Read about additional community partners and projects:

MLK 2007
Familes are Victims Too

RTP plays a significant role in neighborhood revitalization. Making essential repairs not only helps the homeowner raise his or her quality of life, but also by preserving affordable homeownership, it sets off a positive ripple effect. Homeowners of all ages stabilize neighborhoods.

Community organizations are essential to connecting RTP to homeowners in need, providing RTP with neighborhood facilities to assist in the smooth execution of repair projects, and augmenting services to RTP homeowners. RTP's volunteers also make significant physical improvements for a small number of community organizations each year.

HOMEOWNER REFERALLS

Download a homeowner application if you know of a homeowner in need of essential repairs who lives within 19143 – specifically the West Shore community of West Philadelphia or within 19144 – specifically Germantown or within 19401 in Norristown. RTP volunteers will concentrate on these neighborhoods for the spring 2009 Rebuilding Days. Closed. Applications are due October 15, 2008.

COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Supporting a community agency by making significant physical improvements to its facilities is an important way that RTP can play a role in neighborhood revitalization. RTP has helped more than 30 nonprofits since its founding and restored 10 parks/lots. See the list of Community Projects that have been undertaken in recent years.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

RTP partners with community-based organizations in order to have a longer-term and more meaningful impact on neighborhoods that otherwise would not be possible.

Face to Face
RTP has found a new partner in the form of Face to Face. Face to Face's mission seeks to enable the people of Germantown to confront personal challenges, empower their lives, and fulfill their unique potential. Its range of services truly feed the mind, body, and soul by providing weekend meals; health, legal, and social services; an after-school and summer camp for children; and an arts and writing program. This abundance of activities requires a good deal of physical space, which is where RTP steps in. Throughout 2008 and 2009 RTP volunteers will help Face to Face improve its facilities so they are well suited for its programs. In fact, work has already begun. Through the financial and volunteer sponsorship of HSBC, RTP began the spruce up of Face to Face on June 11, 2008. In turn, Face to Face will serve as the headquarters of RTP's spring Block Build and will be instrumental in recruiting homeowners from the area and coordinating other collaborations.

Society of St. Vincent de Paul
As a member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP), Steve Seweryn, RTP's Executive Director, has forged a long-term relationship between RTP and SVDP. Since SVDP was founded on the premise of "Neighbors Helping Neighbors," a community partnership was a natural fit. SVDP has contributed furniture and appliances to our homeowners in need. Most important, volunteers from SVDP are one of the first groups we turn to for emergency repairs in North Philadelphia. This past year, RTP volunteers returned the favor, making improvements to the St. Vincent de Paul warehouse on Luzerne Street in the Juniata Park section of Philadelphia. HSBC employees undertook a range of exterior and outdoor projects in August 2007, and the warehouse was the location of RTP's Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service project on January 21, 2008.

Senior Collaborative
RTP is a member of the Senior Collaborative – a diverse group of organizations united in providing interdisciplinary solutions to help residents sustain healthy, multigenerational communities. The Senior Collaborative identified West Shore as the neighborhood on which to focus for an initial pilot project. RTP's spring 2008 activities in West Shore, through the sponsorship of AARP, provided RTP with the opportunity to serve as an anchor for greater community impact. Other members of the Senior Collaborative built upon or were inspired by RTP's activities as they considered activities they wanted to undertake in West Shore in 2007-2008. The lessons learned from this pilot will be used to develop a model that can be applied in other neighborhoods and communities, and perhaps, eventually on a city-wide level. Participating in the Collaborative not only allows RTP to expand its direct service work, but also enables RTP to participate at a policy level to effect both individual and systemic change in neighborhoods.

Direct Senior Collaborative collaborations with RTP in 2007-2008:

• Community Design Collaborative -- designed an accessible entry for the Southwest Community Enrichment Center
• University of the Sciences of Philadelphia -- Occupational Therapy students provided home modification services to homeowners in West Shore. This experience was incorporated into USP's curriculum.
• The Senior Collaborative held the first in a series of workshops on Saturday, April 26, 2008 at the University of the Sciences. This workshop focused on legal services and was followed by an Information Fair composed of a full range of service providers from AARP to Wireless Philadelphia.