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Frankford Y Gets a Cleanup

Ray Gant and the Ray of Hope Project (TROHP) focused their energy on the area around the Frankford Y at Leiper and Arrott Streets on November 12th to remove weeds, litter and other debris to continue making Frankford a better place. TROHP cannot clean private property so the ground of the Y itself could not be cleanup up.

As Ray said that day: Today was a very good day for Community Service. The Ray of Hope Project was up early this morning to meet our volunteers from George Washington University from Washington, D.C. this whole weekend to do community service with TROHP. TROHP wants to thank Christina Soza for her strong leadership in working with the volunteers to get this job done today GREAT JOB. TROHP wants to thank Pastor Larry and Rhodie Fowler for their strong commitment to CLEANER & SAFER streets in Frankford.. As We Clean it Up, Make it Safe FRANKFORD!!!

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Keep The Faith In Frankford President Inspires Hope

by: Sabrina Silva and Jared Phillips/PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com

Since the closing of St. Joachim’s parish and Mater Dolorosa churches in the region three years ago, its members were given no choice but to merge into the Holy Innocents parish. However, for Keep The Faith In Frankford’s President and Executive Director Pat Smiley, the church’s closing showcased the strength its church members had on the community and its faith.

“This was also the time of Pope Francis, who said that we needed to get more involved in our communities and that we should step out onto the street,” Smiley said. “We were forced out onto the street, but that’s where the Pope wanted us and that’s where we’ve been.”

In light of the closing, Smiley started the Keep The Faith In Frankford organization to continue the presence of the churches in the community. The organization works out of St. Marks Church and holds weekly prayer services in front of the now-closed St. Joachim’s Church.

Before KTFIF, Smiley owned a neighborhood daycare center. Now, with a background of teaching, Smiley has put her energetic personality into bettering a community.

“I’ve always been an active-type person in trying to make things better,” Smiley said. “And in trying to deal with injustice.”

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KTFIF has brought Frankford residents and other community members together to improve the neighborhood. Mary Moretz, vice president of the executive board has been with Smiley since day one of the organization.

“She just knows what needs to be done, who we need to reach out to, and she’s very talented and creative. We always just seem to get things done, and anything that we plan always comes together thanks to Pat,” Moretz said.

Various other organizations come together to help Smiley and KTFIF. Organizations such as Frankford Friendlies, Frankford Forward, and The House of W.I.N., work alongside KTFIF to better the community.

“What we are trying to do is connect people to make Frankford a better place to live, and that includes other civic organizations,” Smiley said. “You have a lot of people that are working together with people they wouldn’t have ordinarily met if it wasn’t for us or if it wasn’t for our church closing.”

Former St. Joachim’s parishioner and current KTFIF member Maureen Taylor has been a part of the organization since the closing of the parish. A member of the Parish for over 35 years, she was one of the church members affected by the close. Taylor helps out with feeding the homeless in the community as well as with the history tours of the Frankford neighborhood.

“Our group is trying to keep in touch with former parishioners by doing some of these community activities,” Taylor said. “So we’re just trying to be a home base for them.”

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Community activities are highly important to the organization. Smiley believes they are crucial not only for the church members but for the residents of Frankford and its neighboring communities.

When former parishioner of St. Joachim Church and active Keep The Faith In Frankford member Al Stark, Jr. passed away, members of the church organized a “Spirit Day” to honor him. Now in its third year, KTFIF has combined the event with the “Dining with Dignity” effort, which is run by the Northeast Committee.

“We have games for the children,” Taylor said. “We try to get neighborhood groups to set up informational tables so that people coming through are informed of what services are available in the neighborhood.”

Though the event is set up by the KTFIF organization, many leaders from other organizational groups come by to help out.

Caroline Payton, founder and CEO of House of W.I.N., joined the KTFIF organization as a volunteer in preparation for the “Spirit Day.” Payton’s contribution is working with the young children during their basketball game event.

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Smiley, alongside the members of KTFIF and other community organizations, have been doing all they can to not only better the Frankford neighborhood, but to bring its residents together for the greater good.

Smiley recognizes the success of KTFIF and other organizations in the neighborhood.

“Sometimes things are a blessing in disguise.”

Pat Smiley Profile Story from Philadelphia Neighborhoods 2 on Vimeo.

 

-Text, images and video by Sabrina Silva and Jared Phillips.

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Frankford High Nabs Major Grant for Diplomas Now

Mayor Kenney, Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez and AT&T Mid-Atlantic President Mike Schweder presented a $500,000 AT&T Foundation grant to support ninth-grade students at Frankford High School through Johns Hopkins’ Talent Development Secondary Diplomas Now program on October 14th.

Diplomas Now partners with the school community to reorganize the schedule so each student at risk has caring adults and those adults have the tools to improve achievement. Working with administrators and teachers, a Diplomas Now team sets goals based on students’ attendance, behavior and course performance. They develop a strategic plan, implement an early warning system to identify struggling students and regularly review the data. Teachers and the Diplomas Now team craft individual student plans that include more math and English time and teacher teams with shared planning time.

Read this excellent report from Newsworks at this link.  It explains what the problems are and possible solutions to keeping students in school to graduate.   Its long but the problem is complex.  Take the time.  These kids are the future.

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Giving Hearts!

The Morgan Stanley Foundation is supported by each of the departments within Morgan Stanley. The Foundation has given Keep the Faith in Frankford much needed donations over the past two years.

Those donations go directly to helping us feed those in need through the Northeast Committee on the Homeless’ Dining with Dignity Program that operates at St. Mark’s Church. We have prepared and served over 500 people a hot meal and and have sent them home with dinner bags because of these donations.

There are very good people in our community who don’t need accolades nor do they want them. They genuinely care for others and do the right thing. Morgan Stanley does that, too! They encourage their employees to get involved in their communities and they support their efforts with matching grants and additional monies.

To our unsung hero at Morgan Stanley whose heart is in our Frankford community, thank you for all that you do! We also thank Morgan Stanley for acknowledging your efforts with their generous donations to Keep the Faith in Frankford!