WAMTYL Blog
The story of Mantua told through its community members is at one end of the perspective a collection of memories of family and friends born in close proximity to their current residences and buildings that no longer exist. On the other end, there’s something new on the city’s horizon. A change that can go by a few different names – progress, development, gentrification, or urban renewal. At the intersection of Mantua’s memories and visions on what’s to come is my perspective as Deputy Director of Mount Vernon Manor Inc.
I have my own memory from nearly two decades ago working with Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Work Camp Program in the neighborhoods of Mantua, Belmont and Parkside doing home improvement projects for community members and informing young people and their educational leaders’ Quaker-led community service.
I have my own vision too set by the literal and figurative groundbreaking in Mantua – three different sites for much needed affordable housing developed by Mount Vernon Manor and the next chapter in neighborhood planning, We Are Mantua Ten Years Later, that encourages a citywide assortment of stakeholders, Mantua residents, and business owners to reflect and celebrate what has been accomplished and what remains to be achieved.
In pulling together a passionate Steering Committee our team sought out individuals that also had equal parts of memory and vision.
For our first meeting, we gathered at Stomping Grounds Social Justice Cafe (pictured above) to review the past decade’s top statistics in Mantua for economic mobility and challenged each other to define success in the next ten years by the impact we make on the parts of our community still most in need.
By all accounts, there was no self-aggrandizing or centering of any individual who claimed to know how to make change happen on their own. Each one of us instead spoke of the inherent limitations and frustrations that come with attempts to change things out of sync with a collective and the resources we hear about twice as much as we see.
The call to action by the end of our Steering Committee meeting was clear. As our Executive Director, Michael Thorpe, often encourages “bring your time, your talent and your treasures” to the community table and exchange them for a Mantua we can all feel prouder of in the next ten years and beyond.
Upcoming in We Are Mantua Ten Years Later plans, we’ll welcome community residents and related stakeholders to our Community Kickoff on the evening of April 30th. It promises to be an open house-style gathering at the Mantua Civic Association (3729 Melon Street) with plenty of food and fun for your whole family to continue this conversation on neighborhood planning for and by the community here and now.
For more details follow us on social media accounts via Facebook and Instagram, check our website mvmcdc.org or call the office 215-475-9492 to stay aware of all of our upcoming activities.
