If I had a hammer: Faith-based organization rehabs Germantown one house at a time [entry-title] By

The ceiling was coming down, the walls were crumbling and two sinks were leaking. But Joan and Curtis Garrett, senior citizens on fixed incomes, couldn’t afford to hire commercial contractors to repair their home in the Germantown section of Philadelphia and…

Meet David Schogel: At 76, a leader in the fight to preserve NW Philly's environment [entry-title] By

David Schogel sat in his swiveling office chair, with his thin-framed glasses sitting on his nose, wearing a beige hat with the green letters  S. E. C. standing out. Schogel, 76, a volunteer renaissance man, has been a familiar figure…

Protecting the Wissahickon: Seniors teach 5th graders from Gtown's Kelly School [entry-title] By , , and

On a warm spring day, a group of fifth graders from the John B. Kelly Elementary School huddled on the banks of the Wissahickon Creek in far Northwest Philadelphia. A college professor plunged a three-foot-long clear plastic tube into the…

Big business and city government work to delete the digital divide in Germantown [entry-title] By and

Many people in Germantown and other hard-scrabble neighborhoods of Philadelphia will never read this article. That’s because it’s only offered online and more than 100,000 of Philadelphia’s 1.5 million residents can’t afford internet access. The figure, based on a 2013 study…

As primary election approaches, Clinton and Sanders campaigns rev up in Germantown [entry-title] By and

With Pennsylvania’s presidential primary looming on Tuesday, the campaigns of Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are heating up in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood, a predominantly black Democratic stronghold of some 40,000 residents that may be a litmus test of…

Now connecting: social media and elders at Germantown's Center in the Park [entry-title] By

The same people who lived through the Great Depression, fought in World War II and helped launch the civil rights movement are now “friending,” “liking,” and emailing. The social-media buzz is happening at Center in the Park, Germantown’s award-winning senior…

Gtown YWCA: It's not just bricks and mortar [entry-title] By

 Theresa Freeman stood on the sidewalk in Germantown’s business district one recent afternoon and looked down at the dilapidated three-story redbrick building that was once the Germantown YWCA. “It’ll bring Germantown back,” she said. “One simple building.” After years of…

Philadelphia Opens Affordable LGBT-Friendly Housing for Senior Citizens [entry-title] By

During the wee hours of a cool, early September morning, Wanda Gale, a 64-year-old Philadelphia native, sat patiently outside of the William Way Community Center waiting for the opportunity of a lifetime. Gale, dressed in a sweater and her most…

Fresh and affordable: Wyck Farmers' Market promotes a healthy Germantown [entry-title] By

Germantown native Billy Keck strolled into the Wyck Farmers’ Market one recent Friday to pick up fresh corn and eggplant. Like a lot of other customers, he ended up buying more than he intended from the colorful display of home-grown…

Journeys of Promise:Germantown and the Great Migration [entry-title] By

Journeys of Promise: Germantown and the Great Migration is a 30-minute online documentary that tells the stories of six African Americans who migrated to Philadelphia from the South during the 1950s as part of the largest internal migration in U.S….