New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC)

In June, Pennsylvania's oversight panel, the Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust, found that Philadelphia's use of $7.5 million in settlement money to help pay for a series of community revitalization efforts that included rent relief and repairing homes, parks, and schools did not comply with its guidelines for how the money should be spent. "The trust’s decision reflects a misconception that two of the most pressing needs in Kensington — addressing the quality-of-life concerns of long-term residents and treating individuals with substance use disorders with care and empathy — are separate issues." writes Dr. Bill McKinney (NKCDC), Carla Sofronski (Pennsylvania Harm Reduction Network), Sterling Johnson (Philadelphia Community Land Trust) and Britt Carpenter (Philly Unknown) in a newly published opinion piece in the @phillyinquirer. "Viewing those issues as unrelated demonstrates a lack of understanding about what impacts substance use disorder — such as adverse childhood experiences — and what constitutes effective prevention — such as the community-focused interventions that have been deployed." Philadelphia, with the support of community members, are contesting the decision, with an appeal hearing scheduled for Thursday, October 3rd. “We hope trust members have used the months since their decision to speak with residents, visit our community, and become more familiar with our history in an effort to better understand Kensington.” Residents and stakeholders, through an inclusive planning process, produced a list of priorities self-identified by the community. These were highlighted in the first of three reports from Co-Creating Kensington, which can be found at https://buff.ly/3BrhtwF "Let Kensington speak for itself, and we ask the opioid trust to trust Kensington." To read the newly published opinion piece for the @phillyinquirer, click here: https://buff.ly/4drD4Cv

As a companion green space to Flip Out Production’s gymnastic facility, the Flippin Garden represents both a magical space for athletes and members of the community to explore, and as a way for them to learn valuable horticulture skills to aid in creating more green spaces in the community. As one of several Rite Aid Healthy Futures microgrant recipients, NKCDC and Flip Out are working together to strengthen health and wellbeing in Kensington. Funding from the Rite Aid grant supported the Flippin Garden in purchasing seeds and plants as well as in a new mural above the garden! This summer, the garden harvest included tomatoes, cucumbers, chocolate mint, hot peppers, basil, lemon balm, butternut squash, and perennial and annual flowers. Not only that, but the garden remains a safe environment for kids to spend time outside, a lovely walk through for local community members, and a beautification to Frankford Avenue. Interested in immersing yourself in the Flippin’ Garden? Stop by from 12PM-4PM during the Kensington Gardens Tour on October 5th!

Ruth Hart’s Community Garden is a new green space at 1823 Hart Lane in Kensington. As one of several Rite Aid Healthy Futures microgrant recipients, the lot is being activated from a vacant property into a safe place for kids from the block to play and a quiet and peaceful space that adults can enjoy. This summer Ruth Hart Garden’s steward, Lauren Bruce, said that they added the first raised beds to the space and that kids from the block helped to fill it in with soil and put the first plants in. “We want kids to feel like the space is theirs to use,” Lauren says. The microgrants from Rite Aid Healthy Futures will help to install a few raised beds for growing native pollinator plants and some vegetables. This fall, they’re planting carrots, beets, spinach, and broccoli – all vegetables that are cold hardy! “This garden belongs to the community and folks should feel free to come and grow things in the space,” Lauren says. Want to experience the garden yourself? Stop by the space at 1823 Hart Lane, come out during the Kensington Gardens Tour on October 5th from 12PM-4PM, or reach out to Lauren at [email protected] to connect on more ways to get involved!

The Simple Way bolsters immediate neighbors in Kensington through listening, learning, and invitation and also tends to a thriving community garden for neighbors to enjoy! As one of several Rite Aid Healthy Futures microgrant recipients, NKCDC and The Simple Way are working together to strengthen our local food system in Kensington. Their garden grows food for neighbors and the Simple Way community fridge, and it serves as a community space for neighbors to feel welcomed and interact with the garden. Their fall garden is fully underway, with collard greens, kale, radishes, beets, cucumbers, squash, beans, and potatoes planted for a fall harvest to come! The Rite Aid Healthy Futures microgrant will allow the Simple Way to maintain the surrounding area around the garden to allow for more hours of sunlight. Want to experience the garden yourself? Stop by their garden at 3234 Potter St, Philadelphia, on October 5th for the Kensington Garden Tour from 12PM-4PM!

Rite Aid Healthy Futures held their Strengthening Cities Summit last week in Cleveland, Ohio, where NKCDC's executive director, Dr. Bill McKinney, and Urban Agriculture Program Manager, Catherine Reuter, attended with other Rite Aid funded partners! Our team had the opportunity to meet with farmers and land stewards across the country and visited several food sites in Cleveland including Rid-All, Greater Cleveland Food Bank and Village Family Farms. Dr. McKinney moderated a session to highlight the food systems work of Food Access Raises Everyone, which builds capacity of community members most affected by the social determinants of health and partners with grassroots organizations. Funding from Rite Aid Healthy Futures allows NKCDC to support urban agriculture and community gardening across Kensington to improve health and wellness, increase access to nutritious food, and promote urban land sovereignty. We're grateful to learn from partners locally and across the U.S.! Thank you to Rite Aid Healthy Futures for your continued support and to all the growers and community organizations who made the conference a success!

Join us for an insightful exploration of how immigrant entrepreneurship shapes and revitalizes Philadelphia's commercial corridors in the workshop: Where Global is Local: Immigrant-Owned Businesses in Commercial Corridors with Yvonne Boye, Department of Commerce, Stephanie Michel, Olney Community Collaborative (N5SRP), Lee Nentwig, NKCDC, Sunny Phanthavong, Vientiane Bistro, Haoyi Shang, Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, and Ying Jing, Artiva Hair Salon. Registration ends Monday! https://shorturl.at/mm8CY #PACDC2024EDC?#Immigration?#Philadelphia?#Philly?#Smallbusiness?#housingsecurity New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation (PCDC) Artiva Hair Salon Philadelphia Department of Commerce

This year, NKCDC received grant funding through the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund (PHARE), which will allow us to preserve homeownership and affordability in Kensington. We were proud to join state and local officials last Thursday as recipients of the PHARE grant when Governor Shapiro announced Pennsylvania’s first ever Housing Action Plan: an executive order which will help to preserve existing housing, build new affordable housing, address houselessness, and repair aging homes throughout Pennsylvania. Just like Whole Home Repair Program Senator Saval authored (which is a critical investment to ensure residents can remain in their homes), this new executive order to address the affordable housing shortage in Pennsylvania is essential to fighting displacement and preserving our communities.

Check out this job at New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC): Commercial Corridor Coordinator

Our partnership with New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) is off to a fantastic start. So far, we have successfully: -Piloted two free drop-off locations -Launched a building-wide composting program at a 51-unit affordable housing building, -Launched an expanded curbside composting pilot program with over 20 sign-ups in the first week and -Kept nearly 5,000 lbs of food waste out of landfills All at no cost to Kensington residents!?Want to learn more? Sign up for updates here: https://lnkd.in/enRrBpbV ???Catch Us Slinging Compost This Saturday at NKCDC’s Fall Native?Plant?Sale!?? Join us this?Saturday, September 14th?for a fun-filled day of?plants?and compost at the Fall Native?Plant?Sale?hosted by NKCDC. We'll be at the former Greensgrow site helping you gear up for a sustainable fall season! ??2501 E. Cumberland Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19125 ??10AM - 1PM ???Native?plants?from?Good Host Plants & fall veggies, herbs and flowers from Star Apple Nursery.

In 2021, after the sudden closure of the SEPTA Somerset El station, residents, community groups, SEPTA employees, elected officials, and neighborhood nonprofits came together to march for Safety and Solutions. This moment for collective action and resistance is an anchor event that has led to our current moment. Historically, outside stakeholders have designed and implemented plans for Kensington and have left residents out of the planning, implementation, and evaluation process. Reversing decades of isolation and disinvestment requires coordination and mobilization of significant resources that are invested to improve the lives of current residents. Co-Creating Kensington, a community-driven planning and implementation process, advocates for just that. Over 650 residents have been coming together to create a shared vision for Kensington so that we can begin to address the historical inequities and intersecting crises together. For the first time, we have an opportunity for community-driven change if everyone can commit to and continue adopting actionable steps to connect a theory of change that centers trauma-informed, participatory, and comprehensive strategies with proposed or implemented intervention strategies for Kensington from government and private sector stakeholders. Learn more about this process at the report Co-Creating Kensington: Alignment, linked in our bio or at https://lnkd.in/eyura-J6.