The SKCP Blog
Old/South Kensington Tree Tenders Application & Community Tree Planting coming up!
South Kensington Community Partners
Old/South Kensington Tree Tenders are taking applications for trees to be planted in the Fall.
If you or your neighbors would like to see trees planted on your block please let us know. You can fill out the form at https://pg-cloud.com/phs/?openform=request-a-tree or call 215-370-0099 or click here for a paper application or call/text 215-370-0099 for assistance in applying.
Community Tree Planting coming up: Earth Day weekend. Old/South Kensington Tree Tenders will be planting trees on Saturday, April 24th
If you would like to volunteer on planting day, please let us know by calling/texting 215-370-0099 or emailing greening@southkensingtoncommunity.org
We will still be observing COVID protocols including making volunteer assignments ahead of time.
SKCP Virtual Community Meeting
South Kensington Community Partners
Click the link: http://ow.ly/Qcu850E9GCB to register.
SKCP Spring Clean-UP
South Kensington Community Partners
You can sign-up as a project site or volunteer by visiting bit.ly/oldesouthcleanup or calling (215) 427-3463
Free Library Launches New Job Seeker Resources
South Kensington Community Partners
The Free Library is pleased to "announce the launch" of a number of new resources for Philadelphians in search of a new job or career! "Workshops", "career fairs", and a "new website" are part of the Free Library’s expansion of services focused on the needs of job seekers, emerging literacy-level adults, and those who lack the digital access and digital literacy skills required to obtain stable, reliable employment. With support secured by the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation from Citizens Charitable Foundation, Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and PECO, these new and renewed initiatives for job seekers will ramp up throughout April.
Read here.
PHASE 4 PHLRentAssist is now open!!
South Kensington Community Partners
Phase 4 Facts:
Landlords and tenants can apply. If a landlord applies, their tenant must be eligible, and they must get written consent from their tenant. If a landlord does not wish to participate, the rental assistance can be paid directly to the tenant.
Applicants who received funds in Phases 1-3 of PHLRentAssist are eligible to apply for Phase 4, however, applicants may not receive funds for any months which they have previously been paid.
Tenants are eligible if they meet all three of these criteria:
1- Have a household income at or below 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). View income guidelines here.
2- Qualify for unemployment benefits; or have experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced some other financial hardship due to COVID-19.
3- Demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Tenants can meet this criterion if they have any past-due rent, past due utilities, received an eviction notice, or are paying over one-third of their household income on rent.
Assistance for both rent and utilities is available:
1- Rent assistance can be provided for up to 18 months total, including back rent and forward rent. However, no more than 3 months of forward rent can be provided at one time. Tenants who receive 3 months of forward rent and have not exceeded the 18 months of total assistance, may reapply for another 3 months of forward rent.
2- Applicants with rent arrears must satisfy at least one month of those arrears before applying for forward rent.
3- Assistance may only be provided for months of rent after April 2020.
4- The total amount of rent assistance cannot exceed $2,000 per month, and that amount may include late fees or other charges passed on by the landlord.
5- Utility payments can be provided for up to 18 months total.
6- Utility payments must have been accrued on or after March 12, 2020.
7-Utility payments can only be for the current month and past-due utility payments (assistance is not available for future months’ utility bills).
Utility payments can only be for the current month and past-due utility payments (assistance is not available for future months’ utility bills).
Visit PHLRentAssist for more details and Questions? Call 311 or visit our HELP Portal.
PHILLY COUNTS News!!
South Kensington Community Partners
Join Philly Counts for an Upcoming Vaccine Information Champion Training!
If you didn’t have the chance to join us last week, we are excited to share the registration links for upcoming Vaccine Information Champion training sessions in English on April 5th at 1:00pm, and in Spanish on April 8th at 1:00pm. We understand that there are many questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, how to sign up for it, and what to expect when you go for your appointment. We hope this 90 minute training empowers you with the information you need to have meaningful conversations with your friends and neighbors.
Philly Counts is Hiring!
Philly Counts is hiring! We are seeking organizers to help coordinate and conduct outreach and education around the COVID-19 vaccine throughout Philadelphia.
We are hiring organizers to assist with building coalitions, coordinating meetings and collective engagement activities, and general administrative duties in the African and Caribbean communities, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, and throughout our city’s neighborhoods. We have already filled a position that will work with the Latino community. Click on the job postings below to learn more about the roles we’re seeking to fill, and please share with your networks. We would like to hire Neighborhood Organizers that are from Philadelphia.
Coalition Organizer, African and Caribbean communities
Coalition Organizer, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities
Neighborhood Organizer
Philly Spring Clean UP 2021
South Kensington Community Partners
It’s been a long year but we are excited about the return of the Philly Spring Cleanup on Saturday, April 10th!
Things will be slightly different this year due to new COVID-19 safety protocols. Each project site must be limited to 20 volunteers. And all projects will need a COVID Prevention Coordinator.
Share your neighborhood clean up projects with SKCP by leaving a message at 215-427-3463 or emailing info@southkensingtoncommunity.org with the project location and number of volunteers needed. We won't be able to gather as we have in years past, but we can still help recruit volunteers,coordinate trash pick up, and offer supplemental tools and PPP.>/span>.
COVID-19 Funeral Assistance - FEMA
South Kensington Community Partners
Under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, FEMA will provide financial assistance for COVID-19-related funeral expenses incurred after January 20, 2020. We are working with stakeholder groups to get their input on ways we can best provide this assistance, and to enlist their help with outreach to families and communities. FEMA will begin to implement COVID-19 funeral assistance in April.
Additional guidance is being finalized and will be released to potential applicants and community partners as soon as possible. In the meantime, people who have COVID-19 funeral expenses are encouraged to keep and gather documentation.
Details here.
REGISTER OF WILLS , PHILADELPHIA OFFICE
South Kensington Community Partners
The primary goal of the Register of Wills office in Philadelphia is to serve you, especially during the time when you may be grieving the loss of a loved one.
The information in this brochure is intended to be of assistance by providing basic information relating to estates and the functions of this office.
Please be assured that the office of the Register of Wills is committed to provide services to the public in a prompt and efficient matter.
Register of Wills and the Recorder of Deeds announced the launch of the Probate Deferment Initiative (PDI)
South Kensington Community Partners
Register of Wills and the Recorder of Deeds announced the launch of the Probate Deferment Initiative (PDI). Register of Wills Tracey Gordon and Commissioner of Records Jim Leonard are waiving and deferring fees associated with "Tangled Titles." Our office will guide PDI Applicants to a free legal aid group where they will get a new will and the title fixed - free of charge. This program is designed for middle and low income families.
Probate Deferment Initiative Announcement (PDI) - Launch Video - Youtube
Probate Deferment Initiative Announcement (PDI) - Launch Video - Facebook
Vision Zero Conference Philadelphia: Recovery through Safety & Mobility
South Kensington Community Partners
The 2021 Vision Zero Conference Philadelphia format will feature speakers and panels for 2-3 hours per day during the week of March 22-26, 2021. Each day speakers and panel topics will focus on a specific theme, including:
-equity and the disproportionate impact of traffic violence on communities of color
-Philadelphia’s Vision Zero efforts -how the Greater Philadelphia region can pursue Vision Zero
-the role of community in Vision Zero, and
-thinking beyond current mobility options to reach Vision Zero.
Self Guide Ride of VZ and Complete Street Projects
Tickets are sliding scale and all levels get you the same access to five days of programming.
SKCP COMMUNITY ZONING VIRTUAL MEETING
South Kensington Community Partners
Mark your calendar for Livewell Garden Projects
South Kensington Community Partners
Livewell Garden Projects @ Howard & Master
All are invited to participate.
Meet us in the garden space: Northeast corner of Howard and Master Streets
Saturday, March 20 @ 10am (rain date Sunday): Clean up, brush management
Saturday, April 24 @ 10am (rain date Sunday): Modification of chain link fence, gazebo maintenance
Saturday, May 22 @ 10am (rain date Sunday): Gazebo maintenance part 2, spring planting of annuals and perennials
We ask that all participants wear appropriate attire and bring work gloves. We will follow current COVID protocols and ask participants to wear a mask and practice social distancing.
PPP (Payroll Protection Program) NEW RULES!!
South Kensington Community Partners
Small Business Owners: What You Need To Know About The New PPP Rules
Morgan Simon, Forbes
Are you a small business owner, working on your own or with less than 20 employees? Do you have student debt, a felony record, or are you a Green Card holder? The Biden administration announced five major changes in the Payroll Protection Program this week, which could make a big difference in making sure your application reaches the front of the line this time around.
Here are the updates:
1. Less restrictions on formerly incarcerated small business owners
2. More access for immigrant business owners
3. No more penalizing business owners with student loans
4. Two-week focus period for business owners with less than 20 employees
5. No more restrictions on business owners without a payroll
Read here for details.
IMPORTANT SURVEYS: Septa & City of Philadelphia
South Kensington Community Partners
SEPTA Winter 2021 COVID-19 Travel Survey
In 2020, we asked you whether or not you were traveling on SEPTA during the pandemic. We would like to hear from you again in our Winter 2021 COVID-19 Travel Survey. You'll notice some differences with the new survey, but the goal remains the same: To help us improve our service and keep our passengers and employees safe.
Click here to participate
As the city recovers from the devastating and racially disproportionate impact of COVID-19, Philadelphians -- now more than ever -- are looking for critical services and resources that address their needs. In order to better understand those needs and the best ways to respond to them, we need to hear from community members like you.
Please share your thoughts with our 5-minute survey.
The deadline for responses is Saturday, March 13, 2021.
Click here for more information on the Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity.
SKCP Virtual Community Meeting
South Kensington Community Partners
FREE FOOD PICKUP
South Kensington Community Partners
Get the flyer here
Looking for Volunteers: If you have a car or truck and want to help with Saturday deliveries, please call and leave a message @ 215-427-3463
PPD Domestic Violence Seminar Series
South Kensington Community Partners
Upcoming Service Area Briefing with the Philly Register of Wills!
South Kensington Community Partners
Flyer for March 23 Service Area Briefing with the Register of Wills. Click image to register for the Zoom meeting.