In honor of Global Youth Service Day, we partnered with the Nicetown Community Development Corporation (CDC) to begin the full-gut rehabilitation of a home at 4556 North Uber St. in the Nicetown area of Philadelphia. In conjunction with community volunteers, students and staff began the demolition phase of the severely damaged property that YouthBuild’s Class of 2010 will transform into a fully “green” and energy-efficient home. The demolition project was covered by FOX News, and photos are available here.

Also at 4556 North Uber St., YouthBuild students and staff constructed a picnic table that was donated to the community.

Our students participated in other exciting projects across the city of Philadelphia to celebrate Global Youth Service Day:

• Leading a discussion about violence in a North Philadelphia school
• Designing and decorating (including assembling a collage) two rooms used for group sessions for teenagers of families who have lost someone to violence at Every Murder is Real in Germantown
• Passing out flyers and information about anti-violence and domestic abuse in the Kensington area (in partnership with the Salvation Army)
• Repairing and prepping a garden near Martin Luther King High School (in partnership with Keep America Beautiful)
• Finishing two murals that will be donated to Winchester Recreation Center
• Shadowing at Mothers in Charge (founded by mothers who have had a child die from violence)
• Assist in serving a lunch in honor of the Holocaust Museum in Northeast Philadelphia (in partnership with the Jewish Community Center)