There should be no Church member that is a head of a household and/or a youth that is not working while being an active member of the Church. This will reduce violence and allow more men and women to serve in the community dealing with safe and clean.
It is time for the Church to take responsibility to assist the women and men in the community that believe in the power of volunteering while taking care of their own families. Giant Churches, (such as the likes of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which have annual incoming receipts of 900 million dollars a year as well as others like
Lakewood Church, Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, Second Baptist Church, etc;
The average net income of local megachurches was estimated at $4.8 million by my survey.), have the money in Philadelphia to ensure that there are no unemployed members, few low-income members, or members facing gentrification and dealing with high murder rate in their community. Megachurch members are in desperate need of a part-time job in addition to what they have so that many more positive leaders such as women can be more proactive in crime, violence and murder reduction rates in Philadelphia. Some megachurches have good leadership that can do more to help the 10,000, soon to be 20,000, in Philly.
