Jester Hat at the Library

While Joshua and Alma were enjoying some programming at the library today, a photographer from the local paper, the Express-Times, snapped their photo.  How cute!

 

Caption: Alma Chisholm, 2, tries on the jester-style hat she made with her father Joshua Chisholm, both of Bethlehem, at Bethlehem Area Public Library Friday during Crafts Day activity -- the 3rd of "4 Days of Fun." Saturday will be Window Decorating Day inside the library at 11 West Church Street. Express-Times Photo | LISA MASSEY

Caption: Alma Chisholm, 2, tries on the jester-style hat after a few alterations made with her father Joshua Chisholm, both of Bethlehem, at Bethlehem Area Public Library Friday during Crafts Day activity -- the 3rd of "4 Days of Fun." Saturday will be Window Decorating Day inside the library at 11 West Church Street. Express-Times Photo | LISA MASSEY

CUNA's Youth Employment Initiative

On Sunday, CUNA's work was featured on the front page (above the fold!) of the regional newspaper, The Morning Call.

... To help students like Alexander navigate the job process, Dolich asked Congregations United for Neighborhood Action to get involved. With the support of Allentown and Mayor Ed Pawlowski, CUNA launched an initiative to place at least 25 students with local companies.
So far, six have been placed, though getting them a job isn't the pilot program's only goal. It also will give teens opportunities to be mentored or shadow employees, and to receive job training.
In a letter asking business owners to participate, Pawlowski said the effort is of "economic and social importance."
"Teens who work have a greater likelihood to graduate from high school and they receive the soft business and trade skills necessary for future employment," he said.
By the time school ends, Dolich, who is a CUNA board member, hopes the program has placed all 25 students in summer jobs. ...

Read the full article here.

Article in Inquirer about CCOP's Efforts

Mayor Redd: Tear Down These Walls
By Kevin Riordan
Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

Best part of the article:
Camden mayors are traditionally wary of CCOP, particularly because of its independence and media savvy. That has been the pattern for more than 20 years. It's time for Redd to break that mold.

'Ugliest House' Razed in Camden

By DEBORAH HIRSCH • Courier-Post • January 14, 2010

CAMDEN — The worst of the worst eyesores in Cramer Hill was demolished Wednesday -- four and a half months after residents voted it the ugliest house in the neighborhood.

About 20 community members, church leaders and students from St. Anthony of Padua parish school braved the frigid morning to watch a demolition crew topple the burned-out shell of 923 N. 27th St. and an adjacent row home.

The two buildings were the first of 23 hazardous structures that are expected to come down over the next few weeks.

Leaders from Camden Churches Organized for People organized the ugly house contest last July in an effort to draw attention to the thousands of abandoned homes in the city.

[For the complete article, please see The Courier Post.]

Camden's Ugliest House Lives On and On

By Matt Katz
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Camden's ugliest abandoned house is still there, as ugly as ever.

Four months after a high-profile protest and promises by politicians to have it razed, the building on North 27th Street - winner of an "ugliest house" contest by a community group - is a reminder of the difficulty of progress in the nation's poorest city.

"Thinking about Camden's capacity to govern itself, this is a perfect example of how the capacity is still not there," concluded Brother Jerry Hudson of Camden Churches Organized for People, which organized the competition.

(For the full article, please visit the Philadelphia Inquirer.)

Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year by going on a family walk over to Broad Street to enjoy the Mummer's Parade.

Our 2009 felt like The Year of Advent with most of the year focused on the arrival of our little Alma. (She was definitely worth the wait!)

However, in glancing at the photos we snapped this year, our year was more than simply waiting. We had a great year with family, friends, trips, work, outdoor adventures, weddings, birthdays and so much else. This might have been my favorite year ever ... I really enjoyed 2009.

Here's to a joyful 2010 with time to wonder at all the blessings in our lives.

CCOP in The Economist

Camden's crisis

Ungovernable?
Nov 26th 2009 | CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY
From The Economist print edition

The state may have failed the city it took over

ROSA RAMIREZ is an active member of Camden Churches Organised for People (CCOP), a large and powerful civic group in Camden, New Jersey. She complains that rubbish is not collected. She worries about drug dealers hanging out on street corners and in the city’s many abandoned buildings. But when her daughter, who lives in the suburbs, begs her to leave, Ms Ramirez replies, “How can I leave? Camden needs me.” It does. Not enough people care about this city of 79,000 people that lies in the shadow of Philadelphia.

Hopes rose seven years ago, when the state took over the post-industrial city. The inept municipal government was struggling to provide even the most basic service. Poor management and lack of resources meant possibly waiting hours for police to respond to calls. Corruption was rampant: three former mayors ended up in jail. Camden was given $175m in bonds and loans and in return the state was given municipal authority over the city. The governor appointed a chief operating officer who could veto decisions made by the mayor and the city council. The state also took over the abysmal school district and, in 2005, the police department. Much of the money went to big urban development projects. The waterfront, with its fantastic views of the Philadelphia skyline, was given particular attention. Hospitals and universities in the area received money to expand and more than $1 billion was leveraged in private investments.

But the city’s districts, many blighted with abandoned buildings, did not get much cash. In the Cramer Hill district Brother Jerry Hudson of the St Anthony of Padua church talks about the run-down place next door to the parish school. Although the city had boarded it up, vandals routinely broke in. It became a den for drugs and prostitution. Though many such buildings have been demolished, Brother Jerry reckons there are just as many now as there were in 2002.

Camden had the highest crime rate in the country in 2008, according to CQ Press, with 2,333 violent crimes for every 100,000 people. The national average is 455. Camden spends $17,000 per child on education, yet only two thirds complete school. Two out of five people live below the poverty line. The Philadelphia Inquirer recently summed up a series on Camden by saying that “residents are just as poor today and just as likely to be murdered. They are just as unemployed…And the city is twice as reliant on state taxpayers as before.”

Little wonder then, that Chris Christie, the governor-elect of New Jersey, has called the state takeover a “failed experiment”. He hopes to return control to the city, perhaps even before the takeover expires in 2012. But not everyone feels the city is ready. One former chief operating officer predicted it would stay under state control until 2030. As there is no tax base to support city services, Camden would still have to depend on the state for funding. But New Jersey is struggling to balance its own books, and it is not alone: less state support can be expected all over the country, just when cities most need help. The National League of Cities has found that 88% of city finance officers are less able to meet fiscal needs this year.

But there is some good news. Crime is down 13% this year so far. Murders have fallen by 38%, while shootings are down 18%. Big construction projects at Rutgers University and Cooper University Hospital are under way. Tom Corcoran, the former head of the Cooper Ferry Development Association, thinks that if the city can lower crime and improve schools, it can turn around. He thinks the waterfront is key: the city has 15 miles of it, though only 10% is accessible to the public.

Ms Ramirez is typical. She thinks the state is doing a bad job, but she also worries that the city will fall apart without it. “It’s in Christie’s hands,” she says. “If he can figure it out, he would be a hero.”

Christie blasts city schools

By JIM WALSH • Courier-Post Staff • October 13, 2009

CAMDEN — Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie on Monday night blasted the city's school system as "obscene" and said its failed classrooms are to blame for Camden's dangerous streets.

In a speech here, Christie aimed much of his criticism at his Democratic opponent, saying the administration of Gov. Jon S. Corzine has taken "deep bows" for "half measures" in the impoverished city.

But Christie also targeted teachers unions for city school failures, saying their leaders "are feeling fat and they don't want change."

Christie said he'd improve education opportunities for city youth by offering more charter schools, introducing vouchers that would cover tuition payments at private schools and through unspecified "innovations."

"The failing schools must change or they must go extinct because we can't continue to fail your children," he said a meeting sponsored by the nonpartisan Camden Churches Organized for People. About 100 people turned out for the session at Sword of the Spirit Church.

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

U.S. block grant to take down Camden's most dilapidated

By Matthew Spolar, Inquirer Staff Writer

In August, an abandoned, crumbling home at 923 N. 27th St. was named the ugliest house in Camden's Cramer Hill neighborhood.

Now, thanks to a federal grant, its days are numbered.

The building took the crown in a contest that Camden Churches Organized for People conducted to bring urgency and publicity to the problem of abandoned houses. It was chosen from among 13 candidates by parishioners at participating churches.

The organization demanded it be torn down within 48 hours. At the time, Pat Keating, Camden's public works director, said a recent major demolition had left him with too little money to make that happen.

Late last month, however, $500,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funding was approved for demolitions in the city.

"That's the money I've been waiting for," Keating said.

He will use it to demolish 33 houses on the city's "imminent hazard" list: 12 throughout Cramer Hill and East and North Camden, 12 in South Camden, and 9 downtown.

On the list is 923 N. 27th St. and its decrepit next-door neighbor at 925.

"They're going to be in that first batch," Keating said.

The list is set for bidding by demolition contractors. The contracts would then require City Council approval.

"If that comes down, it'll be a big relief for all of us," said the Father William "Jud" Weiksnar, the pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Church, who spearheaded the contest won by 923.

But the contest should not end efforts to rid Camden of abandoned properties, he said.

"The reason for the ugly-house contest was to draw attention to a situation most people [in Camden] had become used to - living with dangerous or abandoned houses right next door," he said.

...

Keating said the building at 923 N. 27th St. would likely have been on the list of 33 even without the attention brought to it by the contest, but he still applauded the efforts of Camden Churches Organized for People.

"God bless them. I love that stuff," he said. "That's how you keep people engaged. You need these folks to do what they do."

(For the full article about this CCOP victory, please visit the Philadelphia Inquirer.)

CCOP Mayoral Forum

Last night's mayoral forum went well. Even though a big storm blew through the area right before the event, at least 200 people showed up to hear the four mayoral candidates answer questions from the CCOP community.

Above is a photo of Rev. Anderson, the evenings moderator; below are the time keepers who ensured that candidate answers were not too long.

Camden candidates outline mayoral goals -- Courier Post article

Camden mayor candidates urge freedom from state rule -- Philadelphia Inquirer article

Corzine hears pleas to boost aid for Camden

September 16, 2009    Philadelphia Inquirer    by Matt Katz

Gov. Corzine sat with his hands clasped last night as a Camden minister asked hundreds of city residents to stand if their homes or churches were next to abandoned buildings.

Most of the crowd at St. Joseph's Pro Cathedral on Federal Street rose to their feet.

Then the Rev. Willie Anderson asked whether anyone had heard gunshots at night, and nearly everyone else stood up.

By the time Anderson had finished listing his concerns - broken infrastructure, dirty streets, inattentive officials, and poor education - all the residents were standing, clapping, or raising their hands to the ceiling.

The city's largest civic organization, Camden Churches Organized for People (CCOP), last night made its third major public plea in a decade to try to exact more state assistance for Camden from a governor seven weeks from a tough reelection battle.

(For the full article, check out the Philadelphia Inquirer)

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!

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

Ugliest-home contest focuses on city eyesores

By Deborah Hirsch • Courier-Post Staff • July 29, 2009

CAMDEN — Call it an anti-beauty contest.

St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Cramer Hill is asking residents to vote for the neighborhood's ugliest home.

Earlier this month, Father Jud Weiksnar and staff from Camden Churches Organized for People photographed 13 of the most notorious eyesores in the neighborhood, all believed to be abandoned. They pasted the full-page prints on the doorway to the church with signs asking parishioners to cast their vote inside. Ballots were also distributed to other churches and the Cramer Hill Community Development Corp.

"It was just a tongue-in-cheek thing to try and get the city to start doing something with these abandoned homes," said Brother Jerry Hudson, of St. Anthony's.

That's been a perennial issue for the impoverished city. Stephen Singer, executive director of CAMConnect, estimated that the city has between 4,000 and 8,000 abandoned homes.

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

Ugly-house contest aims to draw attention to Camden's vacant-property problem

By JASON NARK
Philadelphia Daily News

It was built by one of South Jersey's founding families and once served as a station on the Underground Railroad. Nowadays the large, brick colonial at 22nd Street and Wayne Avenue in Camden's Cramer Hill section is just plain ugly, a local church group says.

But just how ugly is the vacant, 210-year-old Samuel Cooper house, compared to the thousands of other abandoned homes in Camden?

Cooper's house is among 13 of Cramer Hill's most burned, battered and broken-down homes designated by the Camden Churches Organized for People to compete in the first Cramer Hill Ugly Home Contest, which will culminate next month when votes are tallied.

(For the complete article, please see the Philadelphia Daily News.)

Make care available to those in need

By WILLIE ANDERSON and JEFFREY BRENNER • For the Courier-Post • July 5, 2009

This month, as Congress releases preliminary versions of health care reform legislation, families around the country are watching anxiously hoping that reform actually translates into better, more affordable and accessible coverage.

We both are working to improve health care in New Jersey -- one of us as a health care provider and the other as a clergy leader engaged in community organizing with Camden Churches Organized for People (CCOP) -- and we both regularly hear from families about their struggles to afford health care. Many have no coverage and others have bare-bones plans that don't cover the care they need and come with high out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, co-pays and steep premiums. High costs are leading families to delay care that they need, especially in these difficult economic times.

CCOP leader and Camden resident Zoraida Gonzalez-Torres is facing this very situation. Both she and her husband are retired and have a five-year limit of benefits. She is dealing with a variety of health conditions that require long-term medication including arthritis, chronic stomach issues and glaucoma. She needs to see the eye doctor every three months, and each visit now costs $200. When her husband recently retired, they were offered a chance to maintain their insurance through COBRA at a cost of $927 per month, which they could not afford.

She recently told us, "We're looking at options right now and there aren't any good ones out there. I'm due for a mammogram, colonoscopy, an upper GI exam and follow-up for the arthritis. Thank God my husband's health is good."

While the momentum on health reform is a cause for much hope, it is crucial to remind policymakers that legislation won't work unless it addresses the number one reason people don't get the care they need: it is too expensive for everyday Americans.

The PICO National Network has been working with New Jersey Consumer Voices for Coverage to identify what families can really afford to pay for health care. They will be releasing a report next week based on family budget data collected from more than 600 families across the state. The sobering headlines are that most New Jersey families have expenses that outstrip their income, and concerns over cost are leading too many families to delay getting the health care they need.

And so it is particularly worrisome that the U.S. Senate, in its effort to reduce the overall cost of legislation, is considering reducing subsidies for low- and moderate-income families. Health reform will not succeed if it fails to make coverage accessible and affordable for everyone. That message must continue to be heard, even as special interest groups pressure Congress to scale back and water down the scope of reform.

Of course, people need both affordable and quality health coverage. Too many insurance plans currently exclude important health care services (prescriptions, mental health coverage, etc.) and have low lifetime benefit limits. Therefore, the legislation should also grant a comprehensive set of benefits that cover the care people need and deserve.

While there will be up-front costs associated with making these changes, the American people know that this investment will pay off over the long-term, with more families able to purchase quality coverage and able to afford to access care to stay healthy and prevent costlier illness in the future.

As New Jersey's congressional delegation weighs in on health care reform legislation this summer, we hope that key architects such as U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone and Rob Andrews will champion the issue of affordability. Otherwise, we'll miss the mark of providing quality care to everyone.

Camden pastor to see bill signing in D.C.Camden pastor to see bill signing in D.C.

A pastor from Camden is expected to stand with President Obama today when he signs legislation expanding health coverage for children.

The Rev. Heyward D. Wiggins III of Camden Bible Tabernacle was invited by the White House yesterday to attend the signing of a bill reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program, commonly known as SCHIP, according to the group Camden Churches Organized for People.

In 2007, Wiggins testified before a congressional committee urging passage of a previous version of the bill. It was ultimately vetoed by President Bush.

- Matt Katz, Philadelphia Inquirer

Update: Here's video of CCOP's own Rev. Wiggins at the signing! He can be seen starting at the 18:54 mark. You should watch the whole thing to learn about the importance of this bill, which offers medical insurance to working families.

Parishioners Target Vacant Lot

By DEBORAH HIRSCH • Courier-Post Staff • December 26, 2008

CAMDEN — Members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in South Camden are spending the holiday season praying that city officials can help them do something about a nearby vacant lot that has turned into a de facto meeting spot for drug dealers and dumping ground for trash.

Starting today, members of the Camden Churches Organized for People community group affiliated with Sacred Heart said they will take turns calling their city councilwoman, Dana Burley, each of the next 22 days to remind her of their mission to improve the abandoned lot at 438 Emerald St. in the Waterfront South neighborhood.

Cassie MacDonald, 43, who lives about two blocks from the property, said the calls are intended to be a simple, heartfelt way of making sure that their concerns aren't forgotten.

"We can see it right under our nose what was happening there," she said. "If a place is neglected then it will continue to attract further degradation. We're offering our energy and our creativity and our willingness to do the work. We need other parties to meet us."

Sacred Heart members said they began cleaning up the lot this summer, putting up a small fence and asking police to keep an eye out for criminal activity there. Two weeks ago, they met with Burley and other city officials to offer their help maintaining the lot until something is built there.
It sounds like a logical idea, but there's one major obstacle: the owner of the lot, who went missing at least a decade ago. Now the property is tied up in thousands of dollars worth of tax liens that are held by a private corporation. The city can't afford to pay off those liens, which means it can't acquire the property until it goes through a lengthy, complicated foreclosure process.

Burley said she supports efforts to keep the neighborhood clean but the city can't give them permission to do anything to a privately owned property.

"Tomorrow the owner could come and say, "Why are you on my property?' " she said. "I understand their frustration. It's not that we're pushing this aside or washing our hands of it. It's just that we're limited in what we can do."

It's the same story for thousands of other abandoned lots in the city. Because those properties are privately owned, the city has no legal authority to do anything to them unless they present a hazard to the public, such as a home that could fall apart at any time, said Public Works Director Pat Keating. In those situations, he said, the cost of the city's board-ups or demolitions are added to the liens on the property.

If a neighborhood group wants to clean up an abandoned property, Keating said, the city won't stop them. But other than picking up bags of trash, he said, the city can't get involved.

Sacred Heart Camden Churches Organized for People members said they were impressed that the city took their concern seriously, but didn't believe there was no way to work around the legal complications.

"This issue isn't disappearing just because they don't want to look at a creative way to make a positive change on Emerald Street," said Sacred Heart member Sean Dougherty, 50. "We just don't accept that. On almost every block there's at least one abandoned lot. We've had enough inaction and it's time now for some positive change."

Dougherty and other members vowed to investigate how tax liens work to see if there was some way to do something about abandoned properties without opening the city to lawsuits. If that's not possible, they said, they'd lobby for changes to speed the foreclosure process on abandoned properties.

In the meantime, the group plans to continue calling attention to the issue.

On Saturday, they processed around the block singing Christmas carols, handing out cookies and talking with neighbors about their hope for a better neighborhood. Andrea Ferich, 28, said the event was intended to be a joyous way to begin reclaiming the lot.

"We just needed to get together and pray because we don't know the answers," she said. "You can be as powerful to bring about change through prayer as you can through action."

Reach Deborah Hirsch at (856) 486-2476 or dhirsch@camden.gannett.com