“We need places to go where we can feel heard and loved. If we have more rec centers as places for support, we can stop the violence. This would be a free place for adults, teens, and kids.”
Ha’Alah Andrews, a youth program intern, had that message to share about how our government could better invest in communities that deal with widespread safety concerns, such as Fairhill-Hartranft, the North Philadelphia neighborhood where The Village of Arts and Humanities is based. Ha’Alah is one of several young people who participated in our Building Resources for Community Safety Youth Workshop Series this fall.
This series is part of our resident-led Community Safety Project designed to increase community safety through care-centered approaches to violence prevention. One of the goals of the project is to build community power to drive organizing and systemic social change capable of reversing decades of disinvestment.
“We know that safety is inextricably tied to resource allocation; that the safest communities are not the ones with the most police or prisons, but rather communities with well-funded schools, job training programs, hospitals, affordable housing, reliable food, after school programs, rec centers, and public transit,” said Eli Plenk, Director of Social Justice Initiatives at The Village.
“These things relate to safety in many ways. Take, for example, someone who is struggling with addiction; in a well-resourced community, they’ll likely get the support and treatment they need to enter recovery without ever coming into contact with the police, while in a community with few resources, the police are often the first and only system available to respond to addiction.”
The Community Safety Project partnered with our friends and neighbors at Ones Up and The People’s Budget to host this workshop series, which focuses on how the Philadelphia City Budget works. Artist, facilitator, and curator Phoebe Bachman leads the project and said it came from pandemic budget cuts and the incredible advocacy movements that followed, such as Black Lives Matter.
“The People’s Budget Office was created from this need to provide opportunities for residents to engage directly in the municipal budgeting process. Launched in 2021, the project is designed to educate Philadelphians on how the city budget works, provide tools and opportunities for them to advocate for their funding concerns, and imagine what a fully funded city could look like through artistic interventions.”
We had previously teamed up with Phoebe to host a workshop for people of all ages in the spring that was very successful, demonstrating community support for a longer, more in-depth series. It began with a Budget 101 workshop, which teaches budget basics, the timeline for the budget process, and how to get involved in advocacy efforts. It was followed by a Budget 201 workshop with members of the Abolitionist Law Center to focus on issues around public safety, including the police budget and community services.
While the first two sessions were available to people of all ages, the four sessions that followed were tailored to teens.
“We were thinking a lot about giving young people skills around advocacy so they can enter careers in public service if they so choose,” said Plenk. “We also know that sometimes youth can feel intimidated in spaces with their elders. We created a youth-only space to make sure youth voice was heard, but at the same time wanted to ensure we were intentional about creating intergenerational spaces when possible.”
Through these workshops, young people got the opportunity to learn more about why neighborhoods like ours are often passed over when it comes to citywide funding, with devastating consequences, and how community organizing and neighborhood power-building can combat this disinvestment. In one workshop, they created collages that demonstrated what a fully funded city would look like to them. They shared several concrete examples:
“Health Centers that include: clinics, birthing centers, addiction services, pharmacies, Urgent Care, family therapy, therapists,” are part of Village intern Sa’niah Moore’s vision.
“Why do I have to walk around with needles in my neighborhood,” asked Dwight Day, Village intern. “I want to see more frequent buses and help for people on public transportation who are using substances.”
Building Resources for Safety Advocacy Poster
This poster features our young people's recommendations for creating safer communities.
Laniya Penn told us the best takeaway from these workshops is that young people came together to talk about what they want to change in Philadelphia, supporting Bachman’s goal for these workshops.
“I hope that people will feel better informed about how the budget works and the ability to engage in advocating for their community needs,” Bachman said. You can learn more about The People’s Budget here.
You can join our Community Safety Project by signing up for our monthly meetings. We plan on hosting a Know Your Rights Series in early 2025. The youth sessions will occur on Friday, February 28, and Friday, March 7, from 4 to 6 p.m., so save the dates! We’ll be announcing adult sessions in the coming weeks.