Today, in my column, I want to share information about a wonderful community nonprofit organization and one of its longtime staff members, Mr. Tyrone Williams. A lifelong resident of North Philadelphia, I would describe Tyrone as a community activist through and through. He works for the Strawberry Mansion Community Development Corporation (CDC), and his title is outreach specialist; translated, that means community activist.
When I asked Tyrone Williams to describe what Strawberry Mansion CDC is all about he said, “We believe in preserving our past and investing in the future. We have a lot of development currently going on in Strawberry Mansion. A lot of the development really started during the pandemic when people were supposed to be quarantining, but it seems like that was exempt to those in the building industry. There was an influx of building and development going on in Strawberry Mansion.”
“Our CDC handles development not just of the community but of the people in the community. We are a registered community organization (RCO). Every fourth Thursday of the month, developers who want to build in our area of the city come before us on Zoom to talk about their projects. They come to present their projects. Sometimes, developers come with variances, and they come with “buy right” development. I always say just because it’s “buy right” doesn’t make it right. Our organization is one that takes a close look at what’s going on in terms of development in our neighborhood. We often tell developers if they understand the overlay, that is, in Strawberry Mansion, we are an overlay district, and they read the overlay prior to coming to our RCO meetings. You can’t just come and tell us whatever you want–and just build anything. We are an intelligent community and a very grounded and stable community.”
Williams describes the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood as a community of families. He stated, “This is a community of generations. Strawberry Mansion has the highest homeownership of African Americans in the country. Forty-four or more percent of homeowners in Strawberry Mansion are African American. We have nothing against renters because you have to start somewhere, but the Strawberry Mansion community has a lot of homeowners, and they seek to pass on that generational wealth. This is why we at the CDC came up with the repair program, for example, to assist homeowners in our area.”
Tyrone Williams continued, “In Strawberry Mansion, we have a lot of historic homes. Some of these homes still have the old coal furnaces in the basement. Some of the homes still have a number of the original stained glass windows. It is expensive to repair these homes. That’s where neighborhood flight comes into play, according to Tyrone Williams. When some of our home- owners can’t continue to make the repairs on their homes that are needed, they give up and move away.”
Tonetta Graham is the President of the Strawberry Mansion CDC, and Tyrone Williams says he gives her all the props because she’s. ,,,
Thank you for reading Thera Martin article on scoopnewsusa.com. For more on “Strawberry Mansion Community Development Corporation making good things happen in North Philadelphia“, please subscribe to SCOOP USA Media. Print subscriptions are $75 and online subscriptions (Print, Digital, and VIZION) are $90. (52 weeks / 1 year).
