By My Side neighborhood parenting group

Happy Holidays to All!

The months of November and December have been full of twists and turns.

The Phillies won the World Series, we elected our new President and then...BOOM!!...Mayor Nutter announced the need for budget cutbacks and the joyous mood of celebrations and hope were dashed to the ground in a split second!

The announcement by the Mayor that our Fishtown/Kensington area was going to loose our Fishtown Community Library, our Engine 6 and our pools was too much to believe!! While we were not the only neighborhood experiencing this, the triple hit we took left us devastated and angry. 11 Libraries were targeted for closure and we were one.

The neighborhood immediately jumped into action holding rallies and meetings to stay the execution of these vital services. The struggles continue at the writing of this entry.

I am so proud of the many families from our program who have stepped up to the plate, especially in support of our Library.

Folks came with strollers and toddlers to City Council Hearings, rallies, marches and meetings to put pressure on to stop the madness. Many letter and phone calls to our officials were also delivered as were petitions with over 4,000 signatures.

A group of local citizens immediately began to meet, calling ourselves The Fishtown Community Library Committee and have been working tirelessly to form & execute strategies that have led to meetings with the City, the Free Library and the Friends of the Free Library to work on solutions.

Especially in these economic times, a place like the Library is even more necessary than normal! Our community needs the access to free resources that this institution provides!!!

As of today, there are 2 lawsuits that have been filed to stay the closure of the 11 Library Branches. Our Library Committeee has also drafted and submitted, along with New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC), a proposal that would give the current Library building over to the Community for a $1 a year lease, initially under NKCDC, so we can create the Fishtown Community Learning Center.

In addition to these cuts, many other programs and services across the City have suffered severe blows. One is our sister program in Frankford. Having been part of the Frankford Group Ministry for years, it was announced about 2 weeks before Christmas, that they would need to find a new home as well. Due to loss of many programs that were housed in the building such as the Curfew Center, the SCOH program and others, FGM can no longer afford to keep the building open past Dec. 31st.. They will be downsizing tremendously and the Frankford Parenting Program will move under Methodist Children and Family Services to be able to keep operating at least with Parenting & Anger Management Classes.while re-grouping. The future of playgroup in Frankford is "iffy" at this time. What a loss to that community!!

So, while there is much unfortunate news these past 2 months, there is also a renewed sense of community committment and networking that I have not seen in quite awhile.

What's the old addage? "When the going gets tough, the tough get going!"?

Stay tuned for our next update! We are "going"!!