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Recognizing and honoring Crystal Tann, Amen Brown, Carl Hairston, Gail Young, Lizette Gonzalez and Felicia Miller for springing to the aid of hundreds of senior citizens by providing food, water, and emergency assistance during the Pavilion Apartments power outage on September 14, 2018.
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WHEREAS, On September 14, 2018, several frantic calls came in to the Philadelphia City Council Office of Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr., stating that the Pavilion Apartments Building, located at 3901 Conshohocken Avenue, had been without electricity for two days. This news was deeply concerning, as Pavilion Apartments is the home to over 300 senior citizens; and
WHEREAS, Within the hour, Crystal Tann, District Officer Manager to Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr., responded to the power emergency at the Pavilion Apartments. She was accompanied by two good Samaritans, Amen Brown and Carl Hairston; and
WHEREAS, When Crystal Tann, Amen Brown, and Carl Hairston arrived at the Pavilion Apartments, they found dozens of residents sitting outside the building, and found the lobby to be full of residents. These residents expressed their concerns about other residents living in the building who used oxygen tanks to assist in their breathing, or who were immobile and unable to leave their units; and
WHEREAS, During a quick inspection of the 12-story building, it was found that all of the floors and stairwells were pitch-black. Crystal, Amen, and Carl found a senior citizen using a walker struggling to make her way down the stairs. They also found two residents whose oxygen tanks were nearly empty; and
WHEREAS, Upon making these discoveries, Amen immediately placed a called for a generator and extension cords to be delivered to the building. These extension cords and generator were set up to run to the second floor to be able to accommodate any residents that needed oxygen tanks; and
WHEREAS, Crystal, Amen, and Carl also discovered that some residents had gone two days without eating. Upon learning this news, they purchased enough sandwiches, fruit, juice, and water for the 300 residents; and
WHEREAS, In the midst of the efforts, Crystal reached out to Gail Young, who is the President of the Wynnefield Heights Civic Association, located in the neighborhood of the Pavilion Apartments. Gail immediately joined Crystal, Amen and Carl in assisting residents at the building. Gail was also able to get a local pizza shop to donate more food and assist in feeding the residents; and
WHEREAS, Crystal, Gail, Amen and Carl were also joined by Felicia Miller and Lizette Gonzalez. Crystal, Gail and Felicia made 300 lunch containers for the residents, while Amen and Carl went floor by floor delivering lunches, ensuring that each and every resident was fed; and
WHEREAS, Crystal, Gail, Amen, Carl, Lizette and Felicia worked in conjunction with staffers from Councilman Jones’ Office to get in contact with Red Cross, the Fire Department, the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management, and the City’s Department of Licenses and Inspections to arrive to the scene. They also met with management of the Pavilion Apartments, to finally convince them to go unit by unit to get an assessment of how many residents they had remaining in the building; and
WHEREAS, With the help of all parties, power was finally restored to the Pavilion Apartments later that evening; and
WHEREAS, Crystal, Amen, Carl, Gail, Lizette and Felicia chose that day to act as community responders. Their actions that day saved the lives of hundreds of senior citizens, which is deserving of recognition; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby recognizes and honors Crystal Tann, Amen Brown, Carl Hairston, Gail Young, Lizette Gonzalez and Felicia Miller for springing to the aid of hundreds of senior citizens by providing food, water, and emergency assistance during the Pavilion Apartments power outage on September 14, 2018.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Crystal Tann, Amen Brown, Carl Hairston, Gail Young, Lizette Gonzalez and Felicia Miller as further evidence of the sincere appreciation and admiration of this legislative body.
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