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1301 N 2nd St
Philadelphia, PA, 19122
United States

215-427-3463

Neighborhood help desk and catalyst for community engagement & action in the South Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia

The SKCP Blog

A message from South Kensington Community Partners

South Kensington Community Partners

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UPDATE ON COVID-19
South Kensington Community Partners is continuing to monitor the COVID-19 situation in our region. The safety and wellbeing of our neighbors and staff is of the upmost importance to our organization.

Operational Updates:

  • Until further notice, the SKCP office will remain open to the public. We ask that any visitors refrain from shaking hands, hugging, or any other physical contact with SKCP staff. Additionally, we request that visitors practice good hygiene by regularly and thoroughly washing their hands and coughing or sneezing into their elbows.

  • We ask that any community members in need of assistance who are experiencing cold or flu symptoms remain at home and call (215-427-3463) or email (info@southkensingtoncommunity.org) the office instead. If necessary, video conferencing arrangements can be made.

  • As of today, the Census Action Day scheduled for March 21th, the Census Informational Meeting for March 23 and the Community Zoning Meeting Scheduled for March 25 will proceed as planned. Attendance at both events is anticipated to be below the 250 person threshold at which the City of Philadelphia has recommended cancellation. If you will require remote attendance accommodations due to illness or health vulnerability, please call or email the SKCP office as soon as possible.

  • Any members of the public seeking to use SKCP's on-site computer will be asked to thoroughly wash their hand before and after use.


Seeking Medical Assistance:

  • If you have cold or flu symptoms and are in need of medical assistance, call ahead to your medical care provider. They will provide guidance on how best to avoid potentially spreading the virus in crowded waiting rooms.

  • If you are severely ill and need medical attention right away, call 911.

  • A list of urgent care and health centers is available here. Again, please call ahead if you are experiencing symptoms.

  • If you work in the City of Philadelphia, you are entitled to take sick leave. Many residents are entitled to paid sick leave. For more information, see this article.


Resources:

Additional Information:

tags SKCP, message, updates, covid, covid-19, census 2020, medical, assistance, resources, coronavirus

Should I Use the New 1040-SR Tax Return Form for Seniors?

South Kensington Community Partners

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Older taxpayers can benefit from bigger type and the prominent deduction chart
John Waggoner, AARP,

If you or your spouse were born before Jan. 2, 1955, you may be able to use Form 1040-SR instead of the more complicated Form 1040. (Note: You don't have to be retired to file the 1040-SR.) The senior tax return form generally follows the familiar 1040, albeit with slightly larger type for older eyes. It also has a chart for calculating your standard deduction — a good way to ensure that taxpayers 65 and older take the larger standard deduction to which they are entitled.

Read more here.

Despite Cybersecurity Risks And Last-Minute Changes, The 2020 Census Goes Online

South Kensington Community Partners

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Hansi Lo Wang, NPR

Starting March 12, households across the country are expected to be able to participate in the once-a-decade national head count by going to my2020census.gov to complete the online census questionnaire, which is set to be open to the public through July 31.
Under pressure to cut costs and keep up with these increasingly Internet-centric times, the Census Bureau is expecting, based on an earlier test run, about six out of 10 households that fill out a form on their own to do so online. For those who have limited Internet access or prefer to stay offline, the bureau is also collecting census responses over the phone and on paper forms, which are scheduled to arrive at some homes by mid-March and then in early April to every household that hasn't responded by then.

More details here. Click here for the official questionnaire.

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New Kindergarten Applications:

South Kensington Community Partners

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Welcome to the online registration for Kindergarten! We are excited to welcome you to the School District of Philadelphia.
Registering online is easy but does require a number of steps, and a number of documents you’ll need to provide (click here). Be prepared to spend 15 minutes to a half hour filling out the form online, plus whatever time you’ll need to collect and prepare the documents we’ll need.

If you’re not able to easily provide electronic documents and/or an email address, we recommend you consider registering for Kindergarten in person, at the elementary school you are applying to. Visit our School Finder tool, to figure out your neighborhood school and contact them for the best hours to come by for registration. Note, you will still need the documents as listed below, if you register in person.

Online registration, click here.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19)

South Kensington Community Partners

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Click here to download the Bulletin.

CDC is regularly updating travel advisories.
Stay up to date with CDC’s travel notices related to this outbreak clicking here.

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Philadelphia Department of Public Heath Alert - COVID-19 Update. February 28, 2020
Updated Interim Guidance for Evaluating and Reporting Persons Under Investigation for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Summary Points:

  • The outbreak of novel coronavirus is rapidly expanding worldwide and guidance for evaluating potential cases has been revised accordingly.

  • Take a detailed travel history for patients with acute respiratory illness.

  • Consider COVID-19 for patients with severe lower respiratory illness without an apparent cause and no exposure history.

  • Report any suspected cases to PDPH immediately.

If you have any questions or problems, please contact the Philadelphia Department of Public Health at publichealthpreparedness@phila.gov.
To report a disease or condition to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, call 215-685-6748 during business hours (8:30AM to 5:00PM Monday-Friday). If the disease or condition requires immediate notification and it is after normal business hours, call 215-686-4514 and ask to speak with the contact for the Division of Disease Control.
To register to receive health alerts and newsletters from PDPH, complete a registration form at https://hip.phila.gov/HealthAlerts/SignUpHealthAlerts

More details here, and here to the full report.
The Philadelphia Health Department set up a new landing page dedicated to COVID-19 info.

Streamline seeks fresh start on toxic Kensington soil: ‘We’re a different animal’

South Kensington Community Partners

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Jake Blumgart, PlanPhilly

South Kensington used to be an industrial hub, dominated by the kind of sprawling, dirty, and job-rich businesses that mostly left Philadelphia long ago. Now the neighborhood is full of vast tracts of empty land, some of it scarred by toxic leftovers of yesterday’s industry. A few manufacturing businesses remain, like Emil’s, an organic deli meat processor. “Because we have these big swaths of vacant land, we’ve seen these proposals for really dense projects,” said Eileen Divringi, board president of South Kensington Community Partners. “We have been a little bit overwhelmed by it, because we have meeting after meeting after meeting where we’re seeing proposals for 100-plus unit developments.” One of the most recent projects reviewed by Divringi’s group is a 190-unit housing complex from Streamline Solutions, a Philadelphia-based firm known for townhomes and duplexes. Over two-thirds of the units will be in a mixed-use, multi-family building fronting on American Street.

Read more here.

Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus

South Kensington Community Partners

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Malaka Gharib, NPR.org

Kids, this comic is for you.
It's based on a radio story that NPR education reporter Cory Turner did. He asked some experts what kids might want to know about the new coronavirus discovered in China.
To make this comic, we've used his interviews with Tara Powell at the University of Illinois School of Social Work, Joy Osofsky at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and Krystal Lewis at the National Institute of Mental Health.

Click here for how to print and fold a zine version of this comic and directions on how to fold it.