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There are amazing programs in Philadelphia designed to support people who are managing the impacts of poverty. Yet too often, those deeply impacted are cut off from the source that can help.

During ECS’ annual Staff Appreciation Day, a special award was presented to Jasmine Walker, the OST (Out of School Time) Program Manager at Feltonville Intermediate.   

We are in the season of Advent, a four-week time of waiting for the light of the Star of Bethlehem to announce the good news of the birth of Jesus. A light that continues to shine brightly, even in the face of so much darkness across the land.

In my tradition, we are asked to be Advent people. As I reflect on that challenge, I ask myself what it means to be a people of the light.

It would be easy to be overwhelmed by the darkness of poverty, of violence in all its forms, of environmental destruction, authoritarianism, racism, and unbridled greed. Depending on one’s background and resources, the darkness is often seen as someone else’s problem or ignored altogether as walls of privilege, circumstances, and greed give false security from the darkness.

“Three decades of service and an enduring mission” 

It was Christmas Day, 1949 when Jean Tinney, a 6th grader from Collingdale, Delaware County, walked several blocks to her friend Betty’s house to deliver a small gift. Betty was a classmate of Jean’s living in a home with a foster care provider – the fourth or fifth foster home Betty had known. Jean was disheartened when she found Betty not celebrating at all, but scrubbing the bathroom floor. “It’s what I have to do,” Betty told her. “It isn’t right,” Jean exclaimed to her parents when she returned home. That spring, Betty was sent to the Burd School, an orphanage for girls on Baltimore Avenue.

I'm Jessica Main, Director of The ECS Fund. Starting out as a social work intern at ECS back in 2012, I have loved being part of an organization that makes meaningful change!

Thank you to all who joined us in person and virtually for the ECS Forum on Justice and Opportunity on the benefits cliff! Our moderator and panelists did an awesome job spotlighting this issue, which is one of our Lead advocacy issues. 

Since 2000, Lights On Afterschool has been celebrated  nationwide to call attention to the importance of afterschool programs for America's children, families and communities.

On October 14, 2022, professional golf champion and World Hall of Famer Gary Player presented a check for $300,000 to Episcopal Community Services (ECS) to support ECS’ out-of-school time (OST) program, the second largest OST program in Philadelphia.  The check presentation took place at the Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences.