At UCD, we pride ourselves on
changing places and changing lives.
Building on our foundational efforts to foster a clean, safe, and attractive neighborhood, we work with our institutional and community partners to shape the commercial infrastructure that attracts retail and business tenants and promotes vibrancy. We cultivate civic infrastructure and activate dormant public spaces through placemaking efforts; we plan and execute signature local events; and we create an opportunity infrastructure which connects talented West Philadelphians to life-altering careers at our partner institutions. Below are just a few of the many ways we changed lives and changed places in 2019.
Inspiring New Partnerships that Connect Workplace-Changing Talent to Life-Changing Jobs
Since its formation in 2011, our Skills Initiative job training program has served nearly 1,100 residents of West Philadelphia. For the first time in 2019, we expanded our recruitment to all of Philadelphia for two new partnerships—training for job opportunities as bus operators with SEPTA, and as EMTs with the Philadelphia Fire Department. In the video above, meet Amanda Rubiano, a graduate who secured a job as a bus operator after training with SEPTA. Over time the Skills Initiative has placed more than 90% of its graduates in jobs that have paid aggregate wages of more than $40 million.
Producing Signature Events to Support Community Entrepreneurship
We partner with local businesses, performers, and organizations throughout the year to plan events that bring neighbors, visitors, and commercial corridors together. For nearly a decade, our Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll has drawn thousands of visitors to enjoy $1 items from stores and businesses located on the bustling Baltimore Avenue business corridor between 43rd and 52nd Streets. After overwhelming demand, we worked with the Philadelphia Health Department and the Department of Licenses and Inspections to streamline a process for community members to legally vend at the Dollar Stroll. Now community vendors can sell food, crafts, and other wares alongside the local businesses, adding to the draw of the event and the pride of local participation.
Investing 160,000 Hours of Public Safety and Public Maintenance Services
UCD was founded in 1997 to provide cleaning and safety services throughout the district. Though our overall portfolio has expanded since our formation, our commitment to maintaining clean and safe streets has not ceased. In 2019, our Public Space Maintenance team devoted nearly 40,000 total hours to cleaning the neighborhood through machine street sweeping, dustpan and broom cleaning, collecting bags of trash, graffiti removal, and much more. Safety Ambassadors provided approximately 120,000 hours of safety coverage in the neighborhood, including bike patrols, walking escorts, vehicle jumpstarts, and lock-outs. Over the past year Ambassadors made 633 well-being checks with homeless individuals and 51 successful outreach placements with Project Home as part of an increased focus on offering compassionate services.
Please use the before and after comparison slider
Transforming Long-Vacant Properties into Community Assets
Through our Project Rehab, we strengthen our residential community by assisting local property owners as they bring vacant or distressed real estate back to useful life. In 2019, we helped a neighbor purchase and rehabilitate a house at 4812 Florence Street that had been long vacant and used for storage. Once completed, the owner sold the house to her daughter and her family, and shared the following message with us: “I not only completed the rehab but with results that I could not have foreseen when I purchased the property. It is an unexpected bonus that my daughter will now be able to extend our family roots in the community for a sixth generation in Cedar Park.”
Securing $2.5 Million in New Investments to Scale Job Training Efforts
2019 was a banner year for philanthropic support, particularly for our West Philadelphia Skills Initiative. Between August and December, we were the recipients of over $2.5 million in charitable funds, including $445,000 from the William Penn Foundation toward setting up a collaboration between our Green City Works Landscape crew and the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation. We received grants from JP Morgan Chase, Citizens Bank, and the Connelly Foundation aimed at supporting the expansion of our program into North and South Philadelphia in partnership with Temple University and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC). We are grateful to each of the funders for their support of the program and our ongoing mission to connect residents seeking opportunity to employers seeking talent. For a full list of UCD funders, click here.
Bringing New Transformations to Trolley Portal Gardens for 2020
Trolley Portal Gardens, our public space at 40th and Baltimore, ended 2019 with great news for 2020: the commitment of a new restaurant operator and a significant financial contribution from two longtime neighborhood champions. In November we reached an agreement with the owners of local restaurant Renata’s Kitchen for them to become the new operators of the restaurant space at the Trolley Portal. Kate Steenstra and Yasser Aiq, the co-owners of Renata’s Kitchen, have been serving the neighborhood for six years, and will bring their beloved brunch service, catering, and eventually dinner and bar service to this new, larger location. Meanwhile, longtime neighbors Barry Grossbach and Mike Hardy made a $100,000 donation to establish an endowment for the continued beatification of the space, including upkeep of the flower mounds and planters. Read more about Barry and Mike’s gift and longtime involvement in the neighborhood.
Expanding the Impact of a Neighborhood Job Creation Engine
Green City Works, University City District’s landscaping social venture, was hired by the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House in 2019 to aid in a massive expansion initiative, including major changes to the site’s outdoor areas. This project was one of the most ambitious undertaken by Green City Works since launching in 2016, and involved multiple iterations of site plans and on-the-job training for crew members on hardscaping and construction. The end result included a new green roof, food forest, plantings, courtyard, and more. See how the project unfolded in the video above.
Adding New Amenities to a Flagship Public Space
In the years since its debut in 2011, we have taken a deliberate and iterative approach to the amenities at The Porch at 30th Street Station. In recent years two pieces of feedback we heard from users were about a need for more shade and outlets to charge devices. In the fall of 2019, we addressed both of these concerns with the addition of the Pavilion at The Porch, a new spot for lounging and recharging designed and fabricated by Bill Curran Design Studio. Located on the western edge of The Porch, the Pavilion is a collection of seating, plantings, wood decking, electrical outlets, and a canopy that provides additional shade during the day, plus bright LED bulbs to brighten up the evenings.
Assuming a Leadership Role on Critical Transportation Issues
Each year UCD works with partners to address transportation issues impacting the district, including bike and pedestrian safety, traffic congestion, and transit routing. In 2018, UCD joined forces with major institutions, developers, the City, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to create a Transportation Management Association (TMA). Data analysis from the TMA helped SEPTA develop the new 49 bus route, which began running in February of 2019. The 49 connects residents of Strawberry Mansion, Fairmount, Grays Ferry and Brewerytown to University City and its over 85,000 jobs. The TMA will continue to assist in projects aimed at improving every mode of transit to benefit residents and commuters.
Finding New Ways to Support the Neighborhood We Love
In addition to providing cleaning and safety services to the community, we also make an effort to participate in volunteer opportunities throughout our neighborhood. This year we organized three neighborhood clean-ups, providing guidance, trash and leaf pick-up, and tools to block leaders and other volunteers. Members of our Clean and Safe crews spent an afternoon making meals at the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House for the families of sick children. When community members complained about trash and leaves clogging up the protected bike lane on Chestnut Street, we sent a crew of volunteers to help make the lane usable to bicyclists. And members of our staff routinely volunteer throughout the community through programs like chess classes at the Walnut Street Library to days of service and other activities.
See our impact around the neighborhood!
UCD FY19 Financial Operating Statement of Activities
FY19 Sources: $11,286,238
FY19 Uses: $11,319,115
Thank you to our donors:
$500,000 and above
Lenfest Foundation
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania Health System
Drexel University
$100,001 - $500,000
Brandywine Realty Trust
Campus Apartments
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
University Associates
University City Science Center
University of the Sciences
$25,001 - $100,000
Bank of America
Citizens Bank
FMC Corporation
INTECH Construction
Lincoln Financial Foundation
Nat'l Board Medical Examiners
Turks Head Health Services Inc
United Way of Greater Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey
$5,001 - $25,000
40th Street Promenade, LP
The Barra Foundation
Central City Toyota
Connelly Foundation
HAS Investment Partners
HOW Properties
IBID Associates
International House
Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Miller Investment Management, LP
Neighborhood Preservation & Development Corp.
Patricia Kind Family Foundation
PECO Energy
Pennoni
Post Brothers
The Restaurant School
Santander Bank, N.A.
The Study
uCitySquare
UNIVEST Bank Corporation of Pennsylvania
Wells Fargo Foundation
The Wistar Institute
$1,001 - $5,000
ABM
Allied Universal
AMC Delancey
American Law Institute
C.L. Presser
Connelly Foundation
Hello Fresh
Inspire Energy
Mark and Nancy Mendenhall
New Horizons West
Oak Street Health
Philadelphia Authority Industrial Development
Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House
Robert Schoepe
Stockton Real Estate Advisors
U3 Ventures
University Pinball
Visit Philadelphia
WE
Wexford Science + Technology
William Schoepe
WinnCompanies
Verizon
U3 Ventures
United Way of Metro Dallas
$250 - $1,000
Amanda Benner
Andrew and Kathy Wheeler
Arlene Caney
Barry Grossbach and Mike Hardy
Brian Gould
Brian Phillips, in honor of Brandon Heiler
Charles Haub, Jr.
E. David Horwitz
Deborah Parker
F.C. Barschow & Sons
Friedman LLP
Gabriel Ledger
George Poulin
Homewood Suites by Hilton University City
The Inn at Penn, A Hilton Hotel
Jonathan and Jessica Moore
Jonathan Ryan
Jonathan Shain
Joseph Reagan, Jr.
Leah and Brian Finnegan
Linford Martin and Marcella Zimmerman
Madeline Bell
Marcella Barnhart and David Knoblock
Maureen Rush
Michael Lynch and Martha Hanson
Michael Parker and Daphne Hawkins-Parker
Narducci Electric Co.
Onuorah Umeh, MD
Philip Rosenau Co. Inc.
Philly Prop, LP
Queen of Sheba
RedBlock Realty
Richard Kirk
Solomon Hunter
Swirling Silks
The Lighting Practice
William and Lorraine McKenna
Our FY19 Financial Results are available here.
Thank you to our funders and donors. Without their support our work would not be possible. We are looking forward to a dynamic 2020 filled with partnership, impact and growth.
