Friends Center

PYM Launches New Quaker Info Line

PYM Launches New Info Line

Do you have a question about Quaker weddings or marriage certificates?
Does your religious education committee need resources for September?
Are you curious about how other meetings maintain their burial ground records?
Would your meeting like guidance on a new website?
Is your meeting hoping to grow and your outreach committee is looking for ideas and resources?

PYM can connect you with the resources to support many of your questions and curious minds. PYM staff help to weave together an inter-connected network of knowledgeable, vibrant, and spiritual Friends who share information, ideas, and inspiration.

Please email us at info@pym.org or call the Info Line at (215) 241-7238. It is our pleasure to help and connect you with the information that you seek!

AFSC participates in signing of document on human fraternity by Pope Francis and Nobel Peace Laureates

Deputy General Secretary (and Friends Center board member) Héctor Cortez represented AFSC and Friends.

» Read more here.

» https://www.quakercloud.org/cloud/central-philadelphia-monthly-meeting/announcements/youth-leader-sought-job-description

CPMM is Hiring a Youth Program Leader

The Monthly Meeting seeks to contract with a Quaker to serve as Youth Program Leader, specifically for youth ages 5 to 12. The job announcement is here:

TENANT NEWS

Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) Section of the Americas, and AFSC:

Quaker UN Office Celebrates 75 Years

The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) recently celebrated its 75^th anniversary with a reception and talk at Scandinavia House in New York City. QUNO is a joint effort of the Friends World Committee for Consultation and AFSC in New York and a joint effort of FWCC and Britain Yearly Meeting in Geneva.

» https://fwcc.world/new-75th-anniversary-of-the-quaker-united-nations-office/

From Friends Journal

Mid-Atlantic Quakers Form Regional Lobbying Organization
by Friends Journal
Friends from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting have formed a new lobbying organization to advocate for tackling climate change at the state and regional levels. Quaker Action in the Mid-Atlantic Region (QAMAR) is a 501(c) (4) group that will draw on its founders’ decades of organizing work to pressure elected officials to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fund conversion to clean energy.

WIDER QUAKER WORLD

Curious about Quakers? Enjoy podcasts? Here are a few sources!

Friends Journal

“Quakers Today: A Quaker Podcast Exploring Faith in Contemporary Life”

With host Peterson Toscano

» https://www.friendsjournal.org/podcast/

Pendle Hill Retreat & Study Center

“The Seed: Conversations for Radical Hope”

With host Dwight Dunston

» https://pendlehill.org/learn/podcast/

Thee Quaker

Thee Quaker podcast brings stories of spiritual courage to your ears.

With co-hosts Jon Watts and Georgia Sparling

» https://quakerpodcast.com/listen/

May 2023 Newsletter: Farewell, Hiring, Beloved Community, and News

June 13, 2023

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Friends Center is hugely grateful to Jennifer Williams for her 10 years of service at the front desk. Among her duties, she prepared this newsletter to keep our tenant community informed. Congratulations and best wishes, Jennifer! —Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Friends Center is hiring! With Jennifer Williams’s departure, we need a new Front Desk Receptionist. Click here for the Job Announcement. PDF version. Please share with your networks! Thank you.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

“Living with our neighbors. Growing into beloved community” Annual Sessions is one of the oldest Quaker traditions! Today, all over the world, yearly meetings gather once a year to bring together members and attenders from their local meetings. We call them “Sessions” because meeting for worship with attention to the business of the Yearly Meeting is central to these times together. During Sessions we ask: What is God’s big idea for PYM Friends? But there’s so much more! The days are an opportunity to greet returning Friends and welcome Friends new to this gathering. It’s a time for learning — from keynote speakers, at the Quaker Witness Fair, and in conversations under tents and over meals. For children and youth, it’s a time to meet other Quakers their age and have fun together! For all ages, it is a time of spiritual renewal, community connection, and intergenerational worship and fellowship. Register here.

Strategic Goals The interconnectedness of our world has never been so apparent—nor the urgency to resist the many forces that fuel inequality, oppression, and violence. In our work for a better future, AFSC focuses on three strategic program goals and uses four core methodologies. » Read more in our 2020-2030 Strategic Plan.

The Testimonial Life and the “Testimonies,” from CPMM’s peace & social concerns committee:

The heart of the Quaker approach to social change is to follow the leadings of the Spirit, which seeks always to lead us into right word and action. Our goal is to live our outward lives in accordance with the inward guidance of the Spirit. Over the centuries, this guidance has manifested in some ways so consistently and broadly among us that certain “testimonies” have become settled elements of our faith. They have evolved and matured as new truths are revealed to us. For instance, we once addressed all people as equals, regardless of whether we were below or above them in social station, using thee and thou; now we have a “testimony” of equality. Lists of such testimonies vary, but they commonly include the following: Peace and nonviolenceEquality and social justiceCriminal justice reformCare for the earthSimplicityHonesty and integrity Learn more about each testimony here.

Becky Birtha, CPMM Member and Author, featured in The Inquirer, 5/30/2023: New exhibit at Philly’s Historic Germantown looks at race and class through the groundbreaking 1946 children’s book Bright April “Becky Birtha, a poet and author who has written three children’s books herself, has a lot in common with the young girl who is the main character in the book Bright April.”

Full Article: https://www.inquirer.com/news/historic-germantown-bright-april-book-exhibit-race-class-1940s-20230522.html

TENANT NEWS

Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania
Home Matters Day 2023

When: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 8 AM – 3 PM

Where: Pennsylvania State Capitol Commonwealth Ave., Harrisburg, PA 17120

The Housing Alliance is excited to announce the return of Home Matters Day in Harrisburg! For the first time since the pandemic, Housing Alliance members from across the Commonwealth will join together for a day of in-person meetings to ask their state legislators to raise the cap on PHARE! Also known as the state housing trust fund, PHARE expands opportunities for people in need and revitalizes communities. The program creates, rehabs, and supports local housing, blight remediation, supportive services, homeownership counseling, and home purchase.

Singing City

Songbook Community Sing

In celebration of its 75th anniversary, Singing City commissioned 27 composers to write short works to create the Singing City Songbook. This compilation is intended for community singing everywhere—its themes echo the human experience, with messages of unity, hope, love, and the ties that bind. We invite you to come and sing through all of the works at two community events.

Composers will be joining us in person and on Zoom. Come and learn new music! Part 2 – Tuesday, May 307:30-9:00 pm at Friends Center Tickets are $20 each and attendees will
receive a copy of the Songbook.

Receptionist Job Filled

May 16, 2023December 11, 2023

Friends Center hired the Receptionist position.

April’s Tenant Newsletter: Guest galore, E-waste & Shredding, Fundraising Gala, Spring Social, and more

April 26, 2023

Issue 87, April 2023

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Friends Center has been busy of late!

American Friends Service Committee held its annual Corporation meeting here in a hybrid format the weekend before last. It was the first time they’ve had an in-person component in four years.
Friends Council on Education held its annual meeting, its annual in-person Heads of School gathering, and a training here last week.
And on April 18, we participated in International Day for Monuments and Sites by holding an open house to showcase the Race Street Meetinghouse—a National Historic Landmark. Many thanks to Jennifer Williams and Shakirah Holloway for organizing the event.

Please let your friends and colleagues that Friends Center is available for meetings and events of all sizes—from 6 to 600!

Nonprofits automatically get a 20% discount.

Interested groups can contact Shakirah for details at sholloway@friendscentercorp.org or (215) 241-7098. They can also learn more at https://friendscentercorp.org/event-space/.

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Our annual E-waste and Recycling collection began this week and will continue through April 27^th. Collection will take place in the front lobby and basement.

Here is a list of what is accepted:

Computers
Flat Screens
Printers
Fax machines
Back up batteries
Switches/Routers
Laptops

Back up tapes
Surge Protector
Satellite Receivers/Cables Boxes
Desk phones
Cell phones
Dock Stations
Keyboards/Mice/Cabling

Tablets
Servers
Networking Equipment
Shredders
Toner cartridges
All Apple products
Cameras

We hope this service helps to lighten the load every office seems to collect.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

Spring Family Overnight

April 29 @ 2:00 pm – April 30 @ 12:00 pm

Friends, food, and a campfire! Stories, games, and outdoor fun! It’s Spring Family Overnight at Camp Dark Waters!

This year, the overnight is open to all families with children in 8th grade and younger.

Join us for multigenerational activities for the whole family, dinner together, free time to play, bedtime stories, multigenerational worship on Sunday morning, and a chance for adults to spend time with other parents. And everyone will be home on Sunday in time to prepare for the rest of the week!

REGISTER→

Note: All children need to have a Health/Permission form filled out when registering for in-person and overnight events (Family Overnights, Annual Sessions). This will be on file all year and is good for all events from Annual Sessions in July through the following June, when there will be an updated form due.

Strengthening civil society in Africa: An interview with Kennedy Akolo, Africa regional director.

“At the end of day, the Salama Hub is about transforming lives in this part of world. If this program is a success, it could change how the Horn of Africa responds to and prevents conflict.”

Access the full article here.

Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology

Meeting Membership:

To find out what being a member of our meeting means, click this link: On Being a Member of Central Philadelphia Friends Meeting.

We seek to be a welcoming community to all people regardless of their race or ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or social situation, and we invite everyone to worship with us and to participate in our community life, whether they are members or not.

Why join Central Philadelphia Meeting?

How do I apply for membership?

Want to change your membership status?

For answers to the questions above and even more information about CPMM click here.

TENANT NEWS

Join CASA Philadelphia for their

2023 Liberty Bell Gala!

May 11, 2023 ~ The Downtown Club

Help us raise the funds needed to provide a CASA volunteer to 300 children this year.

You can purchase your TICKETS HERE.

Can’t make it? You can make a DONATION HERE.

Help us find Gala Sponsors ~ SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNTIES HERE.

You don’t want to miss this fun and festive event and celebration of our 2023 honorees:

Champion of Children: Vincent Hughes, PA Senator

Outstanding Health Advocate: The Homeless Health Initiative, CHOP

Excellence in Advocacy: The Education Law Center

Outstanding CASA and EDM Volunteers – To Be Announced!

FRIENDS CHILD CARE CENTER

Spring Social, May 5, 2023, 6-8 pm

The Pyramid Club

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Join PSR on May 4th at 6pm for a webinar with Kristina Marusic, which will be moderated by PSR PA Board Member, Julie Becker.

This year’s conference theme is “BodyDreaming: Self-Regulation, Jung, and Neuroscience in Trauma Recovery.”

This year, our plenary speaker is the accomplished Jungian analyst and author Marian Dunlea, from Ireland. In addition to being a delightful person, Marian is a passionate student of neuroscience with extensive training in a host of healing modalities.

Registration is now open for The Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology which will be held in person only at Pendle Hill, May 26 to May 29, 2023.

Full article here.

Registration here.

March Tenant Newsletter: Open House, Film Festival, Racial Healing and A Bookfair

April 4, 2023

Issue 86, March 2023

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE:
Tell your colleagues about Friends Center’s
event and office space! 

April 18 is the International Day for Monuments and Sites. Locally, Global Philadelphia is encouraging Philadelphia’s 67 National Historic Landmarks—including our own Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse—to host public programs that day.

This year, we’re joining in! Friends Center will host a public open house from 11 am to 5 pm to showcase our meeting and conference spaces. Please join us if you are new to Friends Center or just need a refresher on the rooms, their capabilities, and how to reserve space. Either way, you’re welcome to join us for light refreshments!

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

New to Share with Parents & Caregivers

Please share with families this 5-minute survey from Youth Programs staff to help with planning for both Annual Sessions in July and future youth programs. Looking forward to being back in the Annual Sessions Family Neighborhood!

The Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival & Forum

Saturday, 8 April 2023

Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1978) and The Proud Valley (1940) – Celebrating Paul Robeson’s 125th Birthday

Honoring Quaker descendant Paul Robeson, the “beleaguered leader” and “artist as revolutionary,” groundbreaking recording, film, theatrical, and music star.
Featuring a discussion between Robeson scholars Dr. Gerald Horne, Dr. Charles Musser, and Dr. Harold D. Weaver.

ANNA Crusis Feminist Choir

Adult Religious Education/Racial Healing & Wholeness Program

“The Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools: Facing Our History and Ourselves”

When and Where: Two complimentary programs

April 16 for CPMM, 1-2:30, hybrid in-person and virtual.
April 23 for Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting at Germantown, time TBD.

These two programs are not the same; they complement each other.

More details about the programs and Andrew available here.

TENANT NEWS

Gender Justice Fund featured in Billy Penn, 3/25/2023:

140 years ago, a group of Philly women set out to advance gender equity

A descendant of the New Century Guild is still active in philanthropic grantmaking today.

“The organization’s role shifted throughout the years, and a descendant of the organization — the Gender Justice Fund — still operates today as a local philanthropic grant-making foundation.” (And as a tenant at Friends Center!)

Read the full article.

C.A.I.R

Sings Dolly & Holly

April 22, 2023, 7:30 pm

Friends Childcare Centeris hosting a book fair!

IN THE WIDER QUAKER WORLD

Glam.com feature:
“Silent Weddings: The Simple, Unconventional Tradition that Could be Right for You”

Although some facts in this piece are off, it is an interesting take on “self-uniting” weddings: “If you’re an introvert who prefers a small and peaceful gathering over boisterous crowds, you might like the idea of having a silent wedding—commonly known as a Quaker wedding.”

Friends General Conference

February 2023 Newsletter: Tell a Friend, Meetinghouse Upgrades, Code Switching, Respectful Parenting and more

February 22, 2023March 22, 2023

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE:
Tell your colleagues about Friends Center’s
event and office space! 

It has been nice to see more of you around Friends Center recently! We have also had an uptick in in-person and hybrid events.

Friends Center is beginning to market our office and meeting space more actively this year than we have for the last three years. Of course, the best advertising is word of mouth. So, we would be grateful if you would let your nonprofit colleagues know that limited space is again available to rent here in our LEED-certified green building. Smaller organizations with peace and justice missions are especially welcome.

In addition, our meeting and conference spaces are fully open. Space is booked more frequently as more organizations return to in-person as well as hybrid meetings, which we also support. Nonprofits receive an automatic 20% discount.

Here are two links you could share:

Office Space: https://friendscentercorp.org/office-rental/
Conference & Meeting Rooms: https://friendscentercorp.org/event-space/

Thank you, as always, for being part of the Friends Center community.

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

News from Friends Child Care Center

Friends Child Care Center has a 4-star rating in Pennsylvania’s Quality Rating & Improvement System, which carries the responsibility for recognizing and supporting continuous quality improvement in early care programs throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Each year, FCCC targets an area for improvement, and this year we focused our efforts and resources into removing lead paint from window frames, doors, and finishings in the First Day School Room, where infant care will resume by March 1, 2023. Lead abatement is very costly and so we sought to find outside funding sources.

FCCC is pleased to share that the City of Philadelphia: Child Care Facilities Fund awarded $25,000 to the project, which helped to significantly defray costs. The mission of the Facilities Fund is to provide support to high-quality early childhood education programs located in Philadelphia for the maintenance and improvement of their facilities in order to maintain a high-level STAR rating.

FCCC is incredibly grateful for this financial support as we are dedicated to providing a safe, clean and nurturing learning environment where children can play to learn, learn to love.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

Electrical & Safety Upgrades in the Meetinghouse, Thanks to Yearly Meeting Support

Cropwell Friends Meeting’s infrastructure got a big upgrade this week. Thanks to a generous gift from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Quaker Buildings & Programs Granting Group, the building’s electrical system was rewired, and fire safety upgrades and security lighting were installed. The work was done by Front Line Electric of Glendora, N.J., who were prompt, professional, and courteous.

The Cropwell Friends Meetinghouse, built in 1809, was very much in need of work. The last known update to the electrical wiring took place in the 1920s. The type of wiring used at that time was “knob-and-tube,” which does not have a ground system for safety. This doesn’t necessarily make the wiring unsafe to use, but it does rule out important safety features and leaves appliances and sensitive electronics vulnerable to damage from power surges. Exterior lighting was also installed for safety and security purposes.

Stewardship & Community

The work on the meetinghouse spoke to the stewardship and community testimonies of Friends.

The current Cropwell Meetinghouse structure was built in 1809. It is on the historic registry, but like all old buildings, it has needs, and those needs have price tags. It is the Meeting’s responsibility to be good stewards to maintain the structure for current and future members.

Cropwell has a small number who attend regularly, but there is cohesion and commitment which has increased in intensity over the past year, and there is an openness to increasing and strengthening that community. The Meeting has received letters requesting membership from four individuals within the last year and have received loving support from members within Haddonfield Quarter.

Code Switch with Joshua Slack

In honor of Black History Month, the AFSC Pan Valley Institute (PVI) is pleased to announce the returning and touring production of “CODE SWITCH,” written and performed by ArteVism Alumnus Joshua Slack and directed by current Fellow Rodolfo Robles Cruz.

The ArteVism Fellowship program seeks to empower and foster civic engagement through artistic, creative expression, and collective leadership amongst the Central Valley’s youth of color.

“Code Switch” is a monologue that explores the navigation of code-switching. Code-switching involves adjusting one’s way of life in ways that optimize the comfort of others in exchange for fair treatment, quality service, and employment opportunities. The performance encourages audience members to ask themselves: At what cost to our lives do we make these adjustments? Why are we afraid to be ourselves?”

Joshua Slack was born into a military family; his mother served in the Coast Guard, and his father was a college professor. His life goal is to own a production company emphasizing TV, film, photography, theatre, and other art forms that express the uniqueness of niche storytelling within the Black community. He plans to offer it as a platform to tell the stories that mainstream media won’t tell and to uplift the voices of his community.

We will be following COVID-19 safety protocols, ordinances, and regulations. Masks may be required according to local guidelines during the event.

February 25, 2023, 6:30-8:30 pm PT
Free event at the Fresno Art Museum, Bonner Auditorium 2233 N Fresno St. Fresno, CA

For more on this free event or the ArteVism fellowship program, please contact Rodolfo Robles Cruz at (559) 540-1028 or RRoblesCruz@AFSC.org.

Tickets Available Here!

Author Event:

CPMM member Pamela Haines will present

Tending Sacred Ground: Respectful Parenting.

Saturday, February 25, at 11 AM

Navigate through the sacred, the impossible, and the unexpected in these hard-won reflections on parenting. Tending Sacred Ground: Respectful Parenting is a series of essays, each of which alights on the experience of parenting and is inspired by a Quaker perspective. Pamela Haines shows how to cultivate respect, resilience, humility, connection, discernment, and joy while encouraging and inspiring a wider view toward inclusion.

Pamela has published widely on faith, money and economics, and on peace-building and right relationship. Please join us for a reading and discussion.

TENANT NEWS

Singing City

Winter Festival of Voices

This concert will feature contributions to the choral art from Black composers and poets. Featuring Singing City Choir, Teen Voices of the City Ensemble (T-VOCE), Hatboro Horsham Singers, Germantown Friends School Choir, and Northeast High School Choir. Celebrating youth from across the region!

Jeffrey Brillhart, conductor

Saturday, March 4, 2023, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, 23 S. 38th Street, Philadelphia, PA

Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation

Integrating Local Histories & Legacies in your Arts Classroom

Do you want to connect to our rich Philadelphia artistic lineage? Looking to integrate history and research in your arts classrooms?

Led by Love Notes Project Teaching Artists Rebecca Graham and Lindo Jones, participants will engage in a music and poetry workshop that highlights the work of three Black Philadelphia artists and cultural producers, past and present. The intention is for participants to leave the space feeling more connected to our city’s rich artistic lineage while gathering tools that may assist in your desire to integrate history and research in your arts classrooms.

Thu, February 23, 2023, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM EST

Friends World Committee for Consultation

Section of the Americas Meeting

The Friends World Committee will hold its hybrid 2023 Section of the Americas Meeting on March 23 – 26 at Haw River State Park in Greensboro, NC. Registration for virtual attendance is available here. Scroll down to learn more and to register for the in-person event. All Friends are welcome! The last day for in-person registration is February 26, 2023, but register soon before options sell out!

Thu, March 23, 7 PM – Sun, March 26, noon

IN THE WIDER QUAKER WORLD

New Friends Historical Association Grants

The Friends Historical Association is pleased to offer funding to support contributions to the field of Quaker history. There are three grant opportunities: project support, publication subventions, and research funds. All opportunities run on the same cycle, and applications are due April 15, 2023.

Details about each opportunity and application instruction are provided at https://www.quakerhistory.org/grants.

January Newsletter: Farewells and Warm Welcomes, BQLM Film Festival & Funding Social Justice

January 27, 2023

Issue 84, January 2023

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE  

Welcome, Ray Williams!

Friends Center is very pleased to introduce you to Ray Williams, our new Facilities Assistant! Ray has a wealth of experience, skills, and knowledge that he brings to maintaining our facility and supporting our events. In his first week on the job, he has already helped make some noticeable improvements. He works weekdays from 11 am to 7 pm. If you see him around, please introduce yourself!

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Our contractors have been working hard on improvements to the First Day School Room, which is shared by the children of CPMM and FCCC. The project will be finished by the end of next week, and the children are expected to move back on March 1st. We’re thankful to contractors DVR and KB Painting for their efforts, especially preserving the historical charm within the First Day room.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

Long Term Care & Hope

Planning for retirement includes many considerations. Quaker Aging Resources offers information and links to articles on a variety of topics, listed below. The website was designed 10 years ago to assist meetings, individuals, and families in responding to the needs of aging Friends including age related changes, chronic illness, or disability. The pamphlets and resources are intended to uphold a culture of care for the body, mind, spirit and community of the individual which is consistent with Quaker faith, and address the following needs:

Emotional /Behavioral Care
Death and Dying
Financial Matters
Housing/Aging in Place
Meaningful Retirement
Physical Health
Spiritual/Pastoral Support

Friends who are aging often have challenges in planning for their future. Involving family, adult children, and personal friends early in the process can make all the difference.

When thinking about long term care, it’s beneficial to consider all aspects. This article, What is Long Term Care, written by the National Institute on Aging provides an excellent outline of considerations.

Register here for the 5 screenings

We are proud to announce the 2023 Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival & Forum, a groundbreaking exploration of Black Friends who made a difference throughout both USA and world history. From 4 February to 8 April, we will hold screenings, dedicated to Quakers of Color, every other Saturday at 1:00 PM Eastern Time over Zoom Webinar.

Saturday, 4 February 2023: Interview with Bill Sutherland (1999) – Liberation & Non-Violence in Africa & USA, featuring panel discussion with AFSC’s Joyce Ajlouny and Keith Harvey
Saturday, 18 February 2023: The Prep School Negro (2012) –Joan Countryman & African Americans in Quaker Schools
Saturday, 4 March 2023: Sisters in Freedom (2018) – Sarah Mapps Douglass & Women in the Abolition Struggle Against Slavery.
Saturday, 18 March 2023: Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved The Stars (1981) – Early African American Scholar-Activist
Saturday, 8 April 2023: Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1978) and The Proud Valley (1940) – Celebrating Paul Robeson’s 125th Birthday

Social Justice Grant Application

Funding for Social Justice

CPMM is pleased to announce the availability of grant funding to local nonprofits who meet our guidelines. The application form has details. Deadline: February 28, 2023

TENANT NEWS

Webinar: New Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness Overview

Join us for a webinar on February 1st from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm on the new Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. Since 2016, homelessness has been rising and for the new strategic plan to be as effective and intentional as possible, it required input from people who are part of the response to homelessness, people who have a vested interest in ending homelessness, and people with lived expertise.

When: Wednesday, February 1, 2023 2 PM – 3 PM See https://housingalliancepa.org/upcoming-events/

Farewell and thank you to The Presser Foundation!

Friends Center bids a fond farewell to The Presser Foundation as of February 1, as their needs have changed and they move on to new space. Teresa Araco Rodgers, executive director of The Presser Foundation, has made extraordinary contributions to the Friends Center community for more than a decade. She not only recruited numerous other organizations to move into Friends Center, she also coordinated The Exchange, the second floor coworking space, for many years. She organized information sharing among executive directors as well as a regular speaker series. Thank you, Teresa! We wish you and your colleagues all the best.

BEYOND FRIENDS CENTER

From Friends General Conference:
Building a Meaningful and Connected Life eRetreat

Wednesday, January 25^th 2023 – Wednesday, February 22^nd 2023 Time 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM

The Building a Meaningful and Connected Life eRetreat invites you to explore and practice the spirituality of meaning-making, resiliency, renewal, and life transitions. Participants will ask themselves and each other, what choices can we make and what steps can we take now to nurture our inner life, creative life, and connected life?

eRetreat Details:

Offered January 25 – February 22, 2023
Four weeks, $45 pay-as-led** participation fee
Weekly readings, queries, resources, and activities available on FGC’s eRetreat website, Matrix
Community Building Calls: Wednesdays at 3pm Eastern / 2p Central / 1pm Mountain / Noon Pacific, starting January 25.

eRetreat Schedule and Weekly Themes

The Building a Meaningful and Connected Life eRetreat will be facilitated by Gay Edelman.

Old City Church Takes Innovative Steps to Reduce Homelessness: By Kimberly Hass Of Singing City

One of Philadelphia’s wealthiest zip codes will soon be home to new residents from the opposite end of the income spectrum. Next spring, ground will be broken in the churchyard of Old First Reformed United Church of Christ at 4th and Race Streets to begin construction of 36 permanent housing units for individuals experiencing homelessness. Read full article here

Friends Center Tenant Newsletter

November 23, 2022

Issue 83, November 2022

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE  

Last week I went to the Parkway Central Branch of the Free Library to hear George Lakey in conversation with Varshini Prakash, executive director and co-founder of Sunrise Movement, the youth-led movement to stop climate change.

George was in conversation about his new book, Dancing with History: A Life for Peace and Justice.

Now a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, George has been a Quaker nonviolent activist and researcher for over 7 decades! Among many other things, he co-founded Movement for a New Society in the 1970s, Training for Change in the 1990s, and Earth Quaker Action Team in the 2010s.

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, George often leads a community singalong of Handel’s Messiah in the Cherry Street Room in December. We’ll announce it if and when it returns.

Friends Center is full of inspiring stories like George’s. In the tenant newsletter, we try to lift up a few of them each month. Please let Jennifer Williams know if your organization has news to share!

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Y.A. BOOK LAUNCH EVENT AT CPMM
Young Adult Adaptation of Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility
Dec 7, 2022 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street

Join Toni Graves Williamson and Ali Michael for the launch of their Young Adult adaptation of Robin DiAngelo’s bestselling book White Fragility. This event is sponsored by Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Friends Council on Education, and Friends Select School. Tickets are available for free or purchase (copy of the book included) on Eventbrite.

» Register here.

Event: Covenant House

Annual ‘Sleep Out’ raises over $600,000 for local youth homelessness

In the bitter cold on Thursday night into Friday morning, people traded their beds for a sleeping bag and a cardboard box. Participants raised funds for Covenant House’s services for homeless youth.

Get the full scoop here: Via Channel 6/ABC
(Early on in the segment, you get a glimpse of our facility manager, John Gibson, moving some supplies!)

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

Decolonizing Thanksgiving Is An Oxymoron – Kids Books Dismantling The Myth of a ‘First Thanksgiving’

Teach your kids the truth of Thanksgiving—modeling generosity and gratitude all year long—but don’t whitewash the violent history of colonization.

Emerging Leaders for Liberation

This year, AFSC launched Emerging Leaders for Liberation (ELL) to help young people strengthen their social justice and leadership skills. Over eight months, youth get trained on anti-racism, organizing, advocacy, nonviolent direct action, and more. They also develop projects to address systemic issues in their own communities.

“It’s vital that young people understand how much their voices matter and the power they have to create change. We need to continue investing in their leadership for a better future for everyone,” says Mariana Martinez,
ELL program director.

The inaugural cohort of ELL participants includes 30 young people from 15 states. Many have worked with local AFSC programs or are part of Quaker meetings or colleges.

Meet three of this year’s participants.