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Newsroom
4/1/2010
OARC partners with GPTMC to produce Northwest tourism videosThe Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation(OARC) partners with the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation to produce a Northwest video series to promote tourism within the Northwest. The videos are a great avenue to spotlight the incredible cultural assets of the Northwest. The project is part of an increased effort to market the vibrant, culturally rich communities of Chestnut Hill, East Oak Lane, Germantown, Mt. Airy and West Oak Lane to residents and visitors alike. Saleana Pettaway, lifelong resident of Northwest Philadelphia, hosts the vodcasts, which give an overview of the area and spotlight eating and drinking, arts and culture and other aspects of the community. Each of the 8 videos highlight a different side of these areas, and combined they show off more than two dozen community businesses. All of the tours are available on www.visitphilly.com/northwest The eight videos are:
8/20/2009
Student Success Achieved at West Oak Lane Charter SchoolWest Oak Lane Charter School once again has something to be very proud of as they return for the new school year on September 8, 2009. They have again met the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments (PSSA) -Average Yearly Progress (AYP) Standards established under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).Under NCLB, all schools are held accountable for meeting AYP Targets for Reading and Math to determine the percentage of students who are proficient and advanced in both subject areas. AYP targets used during the 2008-2009 school year were 63% for Reading and 56% for Math. West Oak Lane Charter School students achieved 50% for Reading - a 10% increase from last year. In Math, the students surpassed the target finishing at 75% which is 12% higher than the Standard. And, if that was not enough to prove how successful West Oak Lane Charter School has been, of the 32 graduates this past June, all have been accepted into top performing public, private and charter High Schools in Philadelphia. There will be two “Back to School Night” events at the Charter School this month – September 2, 2009 from 6 – 8pm for 5th – 8th grade families and September 16, 2009 from 6 – 7:30pm for K – 4th grade families. Once again parents will have an opportunity to become oriented with plans for the new school year. Past “Back to School Night” attendance has been phenomenal and a clear indication that West Oak Lane Charter School is definitely a School of Choice. West Oak Lane Charter School practices the R.E.A.C.H. values of Respect, Enthusiasm, Achievement, Citizenship and Hard Work where every person focuses on the success of every student, every day. The achievements of this past school year have shown that West Oak Lane Charter School is indeed moving from “Good to GREAT”.
8/4/2009
OARC Awarded $25,000 Grant from PNC FoundationThe Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation (OARC) has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the PNC Foundation. The purpose of the grant is to assist with general operation of the Foreclosure Prevention Counseling provided by OARC’s subsidiary, West Oak Lane CDC which is an integral part of its overall housing counseling services. The West Oak Lane CDC (WOLCDC) is HUD certified and under contract with the Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) to provide counseling to residents of Philadelphia and has a strong record of providing housing counseling for residents throughout Northwest Philadelphia. WOLCDC is authorized by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) to provide Homeowner’s Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP) counseling and other mortgage and tax delinquency programs that help homeowners facing foreclosure with repayment plans and hardship agreements. Additionally, the CDC participates in the Foreclosure Diversion Pilot Program and advocates on behalf of its clients to help them negotiate affordable loan modifications or payment arrangements that will bring their mortgage current and sustainable. The WOLCDC also participates in the Saving Homes, Saving Neighborhoods project which is an outreach canvassing program designed to identify, inform and subsequently counsel people about options available to help them avoid mortgage foreclosure. About The PNC Foundation: The PNC Foundation’s priority is to form partnerships with community-based nonprofit organizations within the markets PNC serves in order to enhance educational opportunities for children, particularly underserved pre-kindergarten children, and to promote the growth of targeted communities through economic development. The PNC Foundation receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC), one of the nation’s largest diversified financial services organizations.
7/23/2009
OARC Named Qualified Developer for the Neighborhood Stabilization ProgramOARC has been accepted into the City of Philadelphia's Neighborhood Stabilization Program as a qualified developer. OARC, has more than 20 years experience in housing development and will work in partnership with other CDCs located in Northwest Philadelphia to implement a comprehensive housing rehabilitation program that will greatly decrease the number of scattered site vacancies throughout their neighborhoods. The City of Philadelphia's Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) received $16.8 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support the acquisition, rehabilitation and reselling of vacant, foreclosed properties to low-moderate-middle income households with the funds received. OARC's role will be that of lead developer, providing administrative, technical and financial support for the project. The organization has partnered with four other community development corporations - Nicetown CDC, Logan CDC, Mt. Airy Revitalization Corporation and G'Town Restoration CDC, to address the vacancy and foreclosure problems in their areas. The neighborhoods served by these CDCs (West Oak Lane, Nicetown/Tioga, Germantown, Logan and East Mt. Airy) have some of the highest rates of foreclosures, sub-prime loans and mortgage delinquencies in the Northwest area of Philadelphia. Each of the CDCs will be responsible for identifying and selecting available vacant properties that are eligible under the NSP in their respective neighborhoods. Throughout the renovation process, OARC and its Co-Developers will make energy conservation a priority to the greatest extent possible using CLF bulbs, water-saving devices (i.e., low-flow toilets and showerheads), insulating houses where possible, providing white roof coatings to help extend the life of the roofs and replacing inefficient heaters that are 10 years old or greater. Once completed, the homes will be made available to homebuyers on a first come, first served basis. Prospective homebuyers will then be required to participate in and complete pre-purchase housing counseling provided by OARC subsidiary, the West Oak Lane CDC, as part of the qualification process. With the assistance of the NSP, OARC and the Co-Developers will help to alleviate the problems of vacancies and foreclosures in Northwest Philadelphia while stimulating job creation within the construction industry.
7/15/2009
Saving Homes, Saving Neighborhoods Project in the Wall Street JournalOARC Is Taking a Pro-Active Approach to Stabilize West Oak Lane While Preventing ForeclosuresThe Saving Homes, Saving Neighborhoods project addresses the impact of predatory lenders head-on by working at the neighborhood level and going door-to-door to provide easy access to advice, counseling and good loans in two Philadelphia neighborhoods: West Oak Lane and Southwest Philadelphia. A reprint of the WSJ article is below. Saving Homes is a program developed by GPUAC, The Reinvestment Fund (TRF), Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley (CCCS) and Community Legal Services (CLS), in partnership with Southwest CDC and OARC/West Oak Lane CDC. Saving Homes is funded by a three-year grant from the Oak Foundation, with support from the State of PA Department of Community and Economic Development, the Institute for Foreclosure Legal Assistance, and the William Penn Foundation. JULY 14, 2009 City Neighborhoods Dig In to Protect Fragile Gains In Philadelphia's West Oak Lane, Community Group Tries to Identify Struggling Residents Well Before Homes Are Abandoned By CONOR DOUGHERTY PHILADELPHIA -- This year, Margaret Shepherd is knocking on the front door of nearly every house in West Oak Lane. Her daily rounds are part of a large-scale effort to stem foreclosures in this blue-collar, largely African-American neighborhood. "I'm getting so much exercise, it's ridiculous," Ms. Shepherd said on a recent afternoon. West Oak Lane has the kind of yo-yo economic history that marks many urban areas. The 80-year-old neighborhood had been on an upswing thanks to the efforts of local community groups, rising real-estate prices and years of easy credit that poured money into local businesses. But unemployment and foreclosures risk wiping out two decades of progress. Now the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corp., funded through a combination of real-estate revenue and grants, is looking to buy foreclosed homes to keep them occupied and values stable. Instead of waiting for owners to come to them, the group brought Ms. Shepherd in to go block by block in search of stressed homeowners. Foreclosures and unemployment are wreaking havoc in communities rich and poor. But these problems can have more severe effects in transitional urban areas just starting to come back, spurring efforts to prevent a new slide. Boston Community Capital, a nonprofit that finances real estate in lower-income communities across Massachusetts, is buying foreclosed homes from banks and selling them back to homeowners at lower prices and under new mortgage terms. "The goal here is trying to stabilize neighborhoods by trying to keep homes occupied and productive," says Elyse Cherry, chief executive of Boston Community Capital. There are an estimated 1,500 homes in some version of foreclosure in the West Oak Lane area, which has about 20,000 homes, according to the Reinvestment Fund, a nonprofit that invests in Philadelphia. The metro area's unemployment rate jumped to 8.2% in May from 4.9% a year ago, a rise that has fallen harder on areas like West Oak Lane, where residents tend to be less educated and many workers depend on hourly and overtime wages to make ends meet. According to data compiled by Policymap, 60% of West Oak Lane households earn less than $60,000 a year. Jack Kitchen, CEO of the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corp., says economic stress could drive more residents to bail, leaving the neighborhood with abandoned homes that attract crime. "I don't want to see 2,000 [foreclosed] homes create 4,000 homes," he says. West Oak Lane sits near poverty-stricken North Philadelphia but also is close to wealthier neighborhoods like Chestnut Hill. Jeremy Nowak, president of the Reinvestment Fund, calls it a "barometer neighborhood," because of its sensitivity to economic swings. The neighborhood was established in the 1920s and was at first a middle-class, predominantly white area. Following World War II, it became more racially mixed and then predominantly African-American. It went into decline in the 1970s, and by the early 1980s West Oak Lane had hundreds of abandoned homes and a near-empty strip mall covered in graffiti. The neighborhood's most recent upswing started about two decades ago. The Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corp., which was founded in 1983 and was the brainchild of state Rep. Dwight Evans, started off by renovating the Ogontz Plaza shopping center, bringing in tenants including Rite-Aid and a video store. About a decade ago, the group started buying and renovating abandoned homes, reducing the number of vacants from 350 in 1999 to less than 70 currently, which helped raise the values of surrounding homes. The six-year-old West Oak Lane Jazz & Arts Festival drew 3,000 in its first year in 2004; this year, the three-day festival drew more than 500,000. Eight years ago, the boards came off Tulpehocken Street house. Local kids stopped hanging out on the stoop. Munirah Abdul-Karim moved in and outfitted the living room with a leather couch that sits under a framed quilt with gold Arabic script, a nod to her Muslim faith. "I paid $78,120 and zero cents -- it's my life," says Ms. Abdul-Karim, whose given name is Myra Forrest. But now, she is struggling to stay in her home. Early this year, Ms. Abdul-Karim lost her job in customer service at an insurer, which paid as much as $2,800 a month with overtime. She fell behind on her $639 mortgage payment and had almost lost her home by the time a friend referred her to Sharonda Sanders, a credit counselor at another nonprofit who works in an OARC office in West Oak Lane. Ms. Abdul-Karim has worked out a payment plan that allows her to stay in her house, but remains unemployed. One problem facing organizations like OARC is that many homeowners don't ask for help until they are deep into the foreclosure process. That is why OARC brought on Ms. Shepherd, who is on loan from the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition, to find people in distress earlier. On a recent afternoon, Ms. Shepherd walked up and down one West Oak Lane block, placing fliers in mailboxes or under doors. She went through foreclosure herself a few years ago, and says the experience gives her a sense of purpose for the job.
6/23/2009
OARC/Home Depot Urban Green House Showcased During WOL Jazz and Arts FestThere were hundreds of thousands of people who attended this past weekend’s Jazz & Arts Festival in West Oak Lane. Many of them took a walk off Ogontz Avenue to stop by the Open House held by Weichert Realtors at 7315 Walnut Lane to showcase OARC’s urban energy efficient house.Currently “for sale”, the house was renovated in partnership with Home Depot and all Home Depot products were used in the design. It has features that will help reduce future maintenance costs while saving money for the person who purchases the house. Features include, CFL and fluorescent bulbs used throughout the house, Low E energy efficient windows, solar light tubing, no VOC paint throughout, low-flow faucets, two-flush toilet, recycled countertop materials, bamboo kitchen flooring, recycled siding, tankless hot water heater and high-efficiency heater. Staging of the house was done specifically for the Open House by K.I.A. Enterprises, Inc., under the direction of owner, Kia Steave-Dickerson. While being showcased for sale, the house renovation and design demonstrated what can be done by the average homeowner with products and materials from their local Home Depot store. For more information about the house, contact Carleen Mossett, Weichert Realtors at 215-646-1700.
4/30/2009
OARC’s Urban Energy Conservation Pilot Block Party a GREAT SuccessOn Saturday, April 25, 2009, Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation (OARC) hosted an Energy Saving Block Party for the residents of the 1500 block of Orland Street, located in West Oak Lane. The event was a great success and was the kick-off to OARC’s long range plans for an energy conservation program throughout Northwest Philadelphia that potentially will help thousands of homeowners conserve energy and save money on utilities while creating hundreds of jobs. During the day, homeowners had energy audits conducted followed by students from Martin Luther King High School working with other volunteers from PECO, ECA, and Home Depot at each participating home to switch current interior and exterior incandescent light bulbs with energy saving CFL bulbs, apply aerators on all faucets, replace showerheads with water saving units and place filters on furnaces. They were joined by Mayor Nutter who arrived ready to join in on the energy saving conversions. Residents had the opportunity to visit exhibit tables and experience demonstrations presented by the project partners including PECO, Home Depot, Philadelphia Water Department, the Utility Services Emergency Fund, Foundations, Inc. and Martin Luther King High School, the Energy Coordinating Agency and Philadelphia Gas Works. Click here to see a short video of the event.
4/27/2009
OARC and President/CEO Jack Kitchen Awarded for Leading the Way to Eco-Sustainability and Economic Growth
Thomas Pim Cope (1768-1854) was a forefather of the Quaker family that established Awbury Arboretum. He devoted his time, intellect and financial resources to Philadelphia’s civic and environmental improvement, showing a special interest in conservation and preservation of natural resources, education and social issues. Cope was instrumental in the establishment of Fairmount Park as well as Philadelphia’s first waterworks. The Thomas Pim Cope Award was established to honor those who exemplify these commitments in their service to the Philadelphia Community. During the awards ceremony, Jack Kitchen remarked that the OARC organization, over the past five years has linked with others to address its greening and education initiatives. He used a relative description of how a ‘seed’ was planted by State Representative Dwight Evans by introducing Jack Kitchen to Awbury Arboretum’s Executive Director, Gerry Kaufman who in turn through a tour during a snow white-out familiarized Mr. Kitchen with Glenn Bergman and the Weaver’s Way Farm and Co-op. Once the OARC/Weaver’s Way relationship was established, Mr. Kitchen ‘branched’ out to Foundations Inc. CEO, Rhonda Lauer to provide opportunity for dialogue about the Martin Luther King High School including urban farming in their curriculum. The Martin Luther King High School is managed by Foundations, Inc. The rest is history; the urban farm at Martin Luther King High School is entering its second growing season with students not only growing produce but also, bringing produce to market and earning $15,000 over the two-year period. The full growth potential of that initial ‘seed’ remains to be seen. Under the umbrella of the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Technology (PCAT) program established in partnership between OARC and Foundations, OARC has added a state-of-the-art greenhouse at the Martin Luther King High School to provide students the ability to work within the farming environment to grow and sell produce year round. OARC’s future plans around eco-sustainability and economic development include a large scale bio-diesel plant to recycle used vegetable oils, green roofing systems, rain water retention and solar technology for their housing programs, retail sales of herbs grown, dried and packaged at the MLK urban farm, and a major urban energy conservation program. Jack Kitchen explained that the seed planted five years ago by Representative Evans, has become its own eco-system.
4/20/2009
OARC Conducting A Demonstration Energy Conservation Project in West Oak LaneOgontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation (OARC) will be conducting an energy conservation demonstration project in West Oak Lane over the next three months targeted to begin in February 2009. Participants from the 1500 block of Orland Street have already submitted utility bills to set the baseline for the project. Installation of energy saving bulbs, shower heads, water faucet attachments throughout the interior and exterior of the homes will be handled by 11th and 12th grade students from Martin Luther King High School. The students will also participate in analyzing utility bills following installation to help in the assessment of energy savings based on changes indicated on the bills. Partners in this project include Home Depot, PECO, PGW, Philadelphia Water Department, the Energy Conservation Agency (ECA) and Martin Luther King/Foundations, Inc.
3/25/2009
Saving Homes, Saving Neighborhoods is Coming to West Oak LaneThe West Oak Lane Community Development Corporation (WOLCDC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of OARC, is working in partnership with the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition (GPUAC), The Reinvestment Fund (TRF), Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley (CCCS), and the Community Legal Services (CLS) on a new project designed to help people who are in financial trouble avoid mortgage foreclosures. This is an outreach program to contact homeowners in West Oak Lane that may be delinquent in their mortgage payments and in pre-foreclosure status and let them know the options available to help improve their general financial management and issues. There will be an outreach worker and a resource agent working from the WOLCDC Housing Counseling office located at 7300-02 Ogontz Avenue. The outreach worker will be responsible for canvassing and distributing information within the West Oak Lane community with the goal of referring willing participants to the resource agent who in turn will provide on-on-one counseling with the homeowner with effort to resolve their money problems affecting homeownership. Tom Stafford, director of the WOLCDC Housing Counseling department says, "Hopefully, this program will prevent more homeowners from facing foreclosure and provide tools to keep them on track." Subsequently, Saving Homes, Saving Neighborhoods will address the impact of predatory lenders directly by working at the neighborhood level to provide advice, counseling and information for securing good mortgage loans. |
