by Van Stone vspfoundation@yahoo.com (610) 931-8810
Above: The Latest West Phila., E. Parkside Mural, adjacent to the historical
S. 40th St. Bridge, between Popular St. and Pennsgrove St.
Mrs. Alice Wright (center) provides a free summer camp weekdays to
support University City and Parkside areas kids. L to R are community organizers
Darryl Nutter, James Sullivan, and Warren Bloom. The It Kid "Baby Face"
Dakota Stone is in the middle. Phone (215) 662-1612, x. 13 for camp.
Alice Wright, of West Philly section called East Parkside, has been serving children and youth for over 25 years. Wright, a block captain, is the founder of the City of Philadelphia United Block Captains Association Hospital. She commands a well organized operation mainly from the 3900 block of Pennsgrove Street or what’s known as the South 40th Street Bridge Heavenly Hall. Often times you may find Mrs. Alice strategizing by asking neighbors to remove all trash, put lids on trash cans, clean up sidewalks, watch out for lethal hazards, and ensure that kids have a safe place to play. She is even on the Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee, operated by the city Streets Department’s Sanitation Division. Meanwhile, Mrs. Alice depends on the committee to help combat neighborhood pollution with organized block cleanings and beautification. Still, she faces trouble. The 2 closed bridges are harmful to the environment. They are community eyesores. They have been easy walkways to the trafficking of drugs and to gun violence.
The South 40th Street and South 41st Street Bridges are trail and highway arteries that run through University City areas to West and East Parkside areas that help improve economic, physical, and social development. The bridge allows traffic from urban and suburban neighborhoods to intercultural sites such as the Philadelphia Zoo to the colleges and Universities such as Philadelphia Community College, University of Penn and Drexel University campus. Both bridges, which are over the Schuylkill River and train tracks, have been closed for at least 10 years. This has drawn out the attention of Warren Bloom, Brooklyn Street Block Captain, and Darryl Nutter, Block Captain supporter to assist Mrs. Wright.
Almost instantly since the South 40th Street Bridge was cut off, Mrs. Alice became a general of now numbering 200 city block captains who became involved in a number of community projects. Some projects range from her “Summer Fun Program,” youth camp to starting a community vegetable garden intended to provide free fresh produce for seniors. Again this summer, the youth will meet on the lot at 40th and Pennsgrove Street each day from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The camp serves children age 8 to 16. The free camp starts on Monday, July 6. And Mrs. Alice makes sure that the kids have fun by providing trips, cultural events and swimming opportunities. Today, Mrs. Alice needs more volunteers.
Warren Bloom and Darryl Nutter, experienced community leaders themselves, are interested in helping Mrs. Wright to gather new volunteers. Bloom and Nutter also want to push the improvements of the “UBCAH” growth by seeking support that the S. 40th St. and S. 41st St. Bridges are open once again. Both Nutter and Bloom agree that tours, exploring, and biking are a loss if the bridges are not open for the camp and University City and Parkside area businesses. Bloom and Nutter would like to help keep Mrs. Wright’s goals alive with a remarkable neighborhood recovery by assisting visitors to get across a repaired bridge. Bloom is especially interested in biking across both bridges so that people can see historic places and have an access to the river, trails, and year-round festivals and activities. Bloom wants to help reclaim the future of the bridge and the area.
Speaking of reclaiming things, Harrisburg residents are seeking to get back their city.
While hundreds of residents came together at the Heinz-Menaker Senior Center the evening of Thursday, June 25, to work on solutions to the recent wave of shootings in the city, NAACP Harrisburg Chapter President Stanley Lawson called on Governor Rendell to bring in the state National Guard. Lawson asked for at least 30 days and to impose a curfew in Harrisburg neighborhoods. The NAACP called for the imposition of martial law in the community for its own good. Martial law is a system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice, normally in times of emergency by a show of force. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell responded to Lawson's call for the suspension of civil liberties and the imposition of martial law on the community almost simultaneously by committing the Pennsylvania State Police to patrol the streets of Harrisburg.
