2022 saw University City District accelerate its work to change places and change lives.
University City District (UCD) continued to invest in the vitality of our neighborhood, starting as always with the dedicated work of our foundational clean and safe teams to foster safe, clean, and active streets. Our nationally-recognized West Philadelphia Skills Initiative expanded into exciting new sectors with equally exciting new partnerships, and also celebrated ten years of connecting Philadelphians to quality jobs. UCD’s signature summer events returned in full, offering family-friendly fun for neighbors and visitors while also boosting our local economy and small business partners. Our small business services provided logistical help to homeowners, small business, and local non-profits, and we continued to address the tragedy of homelessness in our district through a compassionate, measured, and people-first approach to supplying aid. Below are some of the highlights from our work over the past year.
Supporting Small Businesses, Homeowners, and Local Organizations on the Road to Recovery and Renewal
Neighborhood residents enjoy Booker’s streetery
One of the new banners along Baltimore Avenue
Community members play chess in Clark Park
Providing resources, guidance, and support for everyone who works, lives, and visits University City has been a main goal since UCD’s formation in 1997. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic offered us an opportunity to reestablish our role as a critical resource for the community, from our West Philadelphia Skills Initiative job training program, to serving as a liaison to City services, to stepping up for small businesses struggling to return to pre-pandemic norms. Examples of UCD’s impact in 2022 include helping local business Lee’s Deli raise funds and connect with contractors and city agencies after a debilitating accident; offering consulting and logistical support for the Friends of Clark Park as they work toward a renovation of their beloved green space; working with business improvement districts and government officials to formalize a process for temporary outdoor seating structures known as “streeteries;” working with a local artist to design and install vibrant new banners promoting the Baltimore Avenue business corridor; offering business owners chances to connect through networking events and shared resources; and continuing to assist property owners through our Project Rehab program. For a visualization of our work in the neighborhood, scroll down to the impact map below.
“Thank you so much for your support and coordination of the plaza clean-up today outside of University Lutheran Church. We are so thankful for your partnership and leadership in our neighborhood. You are a blessing to our community.”
128,000 Hours of Neighborhood Stewardship and Transformation
In 2022, our clean and safe teams continued their essential efforts to serve the community. We arranged community clean-ups and safety fairs and offered Safety Ambassador presence at major community events and gatherings. Ambassadors provided nearly 93,000 hours of safety coverage in the neighborhood, including over 28,000 checks on businesses, nearly 1,200 walking escorts, and over 1,000 vehicle jumpstarts and lock-out services. Our Public Space Maintenance team devoted over 35,000 total hours to cleaning the neighborhood through machine street sweeping, dustpan and broom cleaning, collecting bags of trash, graffiti removal, leaf collection, and more. Over the past year, our HOST (Homeless Outreach Service Team) comprised of our Outreach Specialist and Ambassadors made 3,248 well-being checks with homeless individuals and 143 successful outreach placements to shelter or services with Project Home as part of an increased focus on offering compassionate services. Our Green Team remains devoted to maintaining UCD’s signature public spaces like The Porch at 30th, Trolley Portal Gardens, and others. We extend our gratitude to the hardworking women and men who serve our neighborhood.
UCD Street Cleaning team in action
UCD team of Safety Ambassadors
“Every time I reach out to someone on the UCD team, I always get favorable results! Please give a special “shout out” to Alan, Craig, the ambassadors, and your sweep team!”
Celebrating 10 Years of our West Philadelphia Skills Initiative with Accelerated Impact, Expanded Reach and New Industry Partnerships
Ten years after its formation, our West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI) workforce development subsidiary continues to impact the lives of Philadelphia residents seeking quality employment, with an average starting wage for program graduates of $18.20, our highest yet. We renewed partnerships with West Philadelphia anchors Penn Medicine and CHOP, extended beyond our borders to collaborate again with SEPTA and Philly Shipyard, Inc, and developed new training partnerships with Tasty Baking and an exciting new collaboration with the Wistar Institute, PIDC’s Navy Yard, and Iovance Biotherapeutics, and others to train residents for roles as biomedical technicians. The Iovance job training program earned a Workforce Champion award from BioBuzz for working to meet the talent needs in the growing cell and gene therapy sector. In October, we marked ten years of WPSI with an anniversary celebration featuring past leaders Sheila Ireland and Sarah Steltz, awards given to alumni, and a short film highlighting the career and life trajectories of three program graduates. Since WPSI’s formation in 2011, our career-driven program has served nearly 1,600 local residents, connecting talented individuals to high-quality opportunities with the city’s premier employers for total combined earnings of over $85 million.
WPSI in the news!
A Full Schedule of Signature Events that Connect Community and Lift Up Local Businesses
Each year UCD partners with local performers, businesses, and organizations to help bring neighbors, visitors, and businesses together. After a tentative approach to event curation in 2021, we approached 2022 with a commitment to a full slate of outdoor programming. Thousands of visitors returned to Baltimore Avenue for two editions of our popular Dollar Stroll, which generates substantial economic and marketing results for the lively corridor. The Porch at 30th Street Station came alive with over 20 weeks of performances and a full season of outdoor food vendors and other pop-ups and giveaways. We presented four summer evenings in our Movies in Clark Park series, this year with a focus on music films. And our University City Dining Days drew diners and media attention to our outstanding local dining scene. We look forward to exploring new ways to offer exciting, safe programming that draws visitors, benefits our neighbors, and provides an economic boost to our local small businesses.
“Over the last 25 years, the people of UCD have been there for us - and with us - as we navigated a number of ups and downs. We have been recipients of so much love and support from this community, and as we look ahead to rebuilding and rebounding we know in our hearts that our community will be there to celebrate Lee’s Deli if we can emerge somehow from the biggest set of challenges we’ve ever faced.”
Where Changing Places Meets Changing Lives: The Impact of our Landscaping Social Venture
Green City Works (GCW) is UCD’s landscaping social enterprise, launched to create quality jobs for community residents. GCW’s 15 employees earn an average wage of more than $19, receive full benefits, and are retained year-round. Our portfolio includes over 6 million square feet of green space throughout Philadelphia; we provide landscaping, construction, mowing, and other services to over 35 Philadelphia institutions and businesses. In 2022, GCW continued their work to install cooling infrastructure in Philadelphia’s Hunting Park neighborhood, one of the city’s warmest neighborhoods. We partnered with the Enterprise Center and Wells Fargo on a beautification project on the 52nd Street corridor in advance of this year’s Juneteenth parade, installing 70 brightly colored planters from Market Street south to Malcolm X Park, plus a thorough cleanup of the park. We also added new parks and public spaces to our portfolio, including South Philadelphia’s FDR Park, and amped up our snow removal and ice prevention services for winter weather. Unlike many social ventures launched with the mission of providing job opportunities for individuals who have faced barriers to employment, Green City Works has been on a rapid growth trajectory, which we believe points to the potential for additional enterprises fueled by anchor institution spending.
“UCD has been supportive of my business in the community since day one. From getting us grants and resources through Covid to making sure we are thriving as we reshaped our community post-pandemic. It’s a breath of fresh air to know that we are working as a collective to build a better future around us.
UCD also gives us monthly opportunities to promote our business to the neighborhood. I’m grateful for UCD’s support and look forward to continuing the partnership”
UCD Impact Map
See our impact throughout the neighborhood!
Thank you to our FY22 donors:
$500,000 and above
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania Health System
Drexel University
JP Morgan Chase Foundation
Lenfest Foundation
Pew Charitable Trusts
$100,001 - $500,000
Brandywine Realty Trust
Campus Apartments
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Connelly Foundation
Barry Grossbach and Mike Hardy*
Philadelphia Works
University City Associates
University City Science Center
University of the Sciences
* Mike Hardy was a long-time champion and supporter of this neighborhood and University City District's work. We are grateful for his final bequest, which will promote this community's beauty and vibrancy for years to come.
$25,001 - $100,000
Bank of America
Chappell Culpeper Family Foundation
Citizens Bank
FMC Corporation
Healthpeak Properties
INTECH Construction
Lincoln Financial Foundation
National Board of Medical Examiners
Turks Head Health Services
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey
The William Penn Foundation
$5,001 - $25,000
AIMCO
Central City Toyota
GI Partners
Has Investments Partners, LLP
How Properties Management, LLC
JNA Capital
Mark and Nancy Mendenhall
Miller Investment Management, LP
Neighborhood Preservation and Development Fund
New Age Realty Group
PECO Energy
Pennoni Associates
Philadelphia Federal Credit Union
The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College
SEPTA
The Wistar Institute
Univest Bank Corporation of Pennsylvania
$1,001 - $5,000
AMC Delancey
American Law Institute
Arthur Staddon and Marcia Robb
New Horizons Housing
Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House
Post Brothers
Robert Schoepe
Secure Future Academy
TD Bank
The Rounds
U3 Ventures, LLC
University Pinball
WE, Inc.
William Schoepe
$250 - $1,000
Aislin Bohren
American Picture Framing
Andrew and Kathy Wheeler
Andy and Jane Farella
BarkParkPhilly
Black Hound Clay Studio
Charles Haub, Jr.
Christine R. Deutsch
CIC Innovation Communities
Copabanana
CTBUH Philadelphia
Curtis Hess
Davis Pharmacy
Della Clark
Gary and Fay Beauchamp
Geoffrey Mills
Gesi McAllister
Hair Vyce Studio
Indie Life Media
Jonathan and Jessica Moore
Joseph and Marjory Reagan
Joseph and Vonda Trainor
Ken Gedaka
Leah and Brian Finnegan
Linford Martin and Marcella Zimmerman
Lucian and Kristin Taylor
Marilyn Sanborne
Mariposa Food Co-op
Marisa Guerin
Maureen Rush
Michael Lampson and Min-Young Kim
Michael Lynch
Michael Parker and Daphne Hawkins Parker
Oak Street Health
Philthy Paws, LLC
Richard Kirk
Sara Corse
Solomon Hunter
Susan Best and Fran Talarowski
Turner Construction Company
William and Lorraine McKenna
Woubshet Ghebreamanuel
UCD FY22 Financial Operating Statement of Activities
FY22 Sources: $11,600,985
FY22 Uses: $11,591,753
Fun and games in Clark Park
Thank you to our funders and donors, who can be found here. Without their support our work would not be possible. We are looking forward to a dynamic 2023 filled with partnership, impact, and growth.