Camden Homicides 2009

Sometimes, it is difficult to describe Camden to those who have never visited the area.

City Populations (as of July 2008)
Camden = 517,234 ... 24 homicides this year
Philadelphia = 1,447,395
Seattle = 602,000 ... 5 homicides this year
Tucson = 535,000

Police to address fears

By Deborah Hirsch • Courier-Post Staff • August 31, 2009

CAMDEN — Seeking to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the immigrant community, Camden Police Chief Scott Thomson and Camden Churches Organized for People will meet tonight to talk about crime prevention and victims' rights.

City and Latino community leaders say that illegal immigrants often do not report criminal activity or unfit housing conditions for fear that they will be reported to immigration enforcement officials. As a result, criminals and landlords have learned to take advantage of them.

(For the complete article, please see the Courier Post.)

'Ugliest house' still stands tall

Courier Post by Deborah Hirsch

CAMDEN — Cramer Hill resident Zoraida Gonzalez-Torres can't remember the last time someone lived in the burned-out rowhouse at 923 N. 27th St., just a few blocks from her home.

She guessed the two-story building has been vacant for at least 12 years. Last October, the city designated it an imminent hazard that should be demolished within 48 hours.

However, what's left of the home still stands today -- one of thousands of abandoned shells marring the city.

To Cramer Hill residents, this particular house is the worst of the worst eyesores in their neighborhood.

Thursday, Gonzalez-Torres and about 50 other residents crowned it the winner of an "Ugly Home" contest at a tongue-in-cheek ceremony they hope will spur real action. They shook tambourines, banged hand drums and waved cardboard cut-outs of bulldozers as community leaders covered part of the red siding with a banner proclaiming "Cramer Hill's Ugliest House of 2009."

"This could collapse any minute and affect anybody walking down the sidewalk," Gonzalez-Torres said. "This is not normal in any other community. Why is it normal in Camden? We need to make sure that something gets done."

Leaders from St. Anthony of Padua Parish and Camden Churches Organized for People started the ugly home contest last month to call attention to the problem. They photographed 13 of the neighborhood's nearly 200 abandoned buildings and distributed ballots to local churches and the Cramer Hill Community Development Corporation.

More than 300 votes were cast, about 30 percent of which put 923 N. 27th St. at the top of the list, said Father Jud Weiksnar of St. Anthony.

(For the complete article, please see the Courier Post.)

Ugliest House in Camden: The Winner is Revealed!

Today Camden Churches Organized for People (CCOP), along with St. Anthony of Padua Church, celebrated the unveiling of the Ugliest House in Camden. A group of 65+ community members marched from the church to the house shown below, which has been vacant, abandoned and burned-out for at least twelve years. Individuals carried signs with bulldozers to show their feelings about what the city should do to the winner. Unfortunately, Camden is full of houses just like this one.After the big reveal of the competition's winner, the members of the community demolished this tasty cake!

Saved Email Messages from 2005

-----Original Message-----
From: Kate
Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 1:07 PM
To: Laura Thompson
Subject: RE: I'm getting married!

consider me teased, like a set of bangs from the 80s!

is he hot?
is he good looking?
is he funny?
is he hot?

so you're just gonna leave me hangin', eh?

k

-----Reply Message-----
From: Laura Thompson
To: Kate
Sent: Mon, Mar 7, 2005 4:42 pm
Subject: RE: I'm getting married!

Yes, very.
Yes, very.
Yes, very.
Yes, very.

I love your priorities -- looks and humor! Really, he is just perfect, Kate. AND I think that he likes me a bundle, too. But I know that I often get ahead of myself, so I should calm down.

Love and the deepest devotion from now until forever as angels fly through the heavens with the music of the ages,
Laura

---

Even though this email chain is missing the original email, which proclaimed that I was going to get married, the humor of our messages is still totally funny. Especially because Joshua and I consider our dating anniversary to be March 5th (or March 3rd, we always forget) and I sent the original email stating that I was getting married to Joshua by March 7th (at the latest).

In the same way that everyone else in my family knew that they had met their future spouse at first blush, I knew right away that Joshua was the one.
Happy 3rd Anniversary, Joshua! I still love you more than you could imagine.

Elk Lake with the Chisholms

We just returned from a week-long adventure-cation with Joshua's family in Central Oregon. We stayed in a cabin along Elk Lake and spent the week hiking, swimming, fishing, eating good foods, watching a campfire every night and enjoying lots of family time. Needless to say, it was great!

Having time with 4 year-old Hayden was great. Here he is hopping around the cabin with a balloon hat Joshua made for him.
The family also threw us a surprise baby shower. Their gifts were so thoughtful and sweet ... although the idea that we will have an actual baby to put inside the clothing is still a little more than overwhelming.
The party decorations included a pinata, which provided an evening of entertainment as we tried to hit it with rocks. We decided that it would be more interesting (and it ended up being more challenging) than stringing it up and beating it with a stick.

We are already planning on doing this trip again ... summer 2012, anyone?!

Updated CCOP Website

LOOK AT THIS AWESOME WEBSITE!!! Really, go look at how snazzy that website is.

---

And, while we are at it, a public television news report which includes CCOP: State control of Camden to expire in 2012