Local residents convened Sunday afternoon at the Sedgwick Theater for the first annual Community Café. The event, co-sponsored by Neighborhood Networks and MARCHinG for Change, created a forum for people in the community to express their opinions on matters such as health care and safety and to suggest ways of promoting change.

Café organizers reached out to community leaders doing significant work within their fields to moderate a series of roundtables. “There are …

A heavenly aroma spills outs from a bubbling pot of potato squash soup in the basement of the Cavalry Church. Claire Smith quickly turns down the burner and goes back to preparing three large trays of savory brussel sprouts.

Paul Divido and Anna Jacobs take turns kneading dough to turn into luscious cinnamon buns. In an hour’s time the three volunteers have created a veritable feast to feed up to 80 people. All the food used was salvaged from grocery stores and bakeries across the city that would have otherwise been thrown in the garbage.

For the past 10 …

Imagine risking your life for the country you love by joining the military. After serving your time overseas, you come back healthy and uninjured, with a job lined up and waiting for you.

Unfortunately, this is not the case for many veterans who have served our country. The reality is that some soldiers returning to the United States have a tough time readjusting and are shocked to …

When television host Gordon Ramsay of “Kitchen Nightmares” focused his culinary microscope on a family-owned BYOB in Fishtown, his major changes were to the items on the menu.  He used the name of the restaurant, the Hot Potato Café,  to create new-spud-accommodating choices that just made sense.
In May, the restaurant, located on Girard Avenue, received a …

There is one place in West Philadelphia where fighting is acceptable.

High-flying kicks and swiftly moving bodies pass back and forth across the room. The sound of sneakers hitting the floor—and sometimes skin—is drowned out by the rhythmic drum music reverberating through the room. Someone shouts out directions over the thumping bass and others listen, complying with his demands for more moves, more motion. He demonstrates.

There are too many smiles for this to be any sort of …

Who says acting like a stooge won’t get you places? It sure worked for Louis Feinberg.

On Oct. 15, the Associated Alumni of Central High School held its 15th annual induction ceremony. The ceremony was held at the Sheraton Society Hill. Those who attended were greeted by the sounds of string instruments and tables full of appetizers. Dressed in formal wear, inductees, alumni and students alike immersed themselves in small talk while waiting for the event to begin.

As they waited, a small crowd gathered around two …

Preston Barnette loves his job. As the head chef at Calcutta House, a non-profit organization that provides housing and support services for people living with AIDS in the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley area, he is always smiling at his residents every morning when he serves them breakfast. And the 18 residents in Calcutta House’s 16th Street and Girard Avenue location usually smile back. But lately, the lack of a state budget from July until early October loomed …

Like every agency within city government, the Philadelphia Police Department has taken some cuts in its budget. But 39th Police District Capt. Stephen Glenn wouldn’t know anything about that.

“We’re not doing any worse off,” Glenn said. “With budget restrictions I don’t know if the police department is hiring at the same level now. But we have more police officers since Nutter came in. More than we ever got under Street.”

Glenn’s not talking about just a few more officers either. He’s talking about 20 more, a significant number than can affect change and …

Tears fell amidst empty desks and rules of grammar chalk-written on the blackboard.   Candace Morris held back more as she spoke of the Salesian tradition of Northeast Catholic High School for Boys.

“We try to teach our students that you’re not expected to be everything; you’re only expected to be who you are and whoever Christ means for you to be,” said Morris, an English teacher at North …

It’s a Wednesday and cold, too cold for October. The weather is gray. It matches the cement stairs on the corner of Third street and Lehigh Avenue. People line the stairwell leading to a sturdy door in the basement of an old warehouse. The door is marked with a small blue sign that reads, “Prevention Point Philadelphia.” Everyone is waiting patiently for the doors to open at noon.

Prevention Point hosts Philadelphia’s only legal syringe exchange program. The program began as an underground, grassroots organization based primarily …