Title
Recognizing the achievements of the Village of Arts and Humanities as they continue their mission of building community through art in North Philadelphia.
Body
WHEREAS, In central North Philadelphia more than half of the population lives in poverty and a third of the labor force is unemployed. The majority of the children who participate in the Village's programs come from single parent households, reside in public and/or substandard housing and have experienced and/or witnessed violent crime; and
WHEREAS, The Village of Arts and Humanities began in 1986 as a project to engage neighborhood children in building a community park that has grown into a major provider of arts-inspired programs. Over 10,000 primarily African American children, youth and adults in North Philadelphia are engaged in land transformation, construction and economic development, theater, health, and environmental education; and
WHEREAS, The Village has involved community residents in the physical transformation of over 120 vacant lots into community parks, gardens, and a two acre tree farm which is now incubating over 20,000 seedlings. Furthermore, the Village has greened and maintained an additional 100 acres; and
WHEREAS, The quality of the programming offered by the Village has been acknowledged and recognized by significant funding from both private and public sources. The Village has brought over $6 million of resources into its North Philadelphia community since it began in 1986; and
WHEREAS, The Village works in partnership with public schools, community organizations, public housing, arts organizations, and neighborhood block groups to increase its impact and share its innovative and effective methodology. The Village utilizes volunteers and interns to complement the work of paid staff, logging on more than 10,000 hours in volunteer time in 1999; and
WHEREAS, The Village Youth Theater has produced three original full-length theater pieces, "We Wear the Mask" (...
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