Pictures from Memorial to the Lost - June 21st 2014

Thanks so much to all our volunteers – many hands made light work of putting up t-shirt holders to commemorate lives lost to gun violence in Delaware county.  Passers-by stopped to look, ask questions, find a child’s name, a child’s friend’s name.  A Mom asked if we could add her son’s name, killed in late April (after our list cut off).  Pastor Anita’s daughters, aged 7 and 8, ran back and forth.

 

http://chesterdelcoheedinggodscall.blogspot.com/2014/06/memorial-to-lives-lost-to-gun-violence.html

Memorial serves as stark reminder of gun violence - Delco Times

 By LORETTA RODGERS, Times Correspondent, @LorettaRodgers1

Sunday, June 22, 2014

CHESTER — One hundred forty four tee shirts bearing the names of city residents who lost their lives to gun violence since 2009 made for an emotional and overwhelming sight for those traveling down ninth street this past weekend.
 

Erected Saturday on the grounds of Chester Eastside Ministries at Ninth and Upland streets, the dedication of the “Memorial to Lives Lost to Gun Violence” took place Sunday and featured a host of speakers.
 

“This is not a happy occasion,” said Chester Eastside Ministries Pastor the Rev. Bernice Warren. “These T-shirts represent human lives. We are really glad that the community has come out for this somber occasion. Look at these T-shirts and you realize the tragedy of it all. They are our mothers, sisters, brothers, fathers, grandchildren and friends. They are all our children. This madness has to stop.”
 

Sponsored by the Chester Delaware County Chapter of Heeding God’s Call, the event was co-organized by Pastor Anita Littleton of Chester’s Refuge in Christ Church and Fran Stier of the Ohev Shalom Synagogue in Wallingford.
 

“We are very pleased at the turnout today,” said Stier. “It is time people realize that there is a great need for gun control. Do you know that the city of Chester has more murders in one year than the entire country of Ireland? It is because the gun laws in the state of Pennsylvania are too lax. There are not enough controls in place to stop straw purchases.”
 

Standing with tears streaming down her face, Chester resident Delores Banks Strand, spoke of her three sons, who were all lost to gun violence on the streets of Chester. Her oldest son, Calvin Banks, was shot and killed at the age of 17 in 1993; her middle son, Duane Banks, was killed in 2006 at the age of 31; and her youngest son, Marckus Banks, was murdered in 2013 at the age of 32.
 

“I struggle every day,” Strand said. “I only had three children and they are all gone. I wake up every morning with them on my mind and there is nothing I can do. They are right here with me and I’m still standing.”
 

Heeding God’s Call member Yancy Harrell, who lost his son to gun violence, told those in attendance that they should ask themselves what they are going to do to get involved.
 

“This is your neighborhood, your people,” Yancy said. “The names on these shirts might be those of your son or daughter, or the only child of someone you know. These people will never have a graduation, wedding or children of their own. Think about that before it crosses your doorstep.”

Terry Rumsey of Delaware County United for Sensible Gun Policy, expressed appreciation and congratulated the Chester Chapter of Heeding God’s Call for installing a visual reminder of gun violence.
 

“All the stats in the world cannot measure up to what they have put out here on the lawn of Chester Eastside Ministries,” Rumsey said. “This will remind each and every person who drives by here and all the political officials of what we need to do going into the future.”
 

Rumsey said his group is dedicated to changing gun laws. He added that a walk and rally for universal background checks will begin 10 a.m. Saturday at the Calvary Baptist Church, 1616 W. Second Street, go down Ninth Street to the memorial at Chester Eastside and on to the Providence Friends Meeting House in Media.
 

Littleton said the creation of the display has been exceptionally overwhelming for her. She added that a school teacher stopped to see the display and said several of her students names were on the shirts.

“I wrote out 60 of these T-shirts and out of that 60 there were 29 that I had to cry through, pause, get up and stop because they were all under the age of 19 years old,” Littleton said. “Chester City, it is past time for a change ... We have to be the change we want to see. Change has to begin with us first. It is not the will of God that mother’s bury their children.”

Article link: http://www.delcotimes.com/general-news/20140622/memorial-serves-as-stark-reminder-of-gun-violence
 

 

Weekly Update from Chester Eastside, Wednesday, June 25

Weekly Update from Chester Eastside, Wednesday, June 25

Addressing the larger issues.

 

Chester Eastside continues to offer rich learning opportunities for young people through

its after-school program and summer day camp. But for us to fulfill our commitment to those children, we must to look beyond our own role to what else is affecting their lives. That’s what “working for a more just society” is all about. Chester Eastside is not a lobbying organization in the traditional meaning of that term. Our tax exempt status requires that we not be. But that does not mean ignoring or failing to speak out on those larger issues that affect the people we serve.

 

Case in point: quality education for all.
 

The Pennsylvania Constitution promises children in this state a “thorough and efficient

education. All children, including those growing up in Chester. But then there is the reality.
 

In 2012, drastic cuts in state funding forced the Chester Upland School District to

eliminate 40 percent of its teaching positions, sharply curtail many services, and put prekindergarten and kindergarten classes on half-time. The District has managed to get things back closer to where they were, and some good things have been happening. But Chester Upland is now under state receivership and struggling to give this community’s children a decent education. To their credit, the people who now work in that system have refused to give up and are working hard to provide the kind of education our children deserve.
 

From the beginning, people from Chester Eastside, Inc., have worked alongside others,

served on committees, and raised questions at public meetings. In some cases, Chester Eastside partners with the District on programs. To do any less would, in our minds, be a dereliction of duty.
 

Please note: This will be the last Weekly Update until September.

You may want to forward this Weekly Update to a friend.

Chester Eastside

www.chestereastside.org

610-872-4812

 

• Meeting basic human needs

• Helping people of all ages be all that they can be

• Working for a more just society

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

Policies to Address Poverty in America - The Hamilton Project

Millions of people live in poverty in this country. They suffer not only material deprivation, but also the hardships and diminished life prospects that come with being poor.

Childhood poverty often means growing up without the advantages of a stable home, high-quality schools, or consistent nutrition. Adults in poverty are often hampered by inadequate skills and education, leading to limited wages and job opportunities. And the high costs of housing, healthcare, and other necessities often mean that people must choose between basic needs, sometimes forgoing essentials like meals or medicine. In recognition of these challenges, The Hamilton Project has commissioned fourteen innovative, evidence-based antipoverty proposals. These proposals are authored by a diverse set of leading scholars, each tackling a specific aspect of the poverty crisis.

Read the full Introduction by Melissa S. Kearney, Benjamin H. Harris, and Karen L. Anderson…

Weekly Update from Chester Eastside, Wednesday, June 18

Weekly Update from Chester Eastside, Wednesday, June 18.

Expanding the horizons.

The Caribbean island nation of Haiti is a long way from Chester, PA. So, you might ask, what was Rev. Bernice Warren, Chester Eastside’s Executive Director, doing there recently?

Taking the time to do so, moreover, with the blessing of Board members.

It all started with a devastating earthquake in 2010 that left an estimated 160,000 dead and many times that number homeless. In a country whose total population is not that much more than New York City’s and whose economy was a struggle to begin with, it was catastrophic. Four years later, Haiti still has a long way to go to recovery.

Seeing that devastation up close “ignited a fire in me,” says Rev. Warren. The latest visit, one of a number since 2010, was an occasion, not just to bring along things ranging from seeds for planting to medical supplies, but to give Chester residents a graphic lesson in giving and receiving. She took along some Chester people to see for themselves. “So often we’re on the

receiving end here in Chester,” she said. “People need to see others many times worse off and be able to see themselves as sources of help to their brothers and sisters in another part of the world.”

The payoff for Chester Eastside and its work.

Expanding our horizons in this way has often held unanticipated benefits for Chester Eastside and its work. Like the time Rev. Warren was helping with the cleanup along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and happened to run into a retired craftsman from nearby Ridley Park, also on a mission of mercy. That chance meeting led to the man’s bringing his group of skilled volunteers, the Busy Bodies, to provide months and months of free labor to Chester Eastside, invaluable help which has continued to this day.

 You may want to forward this Weekly Update to a friend.

 

Chester Eastside

www.chestereastside.org

610-872-4812

 • Meeting basic human needs

• Helping people of all ages be all that they can be

• Working for a more just society

Weekly Update from Chester Eastside, Wednesday, June 11

Weekly Update from Chester Eastside, Wednesday, June 11

Partnering with parents and a school district.

Parents First is Chester Eastside’s workshop series for parents of children in the early grades in 2014, Parents First will be a joint venture between Chester Eastside and the Chester Upland School District.  Its mission: giving parents the tools to assure their children’s success in school.

What Parents First is all about.

It’s as simple as ABC. A, education is recognized as the key to a child’s making it in the world as an adult, especially children growing up in Chester. B, the earliest years are critical to what happens in the rest of a child’s school career and beyond. And C, parents are a child’s first and in many ways most important teacher.

It works this way: Twenty or so parents of children in grades pre-kindergarten through three attend ten weekly workshops led by experienced educators They cover everything from convincing parents that their children can really succeed in school if they get the right kind of support at home to showing them how to get the most out of regular contact with the classroom teacher. Meanwhile, their children engage in activities designed to complement what the parents are getting. Again, it’s experienced educators doing the teaching. Ten weeks is not a very long time, but we have found Parents First to get results that were still evident months after the end of the series. Parents spending more time reading with their children, having higher expectations yet more positive feelings about them, and becoming more involved with the teacher. Children doing better in school, both in terms of academic performance and things like attendance and classroom behavior.

 
Teaming up with the school district is a big plus for everybody.

The Chester Upland School District will be helpful in reaching out to parents. We’ll be working with teachers and supporting their efforts. The partnership will also make it easier to measure the results of our joint efforts.  The partnership is thus a big win-win for Chester Eastside and for the Chester Upland School District - but most of all, for those parents and children.

 You may want to forward this Weekly Update to a friend.

 

Chester Eastside

www.chestereastside.org

610-872-4812

• Meeting basic human needs

• Helping people of all ages be all that they can be

• Working for a more just society

Americans' Wealth Hits Record as Rich Get Richer - Wall Street Journal

Americans' wealth hit a fresh record in the first quarter amid a rise in home values and stock prices, a trajectory poised to continue as U.S. markets push higher but one that doesn't necessarily figure to rev up the sluggish recovery.

The net worth of U.S. households and nonprofit organizations—the value of homes, stocks and other assets minus debts and other liabilities—rose roughly 2%, or about $1.5 trillion, between January and March to $81.8 trillion, the highest on record, according to a report by the Federal...     

Article link: http://online.wsj.com/articles/americans-wealth-hits-new-record-in-1st-quarter-1401985427?mod=e2fb