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Here’s what Kensington's community organizations need from you

,   and  By Erin Blewett
5 min read

Kensington Voice wants to know how people can help community organizations get through this time. What does your organization need? Message us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or email us at editors@kensingtonvoice.com and we’ll add your request to this list.

Bebashi – Transition to Hope

1235 Spring Garden Street Philadelphia, PA 19123

(215) 769-3561

Bebashi – Transition to Hope is a nonprofit that provides culturally sensitive healthcare services, sexual health education, free HIV/STI testing, hunger relief, and social services. 

People can drop off the requested items listed below, Monday – Friday 8:30 am to 5 pm, and can go to their website to give monetary donations: https://www.bebashi.org/donate/

Here’s what they need from you: 

  • Masks
  • Menstrual hygiene products 
  • Monetary donations 

Covenant House PA 

31 E. Armat Street Philadelphia PA 19144

(215) 951-5411

Covenant House PA is a program for youth experiencing homelessness, aged 21 and under, that provides shelter, medical services, job and college search assistance, and one-on-one support to help guests achieve their goals. 

Here’s what they need from you: 

  • Amazon wish list of items needed for donations (plus general and/or grocery store gift cards)
  • Monetary donations. To donate, please visit their website.

Kensington Health Sciences Academy

2463 Emerald Street Philadelphia, PA 19125

(215) 400-3600

Kensington Health Sciences Academy is a high school that is 1 of 12 community schools in Philadelphia, their goal is to ensure that every student graduates from their school prepared to enter college or begin a career upon graduation.  

Here’s what they need from you: 

  • Guest speakers (can be a variety of topics/interests) and any ideas on how they can keep students engaged, busy, and learning.  
  • Contact: Antonio.Romero@phila.gov

Operation In My Backyard (OPIMBY)

operationimby@yahoo.com

OPIMBY is a nonprofit organization advocating for harm reduction and providing free supplies including Naloxone, food, and resources for residents who are experiencing homelessness, addiction, or take part in sex work in Kensington. How to donate: Reach out to OPIMBY by email at operationimby@yahoo.com or message them on social media to coordinate a drop-off of supplies as they do not have a physical address. They can be found on Facebook at @OPIMBY and Instagram at @OP_IMBY.

Here’s what they need from you:

  • Protective Equipment
    • Donate masks and gloves
  • Financial donations
    • To donate, send money to @OPIMBY on Venmo or through their paypal, here. 
  • Food donations, which can be provided in grab-and-go bags
    • Prepared sandwiches, fresh fruit (clementines, oranges, bananas), snacks, and cases of water

Pathways to Housing PA

5201 Old York Rd 4th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19141

(215) 390-1500

Pathways to Housing is an organization in Philadelphia that works to provide housing to people who have experienced chronic homelessness and suffer from serious mental illness, substance use disorder, and/or multiple other disabilities. They offer primary care services, medication management, and the coordination of psychiatric and addictions services to program participants to help them maintain stable housing and better health. 

Here’s what they need from you: 

  • Monetary donations. To donate, please visit their website.
  • Donate furniture,especially small kitchen tables and dressers.  
    • The Philadelphia Furniture Bank has remained open to help meet the ongoing needs of those who are experiencing homelessness during the crisis. In order to be safe due to COVID-19, we are only accepting  curbside donations at the Philadelphia Furniture Bank, Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 
    • Donors should call when they arrive to notify a staff member, and then unload furniture in front of the building. A staff member will sanitize the item(s) and take them inside after the donor has left. To make a furniture donation, please call the Philadelphia Furniture Bank at 215-291-9830.
  • Support the emergency pantry. 
    • The emergency pantry contains essential items for home-bound participants with no income or those who are having emergencies. Supporting the pantry allows Pathways to immediately connect those people with what they need. To purchase items for their pantry, visit their Amazon Wish List.
  • Use your voice to advocate for those in need. 
    • According to Pathways, the most effective change happens when people band together to advocate for the causes that are important to them. Important legislation, like replacing General Assistance or passing the HUD Funding Bill to protect access to housing, directly affects the population we serve. You can help make an impact by advocating for these issues to your representatives and making sure your voice is heard.

Prevention Point Philadelphia

2913-15 Kensington Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19134

(215) 634-5272

Prevention Point Philadelphia  is a harm reduction center that provides syringe exchange services, free medical care, linkage to drug treatment, housing services, HIV/HCV testing, free meals, mail services, medical care, legal services and overdose prevention, and reversal training. 

Here’s what they need from you: 

  • Protective Equipment
    • Donate masks, gowns, gloves, and thermometers (if unable to buy/donate them, making them for the staff is an option, too). Prevention Point determined they need $200,000 of equipment, just to outfit staff for the next four months.
  • Financial donations
    • Monetary donations from the public allows Prevention Point to buy much-needed equipment, such as those listed above, and other essentials for their clients. Click here to donate. 
  • Non-perishable food, which can be provided in grab-and-go bags, such as snacks, cereal, protein bars, etc.
  • Amazon Wish List items

The Simple Way

PO Box #14751, PHILADELPHIA, PA, 19134

(215) 423-3598

The Simple Way is an organization that provides Kensington residents with emergency services, housing, and food. 

The Simple Way hands out premade food bags twice a week, Mondays 12-1 p.m. and Wednesdays 9.30-12 p.m. (or till they run out of food). The Simple Way is also helping provide bags for seniors in a program through Esperanza Health Center, a neighborhood partner.

Here’s what they need from you: 

  • Non-perishable food donations (cereal, pasta, boxed mac n cheese, rice, beans, canned meats) 
  • Financial support. Online donations can be made here or sent to The Simple Way PO Box 14751, PHILADELPHIA, PA, 19134.

SOL Collective

outreach@phillysolcollective.org

SOL Collective is a harm reduction collective working to end the overdose crisis and advocate for overdose prevention sites through community outreach and overdose reversal training. Some of the services and supplies they offer during outreach include Narcan, wound care, toiletries,  and socks. 

Here’s what they need from you: 

  • Masks (any kind, homemade and made out of cloth is great)
  • Gloves (major need)
  • Snacks, such as granola bars, for handing out 
  • Water bottles
  • Monetary donations via PayPal (paypal.me/phillysolcollective)

To contact them, send an email to outreach@phillysolcollective.org or send a message on the SOL Collective Facebook page. 

West Kensington Ministry

2140 N Hancock St, Philadelphia, PA 19122

(267) 879-6310

West Kensington Ministry is a bilingual church and faith-based organization that provides youth after-school programming, neighborhood resources, and engages with the community in poverty and immigration related services.

Here’s what they need from you: 

  • Help them make 2020 Census outreach phone calls.
  • Volunteers to hand out boxes of food from the city on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
  • Volunteers to help deliver food and resources (schedule is flexible)

To contact them, call (267) 879-6310 or email adan.mairena@gmail.com

St Francis Inn

2441 Kensington Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125

(215) 423-5845

St. Francis Inn provides dine-in meals, food baskets and snack items to people experiencing homelessness and residents of Kensington. 

Here’s what they need from you: 

To contact them, call (215) 423-5845

Veterans Multiservice Center

213-217 N 4th St, Philadelphia, PA 19106

(215) 923-2600

The Veterans Multiservice Center provides services, programs, opportunity and advancement to Veterans of the U.S. military and their families.

For veterans and their families, the VMC is asking for any donations that others can spare. Call (215) 923-2600 to ask how you can donate food and other items.

Here’s what they need from you: 

  • Food donations
  • More items that are needed can be found at their Amazon wishlist.

Editors: Jillian Bauer-Reese, Zari Tarazona / Designer: Henry Savage / Translator: Diana Cristancho

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