Author: MifflinSquarePlan

Vanderbilt & Interfaith Philadelphia Spring Clean-up

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Vanderbilt University students at MSP.

Last week, Mifflin Square welcomed two groups of student volunteers for a two-day cleanup to kick off Spring in the park! Seven students from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee visited Philadelphia for an alternative spring break trip focused on community service. The group spent two days raking leaves, sweeping walkways, and picking up trash in and around Mifflin Square Park, leaving it in tip-top shape and ready for upcoming events and activities. The group was able to stop by the South 7th Street corridor for lunch at El Sabor Catracho, a local Honduran-Mexican restaurant. Ten students from local colleges and universities involved in Interfaith’s Alternative Break program helped in the park as well as cleaning up on South 7th Street.

On Thursday, both groups convened at SEAMAAC’s Outreach offices on 8th street to enjoy food from local restaurants and have a conversation with SEAMAAC Executive Director Thoai Nguyen. After lunch they visited the nearby Growing Home Gardens before wrapping up at Mifflin Square Park (and joining in with some kids for a few games of soccer and basketball!). A huge thanks to the group leaders and all of the students for their hard work!

Monthly cleanups in Mifflin Square Park will continue every first Thursday through October – come and help keep it beautiful at the next cleanup on April 2nd!

Fun on the basketball court!

$1.5 million grant kicks off renovation plan for Mifflin Square Park – WHYY

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Mifflin Square neighbors have been imagining the park they want for four years. Now that dream, conceptualized in the rendering above, is being designed in partnership with the city. (Courtesy of SEAMAAC & HECTOR)

Walking by a new playground somewhere else in the city always makes Erme Maula, a 45-year-old Filipino American living in South Philadelphia, a little jealous.

“Especially if it’s really cool and has that squishy bottom,” she said.

Maula mostly uses the playground near her house, the one at Mifflin Square Park that has remained unchanged since the 1990s. The city park, one of the few open green spaces in South Philadelphia, is located between Fifth and Sixth streets from Wolf to Ritner, at the heart of a neighborhood that hosts many ethnicities.

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Schematic Design Focus Group Recap

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Community members review the schematic design plan.

On January 23rd, members of the Friends of Mifflin Square Park and former Community Design Leaders joined with other neighbors for a Schematic Design Focus Group led by SEAMAAC and Hector at SEAMAAC’s 8th Street Outreach Office. Neighbors discussed how to prioritize designs in the concept plan focusing mainly on play equipment, seating, and sports fields. A robust discussion helped to identify which pieces of playground equipment were most popular, where seating was most needed, and how to make sure the vision of the concept plan is carried through in a maintainable and implementable manner. Schematic designs are being revised with this prioritization in mind, and more neighborhood events are to come. Stay tuned!

Listen: Making Room for Everyone – Philadelphia Neighborhoods Podcast

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Built in the 1890s, Mifflin Square Park used to be full of energy and brought together the culturally diverse neighborhood surrounding the park. But in recent years, there has been an increase in violence and tension in the space.

Mifflin Square is currently in the middle of a six-year revitalization plan. This project, Making Room for Everyone, was created hopes of rebuilding and modernizing the space while bringing back community engagement, cultural acceptance and safety to the park. While the project has made some positive progress in engaging neighbors, there are still those who are unaware of the plan. Residents hope the project will live up to its name of truly making space for all in the neighborhood.

https://philadelphianeighborhoods.com/2019/07/26/podcast-making-room-for-everyone-rebuilding-south-phillys-mifflin-square-park/

Local elected officials invest $70,000 into SEAMAAC projects – South Philly Review

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South Philadelphia residents gathered at Mifflin Square Park on Saturday afternoon for free blood, glucose and other medical screenings with volunteers from Thomas Jefferson University.

But, the health-focused event expanded beyond vital signs.

The community spent the day celebrating ongoing efforts to improve the welfare of the Whitman park, as Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition Inc. received two grants totaling $70,000 from Sen. Larry Farnese and Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, made possible through the state Department of Community and Economic Development. SEAMAAC, a more than 30-year-old Philadelphia-based nonprofit working to empower immigrants, refugees and marginalized communities, plans to allocate $50,000 from Farnese’s office to its SoPhiE food truck, which features immigrant chefs.

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