From Left: Instructor Chandi Queen from the People's Emergency Center's digital inclusion program, student Frank Cutler, State Rep. Tony Payton, Rasheem Jennings, William Brown and front row, Ethel Dawson and Karen Lee. Photo/Technically Philly

From basic computer skills to social networking and Internet usage, five Frankford residents got a crash course last week during the Frankford CDC’s three-day computer literacy certification program.

Hosted with the help of Pa. Rep. Tony Payton, D-179th, the event was one of about 80 organized for the annual Philly Tech Week. Residents were invited to sign up for the free workshop and use the CDC’s new computer lab to enhance their computer skills. It was the only Northeast Philadelphia event part of Philly Tech Week. continue reading »

From Left: Instructor Chandi Queen from the People's Emergency Center's digital inclusion program, student Frank Cutler, State Rep. Tony Payton, Rasheem Jennings, William Brown and front row, Ethel Dawson and Karen Lee. Photo/Technically Philly

From basic computer skills to social networking and Internet usage, five Frankford residents got a crash course last week during the Frankford CDC’s three-day computer literacy certification program.

Hosted with the help of Pa. Rep. Tony Payton, D-179th, the event was one of about 80 organized for the annual Philly Tech Week. Residents were invited to sign up for the free workshop and use the CDC’s new computer lab to enhance their computer skills. It was the only Northeast Philadelphia event part of Philly Tech Week. continue reading »

There are more than 80 events on the calendar for Philly Tech Week 2012, and the Northeast is taking part with a computer training series.

The Frankford Community Development Corporation,  the People’s Emergency Center and Pa. Rep. Tony Payton, D-179, will sponsor a free computer training class April 24, 25 and 26. continue reading »

NEast Links: Bringing you additional Northeast news

The tire slashings in Mayfair aren’t over. After a quiet spell, tires on 10 cars on the 4200-block of Aldine Street were slashed early Monday morning. The slashings began last fall, and thus far, the only arrest has been for what appears to be an isolated incident [CBS3].

Police in the 2nd District are looking for a bank robber who stole cash from the Wells Fargo at 700 block of Adams Ave. Friday. The suspect wore Muslim garb when he handed the teller a threatening note [Philadelphia Police].

What does the Frankford CDC do, and what are its goals? Tracy O’Drain and Michelle Feldman of the Frankford Community Development Corporation explain in the first installment of an interview series [Frankford Gazette].

NET clients will maintain the Frankford Avenue corridor between Womrath Park (A) and the Frankford Transportation Center (B).

The Frankford Community Development Corporation has announced a partnership with NorthEast Treatment Centers to help keep Frankford’s commercial corridor clean.

Three days a week, the CDC will provide four NET clients with supplies to clean Frankford Avenue from Womrath Park to Frankford Transportation Center.

“The Frankford CDC is fortunate to have NET as a partner, and we are pleased to team up with them to work towards such an important goal,” CDC Managing Director Tracy O’Drain said in the announcement. “Clean commercial corridors are key to crime reduction as well as small business retention and attraction.” continue reading »

Mayor Michael Nutter helps cut the ribbon at the new Frankford Computer Center. Photo/Michelle Alton

With partners PhillyRising and Temple University, Frankford got a computer lab Friday.

The Frankford Community Development Corporation celebrated the grand opening with Mayor Michael Nutter, City Managing Director Rich Negrin and Manny Citron, PhillyRising’s Northeast coordinator. The CDC has been working with PhillyRising on several community improvement projects since the city brought the program to the neighborhood a year ago. continue reading »

An area of green space on Griscom Street adjacent to a vacant property. These areas are targets of the PhillyRising Collaborative in Frankford. Photo by Pamela Seaton.

This is the second of a two-part look at revitalization in Frankford. You can read the first part here.

In the early 20th century, Frankford was a bustling neighborhood. With a growing middle-class population, it attracted residents from throughout the tri-state area, many of whom shopped at the popular businesses on Frankford Avenue.

In the 1950s, however, it lost a large amount of its population due to a great number of Philadelphians moving to the suburbs. White flight became a major problem in the 1970s and by 1990, more than 30 percent of the storefronts on Frankford Avenue were vacant, with more becoming vacant as the years went by.

Janice McDuffy, a former resident of Frankford for more than 11 years, witnessed Frankford’s downslide firsthand.

“When I lived there as a kid, it didn’t seem so dirty and there weren’t so many abandoned houses and businesses,” McDuffy said. “On the block where I used to live, there are now two empty lots that used to be homes. People dump their trash there.”

“All of Frankford is dirty and filled with litter . . . it’s a mess,” McDuffy said.

McDuffy said she quickly realized that there was a lack of economic opportunity in Frankford and moved out of the neighborhood after graduating from college, pursuing a law degree and an acting career. She said she hopes her family can move out of Frankford as quickly as possible.

“They [her family] couldn’t open a business in the future, if they wanted to . . . just look at all of the vacancies on Frankford Avenue,” McDuffy said.

“I don’t know why Frankford has deteriorated so drastically, but it’s a shame.”

Fortunately for McDuffy’s family and other Frankford residents, a few local organizations in Frankford are working to revitalize the neighborhood, including the PhillyRising Collaborative, the Frankford Special Services District and the Frankford Community Development Corporation. continue reading »

Photo of the Market-Frankford Line by Kirsten Stamn

This is the first of a two-part look at revitalization efforts in Frankford.

For the residents of Frankford, neighborhood revitalization efforts are nothing new.

The once thriving historic community has fallen on hard times and has succumbed to blight in the past few decades, evidenced by the empty storefronts, the graffiti and trash that decorate the street, and the lack of pedestrians going out and buying wares from the local shops.

Business is not booming, that much is clear. But the bigger problem is no matter how many programs have come through the area, not much has changed for the people who still linger in the area.

“We’ve been going over this since the ‘80s,” said Gilbert Pons, owner of Gilbert’s Upholstery. “I hope there’s change.” continue reading »

The Frankford Haunted History Tour stops at the Grand Army Republic Museum and Library. Photo submitted by the Frankford CDC

From the Frankford CDC:

Frankford is full of history, but did you know some of it is haunted?

Last Saturday, the Frankford Community Development Corporation, Historical Society of Frankford, St. Mark’s Church, South Jersey Ghost Research, the Grand Army of the Republic Museum and Library, and the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association organized a haunted history tour of Frankford. continue reading »

Northwood Civic Association President Barry Howell discusses the Frankford Y at the Sept. 20, 2011 meeting.

If action isn’t made on the historic Frankford Y, “it needs to be leveled before something awful happens there,” said Northwood Civic Association President Barry Howell Tuesday night.

“It is becoming dilapidated, and kids are starting to hang out there doing drugs and causing trouble,” Howell said at the civic group’s monthly meeting at St. James Church on Castor Avenue. “It won’t be long until someone breaks into the door and bad things are going to happen.”

continue reading »