Friends Center Tenant Newsletter

October Tenant Newsletter: Renovation & Parking Updates, Famous African American Quaker, FCNL is Hiring

Issue 75, October 2021

DIRECTOR’S NOTE  

Greetings and best wishes for fall!

With changes in climate, our local autumn season seems to come later than ever. One bonus is that the native plants in the front garden and the courtyard oval are still blooming—and attracting pollinators. The gardens have filled in nicely over the years. I like to see it as a metaphor for the millions of people working in communities for positive change, including the few hundred based here at Friends Center. Through your steady, persistent work, through your showing up again and again, may the systems in which we are embedded also evolve, just like the gardens have grown—even if it’s hard to see the change at any given moment.

Take care and stay safe,

Chris Mohr, Executive Director 

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Renovation of 1520 Race Street

The renovation of the 1520 Race Street building by Friends Select School began this week, starting with interior demolition.

                While most of the work will not have an impact on users of the Friends Center, there will be some temporary changes in the courtyard. The contractor will put fencing and barriers in place to provide a safe distance from the building. This will impact Friends Child Care Center the most, and so we will be in frequent communication with them.

                Note that the loading zone is being used by contractors for both Friends Center and Friends Select. The loading zone is only for deliveries, pickups, and dropoffs. There is no tenant parking until further notice. See the updated LOADING ZONE GUIDELINES (right).

                We will be in close touch with the contractor, so that we may do our best to alert the Friends Center community to any significant changes before they occur. Our priority is to maintain safety for everyone. Please reach out to Erick Emerick with any concerns and we will do our best to address them.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING (PYM)

Famous Quaker: Benjamin Banneker, an Astronomer and Mathematician

Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) was a self-educated African American mathematician, astronomer, surveyor, compiler of almanacs, and writer. He was also a regular attender at Quaker meetings and an abolitionist who gained fame and recognition for his contributions to science and his prescient correspondence on multiple subjects, including race, with key intellectuals of the time. Click link above to read the full article.

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE (AFSC) 

On the Issues: 50 Years Since the Attica Uprising

On Sept. 9, 1971, over 1200 people incarcerated at the Attica Correctional Facility in New York took control of the prison to demand better living conditions and human rights. After four tense days, law enforcement retook the prison by force, leading to the deaths of at least 43 people. In the 50 years since, organizations like AFSC have been entrenched in the work to advocate with incarcerated people for improvements to the system that respect basic human dignity, as well as the growing movement to #FreeThemAll and abolish the prison system as we know it.

Join AFSC staff from our Healing Justice program as they discuss how our work was catalyzed by the events of the Attica Uprising, and hear from campers from the Liberation Summer Camp, which had a focus on this moment in history. Speakers include Healing Justice program coordinator Lewis Webb, Jr., filmmaker and advocate Kharon Benson, Liberation Camp intern Akira Rose, Joeli Valerio, and others.

CENTRAL PHILADELPHIA MONTHLY MEETING (CPMM) 

Author Reading by Pamela Haines

Pamela Haines will speak via Zoom on her book of poetry, ALIVE IN THIS WORLD, on October 30th at 11:00 AM.

The collection of poetry is organized into three sections. The first, A HOME WITH THE TREES, explores a relationship with trees with a growing understanding and gratitude. In COMMUTER ENCOUNTERS, intimate contact with strangers on a trolley or bus invites reflection on humanity, connection and justice. In the final section, A HOME WITH THE EARTH, the soil is a medium for meditation on nourishment and how living in small green city spaces can bring big gifts.  The poems are a call to pay attention to Life and to not let the world go by unnoticed.

Please log in using the Zoom platform listed below:

                Meeting ID: 818 4086 3719

                Password: 979529

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81840863719?pwd=ZmdUSmVUL2orbmxpZGtxc05sYmwxZz09

TENANT NEWS

COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR), PHILADELPHIA CHAPTER
“On the anniversary of Sept. 11, local Muslims contemplate what they’ve endured the last 20 years”
From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/11/2021:

                …In general… Philadelphia is a “hospitable place for American Muslims, both African American and immigrants,” said Jacob Bender, executive director of CAIR Philadelphia, the Council on American Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group. “Perhaps it’s the city’s Quaker background, opening it to different religious minorities.”…

                Bender estimates that close to 200,000 Muslims live in Philadelphia, 80% of whom he identified as African Americans. The Pennsylvania suburbs are home to another 200,000, mostly Arab immigrants and their children….

                Another unfortunate aftermath of Sept. 11 was that many young Muslim Americans wanted to disassociate themselves from their religious background, said Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu,education and outreach director for CAIR-Philadelphia.

Full Article Here

PENNSYLVANIA HEALTH ACCESS NETWORK (PHAN)

Please join us for PHAN’s 13th annual health conference

WHEN: Thursday October 21st, 10am – 3pm and Friday October 22nd from 10am-1:30pmWHERE: We’re going virtual again this year!QUESTIONS?: Contact Jennifer at jennifer@pahealthaccess.org or 267-908-9100 x704

As the only conference of its kind, PHAN brings together health care policy experts, advocates, industry representatives, enrollment assisters, and government leaders to discuss key health policy issues directly affecting the Commonwealth.

This fall, join us as we discuss such critical healthcare issues as: lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic (thus far); the federal and state landscape for healthcare policy; lowering the cost of prescription drugs; health equity & the role of Medicaid; hospital consolidation & the changing healthcare landscape; and much more!

» Register Here

IN THE (QUAKER) NEIGHBORHOOD 

Haddonfield Quarterly Meeting

“The Underground Railroad in South Jersey
and Its Importance Today”

Featuring
Linda Shockley, Executive Board President,
Lawnside Historical Society

“Oral history identifies Peter Mott as an agent and conductor for the Underground Railroad, working from his home and Mt. Pisgah A.M.E. Church in present day Lawnside.  Freedom seekers would continue their journey north via Evesham, Haddonfield, and Pennsauken.  The Lawnside Historical Society has restored Mott’s home for use as a museum of the Underground Railroad and the Lawnside community, the only historically African-American incorporated municipality in the northern USA.:  (www.petermotthouse.org)

Sunday, October 24, 2021

Worship – 10 AM; Program – 11 AM

At Medford Meeting and via Zoom.

Email Haddonfieldquarterly@yahoo.com for more information.

Now Hiring:
Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is searching for their next General Secretary.

Friends Committee On National Legislation (fcnl.org)

The new General Secretary will be a courageous Quaker leader with a commitment to justice, peace, and environmental sustainability; to expanding diversity, equity and inclusion within the FCNL community and beyond; and to building and nurturing relationships across political and organizational divides.

We Seek a World Free of War and the Threat of War
We seek a Society with Equity and Justice for All
We seek Community where Every Person’s Potential Can be Fulfilled
We Seek an Earth Restored

For more information, contact DeAnne Butterfield, Clerk, Search Committee gssearch@fcnl.org

September Tenant Newsletter: End of Summer Vacation, 9/11, Celebrating 90 years & Quaker Trivia

Issue 74, September 2021

Friends Center Tenant Newsletter

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Vacation called and I had to answer! I hope you’ll do the same when the same when the opportunity comes.

– Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

  • Please continue to be diligent in wearing your facemask in common areas of the building and practice handwashing regularly.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING (PYM)

Morning sessions are also available from 10:30 am – 12:30 pm. Click here for more details

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE (AFSC)

The lasting impact of U.S. decisions in the aftermath of 9/11By Mary Zerkel

Twenty years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, the world was shocked at the coordinated attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.  

Expressions of sympathy and grief came from throughout the world. But rather than use the moment to forge global cooperation, the United States embarked on a disastrous course driven by narratives of fear and retribution. Continue reading here.

CENTRAL PHILADELPHIA MONTHLY MEETING (CPMM)

Quakerism 101 – Quaker Discernment, Decision Making, and the Meeting for Business

Overview

Our second session will explore the Quaker understanding of spiritual discernment and the Quaker processes for making decisions, including the meeting for worship with attention to business and the life of the meeting.

Date: October 24, 1:00-3:00 pm

Zoom: The Zoom link is the same as the link for meeting for worship. The worship meeting will simply be extended.

Facilitators: Barry Scott and Jennifer Walker

TENANT NEWS

The Center For Healing & Justice Through Sport (CHJS)

 Launch Tour Recap 

Last week The Collaborative partnered with the Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport to introduce their work and vision of CHJS, highlight some of the amazing work happening in Philadelphia, and continue the conversation around how the Philadelphia SBYD community can continue to push our field forward. 

The mission of CHJS is to make sport healing for all youth, everywhere, through training, consulting, and movement building. They believe that underneath the fun and camaraderie, sport can be used as a vehicle to provide creative and accessible solutions to some of society’s biggest issues.  Click Here to stay up to date with CHJS and their upcoming events!

YOU’RE INVITED!

Join Friends Council on Education for an evening of Light — poetry, music, thought — to uplift and sustain us on this next stretch of the road we are traveling.

When: September 22nd, 2021

Time: 7-8:30 pm EDT

Location: Event held via Zoom

Register Here

We hope that you will join us for this and other activities throughout the year in celebration of Friends Council’s 90th Anniversary!

IN THE (QUAKER) NEIGHBORHOOD

Quaker Speak is a bi-weekly video series that highlights a variety of relevant topics and how they tie into Quakerism.

This particular video touches on the difference between a welcoming space and an inclusive space. Click here to watch!

Quaker Trivia

Four of the five women who convened the 1848 convention on women’s rights at Seneca Falls were Quakers.  It is presumed that the reason Quaker women played a large part in the struggle for women’s suffrage was due to the leadership skills acquired throughout two centuries of women’s experience speaking publicly and adopting administrative leadership roles within the Quaker community—opportunities unmatched for women in any other western religion at that time.

Mourning Together, Shredding Day, Innocence on Death Row and more

Issue 70, March 2021

Friends Center Tenant Newsletter

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Today in the U.S. we have yet another reason for mourning. The horrific mass shooting of Asian American women in Atlanta is just the latest sign of a wave of anti-Asian violence in the US. And other forms of structural and interpersonal violence continue to occur here in Philadelphia, in the US, and in other countries (many of whom are supplied with weapons from this country).

                Fortunately, many organizations at Friends Center organize communities and offer resources to counter these trends. Here are just a few samples:

  • CAIR:
    TONIGHT (3/17):

    Vigil for Victims of Anti-Asian Violence 10th & Vine St Plaza, 7-8 PM for all those who are grieving those who have suffered. At 6 PM, we also welcome those who want to help make posters for the vigil.
  • AFSC:
    Standing up to Anti-Asian Racism, Feb. 2021
  • Gender Justice Fund:
    Tweet: “White supremacy and patriarchy are inextricably linked. We must fight them both on every front. Our hearts are with those affected by the shooting in #Atlanta.”
  • Friends Center’s Twitter list of the organizations here is a great way to find out what your colleagues are doing: https://twitter.com/i/lists/184330795.   

– Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Shredding Day: March 19th

Our Preferred company will be visiting Friends Center to shred sensitive documents onsite. You can leave your shredding down by the loading area on the cart that is set up. What is collected will be locked up at night until it is picked up Friday.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING (PYM)

Spring Continuing Sessions

March 23, 7:00pm – 8:30pm

March 26, 6:00pm – 7:30pm

March 27, 9:00am – 4:00pm

Register Here

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE (AFSC)

Employment Opportunities

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker Organization which includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace, and humanitarian service.  Its work is based on the Quaker belief in the worth of every person, and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice. Read more about AFSC’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

For a complete list of open positions, please click here.

CENTRAL PHILADELPHIA MONTHLY MEETING (CPMM)

Fair Trade Ministry

This is a video recording of Yoko Koike Barnes’s presentation on her Fair Trade Ministry, offered during the meeting for worship with attention to ministry via Zoom on March 4, 2021.

https://youtu.be/7XJ8lJgncqs

TENANT NEWS

 

Gender Justice Fund & Scattergood Foundation featured:

Generocity.org: “Does the local nonprofit sector have the collective agency to make change and move us toward just recovery?”

“It is hard to find balance between doing the work and finding the energy and resources to argue at City Hall,” says Farrah Parkes of Gender Justice Fund.

» Continue Reading Here

Witness to Innocence

Featured in National Geographic Magazine:

“Sentenced to death, but innocent:
These are stories of justice gone wrong.”

Since 1973, more than 8,700 people in the U.S. have been sent to death row. At least 182 weren’t guilty—their lives upended by a system that nearly killed them.

» Articles and Photos Here (paywall)

2021 January Newsletter – Good omens, Inauguration day, The Assault on Democracy

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Is it January 13, 2021? Or more like December 44, 2020? It’s sometimes hard to tell. (Credit for this idea goes to our staff member Teneshia Washington!)

                Personally, whenever I see a raptor, I take that as a good omen. On Jan. 11, a juvenile Cooper’s hawk paused with its lunch on the wall by the front entrance to Friends Center. So I’ve decided to take this as an auspicious sign for the year ahead! (Fun fact: One definition of “auspices” is “observation by an augur especially of the flight and feeding of birds to discover omens,” according to Merriam-Webster.)

                Wishing you all the best in 2021,

– Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

CLOSED Mon. January 18

In celebration of MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY!

INAUGURATION DAY

We are monitoring the anti-democracy protests being announced in the days leading up to and including Jan. 20, when President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris are sworn in. As of now, state and national capitol buildings appear to be the focus. The situation is fluid and uncertain.

                If the local situation in Center City warrants it, we will reduce hours or close altogether.

                We will announce any changes by email and social media.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING (PYM)

PYM Community Playdates are for Children up through 5th Grade and their Family.

Our January 16 Community Playdate (10:00 am) is a “Meeting for Feelings.” Learn More Here

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE (AFSC)

Year in review: How you helped us Defund Hate in 2020

On a Facebook Live event in January 2021, AFSC’s Tori Bateman, Benjamin Prado, and Fabiola Davila talked about the need to stop abuses by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Read More Here.

CENTRAL PHILADELPHIA MONTHLY MEETING (CPMM)

The History of CPMM

Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting was formed in 1956 when two city meetings—12th Street Meeting and Race Street Meeting—were united. Our building, however, is 100 years older, and has served as a Quaker meetinghouse since it was built in 1856. Continue Here

TENANT NEWS

C.A.I.R.

Jacob Bender, Executive Director of C.A.I.R (The Council on American-Islamic Relations), supports IMPEACHMENT NOW!


GENDER JUSTICE FUND:

Statement on the January 6 attacks

Learn more at https://www.genderjusticephilly.org/.

FRIENDS COUNCIL ON EDUCATION

Here is FCE’s statement on the January 6 attacks.

Quaker Quote