News from the Director:

Friends Center connects Philadelphians today to the Quaker history of the city founded by William Penn. While that history includes many examples for us Quakers to be proud of, it also includes many things we should rightly be ashamed of. (For example, while Penn approved the Charter of Liberties for Pennsylvania in 1701, which later became a major basis for the Constitutional Bill of Rights, Penn also enslaved other humans.)

While we cannot afford to gloss over the past (whatever your background or affiliations), we also need inspiration from stories of people acting with courage for good.

Two local exhibitions this month provide an incredibly timely look back: The American Friends Service Committee’s “Wage Peace” exhibition for their 100^th anniversary is on view now at the African American Museum of Philadelphia; and “Uprooted: Life in Japanese American Farm Labor Camps” is coming to Friends Center later this month. Details for both are below.

I hope you’ll take time to see them and to reflect on a query: What meaning might these stories have for you today?

Finally, I’m grateful to all of you here at Friends Center today for being part of the present story. You are inspiring!

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Traffic Pattern Changes on Cherry St. in Jan.-Feb.
The contractor rebuilding the Love Park Garage has requested temporary changes in traffic patterns for our block of Cherry Street during the morning and evening rush hour throughout January and February. You should have received timeline information last week. If you have any questions, please contact Chris.

The Mobile CPR Project
The Mobile CPR Project is conducting a free, 30-minute, non-certification class on March 20^th at noon in the Martin Luther King Room. Space is limited.

Uprooted Exhibit
This month, Friends Center will be hosting the exhibition “Uprooted: Life in Japanese American Farm Labor Camps During World War II.” The exhibit was brought to us by the Japanese American Citizens League. The exhibit runs from February 18^th through March 9^th in the Cherry Street Room, and focuses on the Japanese American Farm Labor Camps during WWII. For more information, or to schedule a guided tour, please contact Teresa Maebori.

Net Tuesday
The next Net Tuesday will take place on February 7^th. Ali Wilson of Seer Interactive will be on hand to discuss the ins and outs of Google Grants.  This free event begins at 6pm in the Rufus Jones Room. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP here.

TENANT NEWS

American Friends Service Committee
Read AP News’ article on the ‘Waging Peace,’ American Friends Service Committee’s exhibit marking their centennial. Exhibit details:  http://exhibit.afsc.org/.

AFSC and others hosted an event for Syrian refugee families here at Friend Center last Saturday, take a look.

CAIR- Philadelphia
CAIR-Philadelphia participated in the ACLU’s press conference regarding their lawsuit on behalf of the families turned away at Philadelphia International Airport last weekend. Read about it here.

Art-Reach
Read about Art-Reach’s collaboration with FringeArts for a ‘radically accessible’ Martha Graham Cracker Cabaret here.

Friends Center, in partnership with the Japanese American Citizenship League, hosted the traveling exhibition “Uprooted: Japanese American Farm Labor Camps during World War II” during February and March 2017.

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, the instrument that authorized the forced removal and incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans. Denied their civil liberties, they were held in camps operated by the War Relocation Authority. Between 1942 and 1944, some 33,000 individual contracts were issued for seasonal farm labor, with many working in the sugar beet industry.

This exhibit introduces their story.

• VIEWING TIMES: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays 11 am–3 pm, generally
• Uprooted Exhibition website
• Download a flyer to share
• Article in Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/5/2017
• See Denise Nakano’s story on NBC10 News
• Learn about the Quaker support for Japanese Americans during the internment, via the American Friends Service Committee centennial website

NEWS FROM THE DIRECTOR

AFSC’s Waging Peace Exhibit Marks Its Centennial

This is a special year at Friends Center: The American Friends Service Committee, one of the three equity partners who formed Friends Center, celebrates its 100^th anniversary this year. AFSC was founded in 1917, as a means for peaceful Quakers to participate in war relief efforts. (Our Rufus Jones Room was named for one of the principal founders of AFSC, and his portrait hangs near the door.)

As one of several special events marking the centennial, AFSC’s “Waging Peace” exhibition (see the “upcoming exhibits” tab on this page) opens at the African American Museum in Philadelphia on January 17, and runs through April 30. I encourage you to travel down to 7^th and Arch Streets to see it.

You can also learn more about AFSC’s history in peace- and justice-building at www.afsc.org/centennial.

– Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Traffic Pattern Changes on Cherry St. in Jan.-Feb.

The contractor rebuilding the Love Park Garage has requested temporary changes in traffic patterns for our block of Cherry Street during the morning and evening rush hour throughout January and February. We will email all tenants once the plan and timline have been confirmed with the contractor and the city.

NEWS OF OUR TENANTS

The Trust for Public Land

Read more about Trust for Public Land’s work on the Conestoga Community Playground, and future playgrounds in Philadelphia, here.

Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity

Learn about Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity’s recent legal clinic, which focused on helping veterans with a criminal history in the following articles and video clips: Newsworks, CBS 3, and NBC 10.

Celebrate together on Dec. 16!
The Friends Center community is a special one. The organizations who have space here, and the community groups that hold events here, are doing an amazing array of work to improve our city, state, nation, and world.

Join us in the Cherry Street Room for a tenant reception on Friday, December 16, 1 pm, to celebrate your collective good work. Friends Center will provide light snacks and beverages from The Living Room Café, our new addition to the approved caterers list. We’ll have a brief program to circle up and introduce ourselves. One person from each organization should come ready to recite your organization’s mission statement. Then we’ll have time for you to network and connect.

Let’s see what seeds may be planted as we head into winter!

Reminder: Christmas & New Year’s Building Closures
In observance of Christmas, Friends Center will be closed on the following days:

• Friday, December 23
• Saturday, December 24
• Monday, December 26

On Sunday, December 25, Friends Center will open as usual at 9 am, for Quaker Meeting for Worship at 11 am, and will close early at 2 pm.

Regular hours resume Tuesday, December 27, through Saturday, December 31.

In observance of New Year’s Day, Friends Center will be:

• open Sunday, January 1, at 9 am, for Quaker Meeting for Worship at 11 am, and will close early at 2 pm; and
• closed Monday, January 2nd.

Regular hours resume Tuesday, January 3rd.

NEWS OF OUR TENANTS
The Trust for Public Land
On Thursday, December 8 The Trust for Public Land celebrated the opening of Conestoga Community Playground, at 53rd St. & Media St. Read about TPL’s work to transform William Cramp Community School’s Schoolyard.

GreenLight Philadelphia
On Saturday, December 3rd, Moore College of Art hosted Philadelphia in Flux. GreenLight Philadelphia Executive Director Omar Woodard was keynote speaker.

 

NEWS FROM THE DIRECTOR

For the first couple hundred years of the Religious Society of Friends, Quakers did not celebrate holidays. Quaker businesses in Philadelphia and elsewhere stayed open for “the day the world calls Christmas.” Quakers believed that every day is a holy day, and so there was no need to set aside “holi-days” for special observances.

While Friends today follow a variety of practices, they certainly have no uniform witness against observing holidays any longer.

Of course, as an organization with mostly non-Quaker tenants and people who work here, Friends Center does observe holidays. So, please check the schedule of Thanksgiving closures below, the Christmastime closures on the 2016 calendar, and print a copy of the new 2017 holiday calendar, which was just approved by our board of directors.

Whatever your tradition or observance, may your holidays—as well as your ordinary everydays—be filled with meaning and a sense of wonder for you.

– Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Reminder: Thanksgiving Building Closures

In observance of Thanksgiving, Friends Center will close at 6pm on Wednesday, November 23^rd, and be closed Thursday, November 24^th and Friday, November 25^th. Our regular hours will resume Saturday, November 26^th.

Conference & Event Space Rates Increasing in 2017

Rates are going up in 2017, so tell your friends in outside groups to book now to lock in current rates. View 2017 rates here.

NEWS OF OUR TENANTS

4^th Annual Fair and Sustainable Gift Fair

On Friday, November 18^th, Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting will host the 4^th Annual Fair and Sustainable Gift Fair at Friends Center from 11am-8pm. For more information, please visit the Fair Trade Philadelphia website.

Together as Adoptive Parents: Heart Gallery

In honor of DHS’ Adoption Day reception, to be held at Friends Center on November 18^th, Together as Adoptive Parents (TAP) will once again be displaying The Heart Gallery. For the month of November the exhibit, which features photographs of children waiting to be adopted, will be in the Friends Center lobby.

Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity

Executive Director, Mike Lee, talks criminal history during his Ignite Philly 18 presentation in September.  You can watch his presentation here.

Scattergood Foundation

Read Generocity’s article about Scattergood Foundation’s work with Philanthropy Network and United Way to create a guide designed to increase local funders’ awareness of the effects of childhood trauma here.

NEWS FROM THE DIRECTOR

Friends Center’s Growing Event Business
Friends Center’s event business continues to grow, serving both our 35+ tenant organizations and nearly 70 outside groups in the last year. We’re pleased to manage a faith-based facility that is busy seven days a week—at a time when many congregational buildings in Philly are being closed or even demolished.
I have two important reasons to thank you all:

1. First, thank you for your referrals of other nonprofits to us. Our business has largely grown through word of mouth, because people like you have great people at your events.
2. Second, thank you for your patience with us as we continue to balance the needs of you, our tenants, and our outside paying customers on a daily basis. Our staff is doing their best to provide you the space and setups you need. I’m proud of their efforts. Please do let me know if you have questions or concerns—or compliments. I’m always happy to hear about someone doing a good job and reflect that back to them.

Welcome to Team Clean!
In the evenings, you’ve seen the cleaning crew with t-shirts identifying them as staff to our new cleaning contractor, Team Clean. Please say hello to new crew member Shaniqua, as well as to returning crew members Darryl, Ebony, and Joe. Meanwhile, past crew members Nadine and Mike recently moved to new jobs elsewhere. While we’re sorry to see them go, we’re glad they found those opportunities, and we thank them for their service at Friends Center.

– Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Open Windows
‘Tis the season for open windows in the 1501 Cherry Street office building! With cooler but not yet cold weather, please feel free to open windows when the weather is nice. If you remember, kindly close them again in the evening.

News of Our Tenants

American Friends Service Committee is turning 100!
The American Friends Service Committee, one of the three equity partners that own Friends Center, will turn 100 in 2017! Founded on this site in 1917, AFSC now works across the world for peace and justice. Explore their history here: peaceworks.afsc.org.

Art-Reach turns 30!
Meanwhile, Art-Reach is celebrating their 30th year of creating, advocating for and expanding accessible opportunities in the arts for the full spectrum of Philadelphians. They held their 30th birthday party here last Saturday. See their Facebook page for more info.

Trust for Public Land
Read about the Trust for Public Land’s involvement with the Philadelphia school district’s GreenFutures Plan here.

CAIR/AFSC: 9/11 + 15
On Sunday, October 2nd at Friends Center, CAIR-Philadelphia, American Friends Service Committee, and the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations presented a memorial program on the themes of Remembrance and Reconciliation. Click here for more information.

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Friends Center was excited to participate in Park(ing) Day Philadelphia for the first time this year on September 16, 2016. This is the international day when people reclaim parking spaces as public space, by creating mini-parks or “parklets” for the day. This year marked the ninth annual Park(ing) Day in Philadelphia.

The Friends Council on Education and the Friends Association for Higher Education organized our spot on 15^th Street, in front of the Friends Center display window in the middle of the block. The parklet featured information about Friends Schools and Quaker colleges.

You can find us and all the participants on the interactive map, or check out the Park(ing) Day Facebook page.

You can also see examples of parklets on social media by searching the hashtag #PARKingDayPHL.

If you’ve been away for a late-summer respite, welcome back! Friends Center remained fairly busy this summer. A couple of highlights include the many issue-related events held here during the week of Democratic National Convention, and the group tour that 40 or so of us from multiple organizations at Friends Center took of the new Mormon Temple in August. It was also great to see so many people using the chairs and bistro table on the front porch of the Quaker Meetinghouse—when it wasn’t too hot!

The Rufus Jones Room audiovisual equipment had a makeover in August. The technology upgrade should serve both you, our tenants, and our outside event renters well.

The statue of Mary Dyer here at Friends Center statue was mentioned in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News as one of only two statues in Philadelphia of actual women from history. We appreciate the recognition. Read the story here.

– Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Join us for Park(ing) Day on 9/16

Park(ing) Day is an international event when parking spaces are turned into “parklets” or mini-parks for the day. This year’s event on September 16 will be its 9^th year in Philly. Learn more here. Friends Council on Education, Friends Association for Higher Education, and Friends Center are collaborating to bring a parklet to 15^th Street between Cherry and Race Streets.

NEWS OF OUR TENANTS

CAIR/AFSC: 9/11 + 15

On Sunday, September 11^th from 2:30-5:00 pm at Friends Center, CAIR-Philadelphia, American Friends Service Committee, and the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations are presenting a memorial program on the themes of Remembrance and Reconciliation. Click here for more information.

Singing City South Africa Trip plus 2016-2017 Season

Singing City went on a singing tour to South Africa this summer.  Visit their website for blog posts about it. They have also just announced their 2016-2017 concert season.

Art-Reach Celebrates 30!

On Saturday, October 1^st from 12:00-4:00 pm at Friends Center,  Art-Reach is celebrating 30 years of creating opportunities for people with disabilities and/or low-income to experience the arts. Click here for more information.

The GreenLight Fund’s Omar Woodward

Read Generocity’s interview with Omar Woodward: There’s ‘no time’ for the long road to justice in Omar Woodward’s neighborhood.

Save the Date: World Quaker Day is 10/2/2016

The Friends World Committee for Consultation encourages Quakers around the world to celebrate this annual day on the first Sunday in October. http://worldquakerday.org/

 

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LOOKING AHEAD TO THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION
I hope you had an enjoyable July 4. This month we are gearing up for the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia July 25-28. Friends Center will remain open for its usual hours that week.

According to the City of Philadelphia, the impact on Center City will be similar to when a major sporting event is happening: Center City will be crowded with 50,000 extra people during the day, who will then go to the Wells Fargo Arena in the evening for the convention itself.

Of course, there will also be a number of activists and advocates in the vicinity exercising their rights to free speech and to peaceful assembly. Note that Friends Center will be well used that week by organizations paying for space&emdash;namely you, our tenants, plus outside event renters. We will thus have very limited capacity—if any—for anyone who hasn’t reserved space. And if you see people you don’t know wandering around inside the buildings, please redirect them to the front lobby.

Finally, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Friends Center does not engage in electoral politics involving candidates or parties; thank you for respecting this in Friends Center’s common spaces.

May you have a productive, engaged, and enjoyable summer!

– Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

BRING OUT YOUR E-WASTE 7/12!

On Tuesday, July 12, a truck will be here to pick up your electronic waste (computers, monitors, & the like). You can drop materials off in the lobby. If you’re not going to be in that day, talk to our staff about dropping it off in advance.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN PARK(ING) DAY???

Park(ing) Day is an international event when parking spaces are turned into mini-parks for the day. This year’s event on September 16 will be its 9th year in Philly. Learn more here. There are two of us so far; we need more to make a team! If you’re interested in helping put together a team for a Park(ing) Day spot on 15th Street, let Chris Mohr know.

Garden Club: MONDAYS, 12:30 PM

The Friends Center Garden Club helps keep up the grounds through weeding, turning the mulch, and other light gardening tasks. All are welcome! For more info, contact Maryse Beliveau-Nance or Chris Mohr—or just join us in the lobby.

Walking Club: FRIDAYS at Noon

Friends Center’s Walking Club goes for lunchtime jaunts about 30 minutes long. We meet in the front lobby. All are welcome!