The House of Umoja is an internationally known organization that is dedicated to the positive development of youth, reducing violence and abusive behavior, providing interventions in negative behavior and improving the quality of life for economically disadvantaged urban male youth. It has a rich, 40-year history of service has received over 100 awards for its work with at-risk youth, ending gang warfare and community service. HOU violence prevention strategies have been replicated nationally, written up in over 40 publications. Recognized by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan
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2009 IMANI ANTI-VIOLENCE AGENDA
As the year 2008 draws to a close, the House of Umoja ends its year long 40th Anniversary celebration with a call to action to GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE for the future of Philadelphia. In continuance of our mission to save lives of youth and their families, each day, during the Kwanzaa season the House of Umoja honors those individuals who exemplify the Kwanzaa principles which also guide the House of Umoja. On the seventh day, IMANI, the House of Umoja challenges its neighborhoods to become the “Beloved Community” that Dr. Martin Luther King called for. Encompassing a commitment to Peace and Non-Violence, the 2009 agenda aims to prevent violence and the use of guns in Philadelphia. We are calling for community and organizational peace partners in this mission. GIVING THE GIFT OF LIFE includes Umoja’s THINK GREEN PEACE CAMPAIGN
Think Green is for Peace In our Streets and Beyond; Think Green is for Wellness, Health, and Holistic Living. Think Green is for economic and community development. The vehicle is the transference of vacant lots into peace gardens that bear vegetables, fruits, and flowers. This key vehicle allows Umoja’s Think Green Peace Campaign to address all of these areas to improve the quality of life in Philadelphia as well as create a model program that can work internationally in the markets that the House of Umoja reaches.
The Think Green Campaign will begin in the Carroll Park Neighborhood as a model then spread citywide. It will involve the selection of youth by Overbrook, High School, whom have been identified as potential drop-outs. These youth will be paired with senior citizens from our church community. Together, they will be a team to more efficiently utilize the abandoned lots in the neighborhood to become gardens. Fourth Councilman, Curtis Jones, Jr., will bring together all of the block captains within this district to identify eligible lots. Councilman Jones, serves on the environmental committee of the City of Philadelphia’s City Council and also has an interest in “Green Technology” as well as the environment.
52nd Street, Lansdowne Avenue, and the 69th Street business districts will be asked to contribute to a fund that will provide monies to purchase seeds identified by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The Horticultural Society Recycling Commission located at Ford Road & Chamonix Drive has contributed soil for our existing garden and is a resource for non-organic soil. Saul High School will continue testing the soil before planting to ensure proper growth and development of the produce.
This community development program can be a vehicle for entrepreneurship, because the produce can be sold to the grocery stores and marketed in the same manner as “farmers market”. We will also utilize this vehicle to engage our youth in understanding their rich heritage in agriculture.
Sovereign Bank is crucial to the success of the “Think Green Peace Campaign”, because each youth participant will be mandated to open a bank account to deposit a portion of their work stipend. They will attend workshops on the value of money management; the importance of good credit and investment for their future. This program with a holistic outcome will impact on the quality of life by discouraging the use of abandoned lots as drop-offs for drugs. It will beautify the neighborhood; it will improve health by providing nutritious food; it will engage neighbors in taking ownership, not only of the land but more importantly providing for our young people, caring and supportive adults.
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