Residents of the neighborhoods in Northwest Philadelphia gathered at the Mt. Airy Presbyterian Church on Sunday, April 18 to discuss important issues in workshops at the Community Cafe. The event was sponsored by MARCHinG for Change and Philly Neighborhood Networks and gave people the opportunity to hear about issues that concern them from experts in the field. It also allowed people to come together to discuss and debate the problems that the community faces.
Topics addressed at the forum included the local foods movement, co-housing, campaign finance reform, getting Americans back to work through a jobs bill and the foreclosure crisis. The experts started the conversations by speaking about their experiences with the subject and then opened the floor up to the area residents to ask questions and give their opinions.
The event ended on a proactive note. Each workshop summed up their conversation and then came up with an action item or a suggestion for how their particular area of interest could be bettered on the local or federal level.
The Community Café not only brought people together to enjoy good food while hearing about problems in the community but allowed individuals to connect so they can further their causes. A group of people in the job bill workshop already plan on continuing to meet so they can work more on getting a bill passed.
By Lauren Herman and Bryant Maddrick, Group 11, Germantown
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