URDC is proud to do its part in reducing gun violence. Read about the Penn report in the Philadelphia Inquirer
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URDC is pleased to announce a partnership with The Philadelphia Public Schools Retired Employees Association (PPSREA) to help pay for home repairs for PPSREA members in northwest Philadelphia.
PPSREA seeks to promote “a general feeling of convenience and satisfaction among all retired school employees within the school district of Philadelphia.” They have more than 5,000 members that come from all departments and service levels of the city school district. See their website at https://www.ppsrea.org/
PPSREA’s services include caregiver relief, in-home appliances (e.g., shower chair, wheelchair, etc.), medical aides, occupational/physical therapy, and home repairs. URDC and PPSREA will work together to help pay for home repairs for PPSREA members in need in northwest Philadelphia.
A recent example of the URDC and PPSREA partnership is a roof repair for Ms. Gladys, a 98-year-old retired Philadelphia schoolteacher living in her Germantown home. Ms. Gladys could not afford a $3,500 roof repair and had been waiting over two years for relief when she learned about PPSREA, who then contacted State Representative Kinsey to see if anyone would work with PPSREA on funding Ms. Roux’s roof work. Rep Kinsey contacted URDC who agreed to pay for $1,000 of the repair with PPSREA funding the remainder.
Any member of PPSREA in northwest Philadelphia that needs home repair assistance is invited to contact PPSREA with their request. PPSREA will work with URDC to determine the best way to help finance the repair. For more information about the joint URDC/PPSREA program, contact Bonnie Uditsky of PPSREA at (610) 755-1262 at [email protected].
URDC Board member Betty Turner was recently awarded the Philadelphia American Institute of Architects (AIA) Paul Philippe Cret Award, which recognizes individuals who have made “an outstanding and lasting contribution to the design of buildings, structures, landscapes, and the public realm of Greater Philadelphia.”
Betty is most deserving of this award. Co-Founder and President of Germantown Community Connection, she currently serves as Co-Chair of the Philadelphia Historic Commission to which she was appointed in 2012. In 2010 she received her Citizen’s Planner Certificate from the Citizen’s Planning Institute and was a local representative of Classic Towns of Greater Philadelphia. Betty has devoted her life to a career in education, community affairs, and has long been an advocate for Mayor Kenney’s Task Force on Historic Preservation.
Congratulations Betty on your award and long service to the Germantown community!
After suspending its Owner Occupied Home Repair assistance program during the COVID-19 quarantine, URDC hit the ground running this summer as soon as Philadelphia went yellow.
Since June, URDC has completed 25 separate repairs assisting 18 low-income or senior homeowners in Germantown and northwest Philadelphia. As these pictures show, these repairs include new roofs, handicap access, repaired doors and floors, window replacement, electrical wiring, plumbing, drywall, and tree limb removal.
URDC is on track to help one homeowner per week in 2020! Many thanks to our congregations, benefactors, foundations and other supporters that have helped URDC help others in these especially challenging times.
URDC recently received $17,000 from the City of Philadelphia’s PHL COVID-19 Fund, a collaboration between the City of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Foundation, and United Way to aid nonprofits working to respond to the impact the pandemic is having throughout the Greater Philadelphia Region.
URDC grant money will be used to fund emergency repairs for homeowners in northwest Philadelphia who are unable to pay for a repair due to loss of income from the coronavirus pandemic.
Thank you to the PHL COVID-19 Fund for helping families in northwest Philadelphia affected by the caronavirus pandemic. URDC repairs are currently on hold during the City’s stay-at-home order but eligible candidates for projects using the Fund’s grant are being accepted and prioritized based on level of severity. These repairs will begin contingent on the City’s lifting its stay-at-home order and permission of the homeowner.
URDC is honored to have received a grant of $15,000 through the State of Pennsylvania Keystone Communities Grant Program. This generous grant was made possible through the efforts of State Representative Stephen Kinsey and his staff. It will be used to fund additional URDC repair projects for senior and low-income homeowners in Germantown and support more URDC volunteer programs in the community.
URDC Executive Director Joe Waldo receives a $15,000 check from State Representative Stephen Kinsey as part of Keystone Communities Grant Program
URDC’s grant was part of over $125,000 in state grants awarded by Representative Kinsey to local non-profits in northwest Philadelphia. In the video below, Representative Kinsey talks about these grants and why they are critical in the success of his communities.
URDC is grateful to Rep. Kinsey for his efforts to support URDC and proud to be part of the non-profit community that works hard to build a better Germantown.
URDC was blessed this holiday season with a large donation of sheets, pillowcases, and towels from Thomaston Mills in Jenkintown, PA. The company makes bedding and towel products for hotels, hospitals, nursing homes, and resorts with a focus on socially and ecologically responsible production.
A Thomomason employee volunteered at three URDC day
s and wanted to further help URDC’s families with a donation of Thomaston products. What an amazing gift when URDC received 38 boxes of over 700 sheets, 550 pillowcases, and 40 towels in various colors and sizes!
Besides providing linens to its client families, URDC distributed some of Thomaston’s donation to a number of Germantown community organizations that work with URDC congregations:
Face-To-Face
Project Home
Canaan Family Life Center
Dignity Housing Germantown
Interfaith Hospitality Network
Support Center for Child Advocates
Donated Thomaston Mill sheets and pillowcases being delivered by URDC to Face-To-Face Germantown.
URDC Board member Dan Rhoton was recently interviewed by Forbes magazine as part of its series with entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations serving underprivileged communities. Dan is Executive Director of Hopeworks, a 501(c3) non-profit organization based in Camden NJ that specializes in helping young people overcome the obstacles and trauma in their life to find success.
Dan Rhoton speaking at Camden Catalyst
In the interview, Dan spoke about how Hopeworks helps rising youths in underserved communities learn the technical skills they need to succeed. By providing the talents for big companies to hire these youths, it contributes to the revitalization of Camden and changes the narrative of the community to one that attracts people to work, live, and play there.
The entire interview with Dan can be found at Forbe’s on-line at:
URDC President Charlie McGloughlin and URDC Executive Director Joseph Waldo met with City of Philadelphia Councilmen Al Taubenberger and Derek Green at East Mt. Airy Neighbors (EMAN) “Toast to Mt Airy” event on January 26 to discuss URDC’s home repair services for seniors.
"URDC has helped people like me who have suffered hardship in their lives and need a helping hand. I did when I needed a new roof for my home. I thank God for such a special gift."
"I wish to express my deep appreciation and sincere appreciation to Urban Resources Development Corporation for helping me get the needed repairs done on my house and keeping it from deteriorating."
“URDC did a lot of fixing up around my house with problems that I didn’t have the income to deal with. And I am very grateful for that. I plan on living here for as long as I can live here on my own.”
“My thanks to URDC seems so small compared to all you do for everyone in our community and especially what you did for me. My thanks comes from the heart. I put lights up around the fence you fixed and they look great. Thanks again.”
“URDC’s roofer came Friday and repaired my roof. I am so thankful and grateful. The work you do in the community to assist seniors in their homes is truly amazing. I don’t even have the words to express how much help and relief URDC brings to the senior community as a whole. Thank you URDC."
