Tag: children

bookmark_borderSummer Youth Program

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Philadelphia, PA – During the British American Business Council (BABC) Breakfast with His Royal Highness The Prince Edward in attendance, Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced that pharmaceutical and healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and The Philadelphia Foundation will provide $1 million in grants to support WorkReady Philadelphia programs.

“This grant will make a tremendous difference in the lives of young Philadelphians that benefit from the programming offered by WorkReady, and it will also create an employee pipeline for area businesses,” said Mayor Nutter. “I appreciate the commitment GlaxoSmithKline has shown to our city and region, and I challenge other area businesses to follow its lead so that even more youth can be served. It costs only $1,600 to provide a summer opportunity for a young person. There is no better investment that we can make in our future than to help our young people achieve success.”

The money will fund 515 educationally-enriched employment opportunities for young people through the WorkReady Philadelphia summer programs and help launch a new bio-medical employment training program. WorkReady Philadelphia is the city’s system of youth workforce preparation programs that is managed by the Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN).

The $1 million includes $750,000 from the $5 million GlaxoSmithKline Inspiring Youth Endowment Fund and $250,000 from the Fund for Children. Both funds are administered through The Philadelphia Foundation, which has undertaken a comprehensive study of the out-of-school time needs of older youth to inform future allocations.

Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, visited Philadelphia Thursday and Friday to honor Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee year and to support the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award youth development program in the city. The BABC breakfast recognized GlaxoSmithKline for the creation of the $5 million fund benefiting youth in the City of Philadelphia, including a $500,000 designation to The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Philadelphia Program.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program was established in 1956 by HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who is the husband of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Edward’s father. The program mentors 14- to 25-year-olds through self-selected activities in community service, physical recreation, skill development and an adventurous journey that includes outdoor experiences.

To be funded through the $1 million grant announced today are:
WorkReady Summer programs, which provide valuable exposure to workplaces across the city as well as weekly professional development seminars. The programs challenge youth to understand the correlations between work experience, skill attainment and high school completion and how those variables impact their potential for college and career success. Participants also can attain credits through the School District of Philadelphia.

WorkReady’s Industry Pipeline Model, which provides multi-year training for 11th and 12th grade students in industry-identified skills. The funding will allow for development of a new bio-medical employment training program that will prepare young Philadelphians to enter high-wage, high-demand positions in that industry.

Applicants interested in applying for the programs may visit PYN’s youth website at http://www.mypyn.org.
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About GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline is one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies. For further information go to us.gsk.com, follow GSK on twitter.com/GSKUS or visit the GSK blog: (www.morethanmedicine.us.gsk.com/blog).

About The Philadelphia Foundation
Since 1918, The Philadelphia Foundation has linked those with financial resources to those who serve societal needs. It is the region’s community foundation, serving Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. For more information, visit www.philafound.org.

About The Philadelphia Youth Network
A nationally recognized leader in youth workforce development, the Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN) is a non-profit intermediary organization that brings stakeholders together to change systems and improve educational and economic outcomes for the city’s youth. For more information, visit www.pyninc.org.

About The British American Business Council of Greater Philadelphia
Since 1991, the British American Business Council (BABC) of Greater Philadelphia has promoted increased trade and investment between the United Kingdom and the Greater Philadelphia region. The BABC of Greater Philadelphia is an affiliate of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. For more information, visit http://www.babcphiladelphia.com/about/.

bookmark_borderServing the Youth of Northeast Philadelphia

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On Saturday, January 21, 2012, Cub Scouts from all over Northeast Philadelphia will gather at Wissinoming Park, (5801 Frankford Avenue) for the Annual Roosevelt District, Cub Scout Klondike Derby. This year’s theme is;
A Hillbilly Hoedown in Dogpatch. The day’s program will run from 9 a.m. until completion.

At the Boy Scout level a Klondike Derby is a winter skills competition which pits troops and patrols against each other and the elements as they test their knowledge of camping, cooking, first aid and outdoor survival. A Cub Scout, Klondike Derby is a modification of this competition which will present an opportunity for our youngest Scouts, (ages 6 to 10), to showcase what they have learned as part of the advancement program. Unlike the Boy Scout version, the Cub Scout Klondike will be less competition and more fun as the Cubs will participate in games and events focusing on discovering abilities and learning new skills. All this while tooling around Wissinoming Park in custom built albeit modified dog sleds.

This event is sponsored by the Roosevelt District of the Cradle of Liberty Council, BSA. Delaware District represents units in Northeast Philadelphia, as well as the Bridesburg, Kensington, Port Richmond and Fishtown neighborhoods, and its youth members range in age from 6 to 21. The Boy Scouts of America is the premier youth organization in the United States, instilling in young men and women, citizenship, good character, a sense of service to others and a firm foundation of knowledge and skills on which to grow into successful adults.

bookmark_borderBuildABridge At City Hall in Philadelphia

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205 West Tulpehocken Street
Philadelphia, PA 19144
215-842-0428
ddembro@buildabridge.org
www.buildabridge.org
Press Contact: Rita Calicat, 215-589-8491

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BuildABridge At City Hall

My Home is in My Heart: An Artistic Inquiry
of Place, Home and Belonging by Philadelphia’s Children

Philadelphia – Art In City Hall, part of the City of Philadelphia’s
Office of the Arts, Culture and the Creative
Economy presents a student exhibition by BuildaBridge
in historic City Hall celebrating the artistic expressions of
local children: My Home is in My Heart: An Artistic
Inquiry of Place, Home and Belonging by Philadelphia’s
Children. The exhibit runs from March 7 – April 29, 2011, fifth floor
City Hall, NE corner. A program and performance open to the general public is scheduled for Thursday March 31 in Conversation Hall, Room 201 with a reception to follow on the fifth floor, NE corner.

The art exhibit highlights children’s creativity and interpretations of
geography, home and community through visual art, photography, and 3-D installations. The artwork expresses the insight of those with the greatest need in our communities – our children residing in the city’s transitional housing and experiencing a time of homelessness.

BuildaBridge’s Community Programs consist of three distinct efforts:
Discovery, which sends teams of artists
to emergency and transitional housing partners to provide educational
after school arts classes; Healing which sends clinical arts therapists to 2 -3 sites for specific therapeutic support; and, Artology which recruits students from Discovery and Healing programs and provides an educational summer camp exploring art, biology and environmental concerns.

Dr. Vivian Nix-Early states that, ‘Research has proven the many
benefits of creativity and art-making to health, emotional wellness and
learning. Creating is a form of play, and engaging regularly in both of
them strengthens our problem-solving and adaptive capabilities – our
resilience. Through art-making, one of BuildaBridge’s goals is to facilitate resilience in the children we work with.”

BuildaBridge is a nonprofit arts education and intervention organization
that engages the transformative power of the arts to bring hope and
healing to children, families, and communities in the tough places of
the world. BuildaBridge spans barriers of race, class, faith, and culture
to promote holistic personal, family, and community development
through art-making that uses trauma informed, hope-infused and child
centered methods. Committed to principles of love, compassion, justice,
reconciliation, and service to others, BuildaBridge trains and connects
artists with those in greatest need. For more information,
visit: http://www.buildabridge.org/, join us on www.facebook.com,
or follow us on www.twitter.com. Visit: http://www.buildabridge.org/

The exhibitions in City Hall are a collaborative effort between the City
of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy
and the arts community. They are supported by an independent City
Hall Exhibitions Advisory Committee made up of arts professionals and
private citizens. In addition to Art In City Hall’s juried exhibits for
professional artists, other public spaces in City Hall feature artwork from
Philadelphia’s schools, other city agencies, local non-profits, and
community arts organizations on a rotating basis. For more information,
visit: www.phila.gov/artincityhall or join us on www.Facebook.com/artincityhall and www.facebook.com/creativephl.

The mission of the Office of Arts Culture and the Creative Economy is to
improve access to the arts for both residents and visitors and to expand arts education for young people. The Office also coordinates with relevant City agencies to unify the City’s arts efforts, oversees all the City’s arts programs, and serves as a liaison between the City’s many cultural institutions. Furthermore, the Office supports the growth and development of the City’s arts, culture, and creative economy sector, by promoting public and private investment. In addition to the Office’s focus on the nonprofit arts sector, it also focuses on the many aspects of the larger arts and culture industry including individual artists, design industries, music clubs and other entertainment ventures.

City of Philadelphia, Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy