December 2008
We are grateful for the tireless work of Jessica our gardening intern (she studied Horticultural Therapy and has been doing her field placement with us – 500 hours worth!). With the help of all kinds of neighbors and volunteers, she has helped resurrect H Street after the fire with new grass, garden boxes, and a tree.

---

May 2008
With all the families stable, all homes repaired, we are continuing to reimagine our block that is now a scar from the fire. Two lots will go up for auction this month that we hope to acquire and make beautiful. We have renewed hope that liens that the City has placed on fire victims will be relinquished, and are encouraged by the efforts of our Councilwoman’s office and Mayor – please keep it all in prayer as we folks try to do what is right and work against all the principalities and powers that stand in the way of goodness and justice.

---

CHECK OUT THE NEW VIDEO UPDATE WITH THE MAYOR

THANKS FOR INCREDIBLE NEIGHBORS!!!
Over and over, we have been inspired by our neighbors who were also affected by the fire. They continue to astound us with grace and generosity in the midst of crisis. One family who lost their home, Rosemarie and Pablo have decided to donate their land to The Simple Way, knowing that we will be good stewards of it.
They have moved on and found a new place to live nearby, but still care about what happens on their vacant land and want it to become something lovely for the neighborhood. We encourage you to take time to write a note to Rosemarie and Pablo. You can send any notes or letters to Rose and Pablo c/o The Simple Way (PO Box 14751 Philadelphia, PA 19134) and we will ensure they get passed on to them.

---

Michelle and Brooke are no longer heading up the efforts here.

---

Thanks as always for trying to keep up with us. Here are the most recent happenings:

Pedro, the young man in featured in Jamie's video, agreed to be my (Michelle) assistant/translator when I go around the neighborhood talking to people. This may seem like a simple thing, but honestly it has been kind of revolutionary. The neighborhood folks not only understand him, they know him and trust him in a way they never would have trusted me even if I could speak Spanish. He has helped me reach so many people, people who before had to use their very young children and grandchildren to explain to me the sagas of their homeowners insurance or their lousy rental situation. It just wasn't working. And now it works so well! We are now in contact with 3 out of 4 of the owners of the houses that were completely lost to talk about purchasing their vacant land for gardens or recreational (or just positive) space. We also are helping a woman who lost her home to get out of the 1 bedroom apartment she is renting because her landlord is terrible and won't even allow her daughter (18 yrs old) to live with her there. She is going to try to purchase a home, and we are trying to connect her with all the right people to make this happen. And finally, we are talking to a woman whose porch roof is collapsing, siding is melted and windows are cracked from the fire's heat. She only speaks Spanish but has been in limbo with her insurance and mortgage companies because all of their correspondence to her has been in English. So needless to say, Pedro's involvement has been fantastic.

We have also been able to help a family whose house was torn apart and looted after the evacuations following the blaze by purchasing their property, allowing them to have a quick sale and a significant down payment to buy another house and start fresh.

Finally, the new councilwoman, Maria Quinones Sanchez, has taken office, and she's just great. She is going to have an introductory meeting with us very soon, and we are so excited that she is on board. (It also happens that one of her staff is a housemate of one of our board members. Can you believe that??)

We continue to be blessed from all of your concern and support, and love being able to distribute the donations that continue to come our way from all of you to help the families hurt by the fire. Thank you so much.

---

Thanks for checking in with us! Not a whole lot has changed since we last updated. We have completed all the repairs on the damaged homes that people brought to us. The hardest part now is going to be tracking down the people we haven't talked with since the fire and making sure they are doing alright. Many folks went sort of MIA (not surprising) after the fire, and finding working contact numbers and addresses for them has been challenging. A major obstacle in this, too, has been in language. Most of them are Spanish speakers, and we (Brooke and Michelle) are woefully inept when it comes to the ol' espanol. PSC member, Robb, has done a great job translating for us when we needed it, but this is looking like it might become more of a time commitment. We are now talking about hiring one of the neighborhood teens (a motivated young father and former Yes!And... camper who lost his house on H St.) to be our liaison/translator for the month so that we can be sure to get in contact with folks who may not have wanted to slip past us but did.

Now, about the land that has been left vacant. We have been brainstorming and sitting with neighbors and cost-analyzing and dreaming and talking and researching and speculating, and we don't quite have it all figured out yet. But we're close. (Just kidding.) Brooke worked extensively with her brother, Carl, on plans for a green building (as in environmentally friendly, not a place to grow little plants) on Potter St., and we've researched basketball courts, gardens, rehabs, event space, fancy kitchens, co-ops and cafes. There's a long way to go before any of these plans begin to take shape in reality, but they are a start. They also present several dilemmas, mostly having to do with the future plans and goals of the simple way, but perhaps more importantly to do with the face of the neighborhood. These are not small conversation topics, and the board of directors, alongside the founders, is figuring out how to handle all of the opportunities that have been placed before them while staying true to the mission of the simple way. Keep us all in your prayers in this journey.

Finally, about the city, and that whopping great L&I bill. The simple way still owes over $14,000 for the demolition of 3200 Potter St, but we are appealing this bill and definitely have the support of the city councilman, Dan Savage, behind us. However, Dan Savage is on his way out of office, and we are going to have to get the new councilwoman, Maria Quinones Sanchez on board with it as well. (We have heard lots of great things about her, so we don't think this will be a problem.) We will let you know when that hearing is going to happen, probably 2-3 months from now.

Look for another update soon. Thanks for your support!

---

It's been a little while since you all have seen an update. Sorry. In the last update, a call was put out to ask for help in the administrative aspects of this fire aftermath, and the call was answered. Brooke Sexton and Michelle Harper Brix are sharing the job of helping families rebuild and repair, as well as plotting and organizing the next steps for the lots on H St that are now flattened sections of dirt. Take it away, ladies.

So this is Michelle, and I'm going to give you an idea of what's been happening over the past month on my end.

So far, with the help of the donations we've received (Thank you all!) we have been able to repair 5 homes that were damaged, and are working on 2 others currently. We are also working with another woman who's house as looted after she had to evacuate following the fire-- all the copper piping and wiring was taken-- to put a down payment on another property for her to purchase. Finally, we have also been able to offer rent subsidies to still more families who had to relocate. We are very grateful to be able to help our neighbors in this way.

As the needs are being met, fewer and fewer people have been attending the neighborhood coalition meetings. We are hopeful that this means that we have done our best to work with the folks who have most needed assistance. We currently do not have another meeting scheduled.

If you contacted us offering skill sets and gifts that you have to offer, it is very likely that I will be contacting you soon. Up until this point, our needs have been fairly specialized, but we are sure that there are projects that will require your talents even before the rebuilding will being.

On a more discouraging note, you might remember that we got a bill ($14,500!) for the demolition of 3200 from L&I, and when we called our councilperson's office to express our surprise, they claimed to be shocked and appalled and said they would take care of it right away. When I called that same man this past week to see how progress was being made to eliminate our responsibility for this bill, he seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. Because it is likely that the other homeowners on the block received similar bills, we really want to encourage the councilman's office to take care of all of these so that there aren't liens put on the properties. I resent the bills to him and am going to try to get some word from the councilperson this week. If I am unsuccessful, this office might show up under the "Important Calls to Make" sidebar. Keep your eye out. ~michelle

brooke here. While Michelle has been doing a wonderful job helping our neighbors with the practical issues that have come up from the fire, I have been doing the dreaming, organizing and listening needed to figure out what to do about the huge hole that has been burned in the fabric of our block.

I have had the honor of listening to the dreams our neighbors, the Potter Street Community and friends. It has been inspiring to hear their ideas and to experience the over-all selfless nature of each person's imagination. We have a lot of great ideas to work with and I wish we could do them all.

So now is the time of discernment.

We met with some folks from the city last week, along with some folks from Impact Services, a larger non-profit who has been working in north Philadelphia as well. Impact had been planning with the city to acquire the warehouse land before it burned down and we had a meeting to see how we all could collaborate.

Being from Yes! And... this is my favorite thing to do. It requires so much more and the outcome is so much richer when we collaborate, and not just because there are more people working on the creation, but because to truly collaborate you must struggle to make something both truly yours and truly the other collaborator's.

We are not sure what this means yet for our little slice of Kensington, but we are excited and committed to the process. So stay tuned. There is no doubt we are going to need you to join this collaboration soon with your gifts, your skills and your creativity.

---

We have now mailed petitions and the Fire DVDs to all the City officials.  We’d love for folks to write them a letter just to make sure they take a careful look at these materials and to thank them for considering our requests. Here are some addresses. And here is our letter to them, to give you a feel for some things we are requesting.

We now have monthly meetings with the Neighborhood Coalition, and pretty much every family directly affected by the fire is an active part of it.  Our next meeting is October 5 (5pm here at 3234 Potter).  This month we will be working on 3 houses.

NEED:
Administrative Help - We have now raised tens of thousands of dollars.  You all are beautiful (we feel very loved!).  And this also means that there is lots of processing and data entry whatnots to take care of.  We’d love to find someone familiar with Quicken/Quickbooks who can commit to help us for 5 hours a week, over the next season.  If you are interested in this, please contact Darin Petersen darin@signsofthekingdom.com

We’ve started working on the first few houses! And we are creating a list of skilled workers, so this is your official invitation – calling all roofers, carpenters, plumbers… Tim is compiling the list, and we’ll be in touch with specific projects and dates we need help. Please send your contact info, list of skills, and dates you are available to work to tfryett@gmail.com

---

The Neighborhood Coalition is continuing to meet every few weeks.

SEE THE NEW VIDEO UPDATE - thanks Jamie and Dan! (below or on YouTube)

WHAT DO WE NEED? - Folks keep asking if there is anything we need as we are working. The biggest need right now is for tools, as almost all our tools burnt in the fire. So things can be mailed to the PO Box, but because tools are heavy gift cards to Home Depot or Lowes are also a good bet. Specifically, we are needing: circular saw, drill(s)... (most all of our power tools were destroyed by either fire or the water) -- and we need lots of basic manual tools (hammers, screwdrivers...) -- thanks so much!

Tim did a follow-up article with the Philadelphia Inquirer that is great. Check out the story here.

---

We've updated our donation information. Much thanks to EAPE for allowing us to use their resources over the past few weeks to collect the first wave of donations. To all of our friends around the internet, please update your buttons and links to send people to this page (www.thesimpleway.org) if they want to donate money or things for the families effected by the fire.

---

This week we had our second meeting of the Neighborhood Coalition. Another great turnout of families affected by the fire. Each household is now presenting “Loss Assessment” forms to the Relief Fund Committee which is made up entirely of folks in our neighborhood affected by the fire. Each family is partnered with an “Advocate” here at The Simple Way, who serves as a case worker or liaison to the nonprofit and helps troubleshoot each situation since they are all very unique. So things are moving along well. We plan to begin working on restoring several damaged homes on Potter Street, as early as next week.

---

Holy cow, check this out….

On the day our 3200 house was being demolished, some friends from a ministry called Adventures in Missions dropped by the house to let us know that they wanted to donate a building they own just around the corner from 3200 Potter. The next day, they delivered the keys, and now we’re in the process of transferring the title. This rowhouse will serve as a new office and center of operations for The Simple Way and neighborhood rebuilding (at least for the time being), and we’ll see where we go from here. We will do our best to stay true to what Adventures In Missions envisioned for this building – a place of hospitality, service, and hope… with a little revolution sprinkled in. Thanks so much Seth, Elizabeth, Frank, Mark O, and all.

We now have over 1000 signatures on our park petition. Keep em coming. We’ll be continuing to add names, even after we mail them out this week to City officials.

The 3200-3204 properties are now demolished. The City sent us a threatening letter declaring our house “an imminent danger”, threatening fines and lawsuits, hahah… and then they told us they would send us the demolition bill. So we sent it to our Councilperson’s office (and they were embarrassed and appalled), and we are still working out the logistics on all that. But for now… 3200 is gone. We will keep a conversation going of next steps. For now we are trying to secure title to 3202 and 3204 through the RDA. You can help by calling John Coates and Susie Jarmon at (215) 209-8612. We want to thank them for their help, and ask them to do all they can to expedite the process of title transfers so we can resurrect the whole corner of our neighborhood as soon as possible.

---

Please check the Call of the Day (to the right) for an "Urgent Appeal"

SPECIAL NOTE:
Our pile of community mail, personal letters, and some checks was consumed in the fire. If you wrote us a letter and are awaiting a response, know that you are loved, that your letter was read, but we will not be able to write back since it is in the ash heep. If you have an uncashed check, feel free to send another to the PO Box. Shane had a pile of letters by his bed he was in the process of responding to, but they were consumed in the fire as well. Know that every letter was read, but we are not able to respond to them now, so sad. Feel free to write again if it was urgent, but do know that we are receiving an inordinate amount of mail right now, and will be doing our best to respond as we are able.

6/27/07 1:30PM

We had our first meeting of the Neighborhood Coalition. Unbelievable. Nearly every neighbor whose home was damaged or destroyed by the fire showed up. We were all able to share and support each other. Some neighbors had never even met and expressed their hopes that this tragedy could be an opportunity to pull us all together as a community. We are grateful for the support of our block captains, and Best English Pizza (3228 Kensington Ave) who are raising support and attention. We are creating a resource list for victims of the fire. We have also created a "Loss Assessment" form that folks present. At the next meeting we will establish a Relief Committee composed of neighbors that will oversee the Neighborhood Relief fund and prioritize the needs. The next meeting will be July 7.

---

We have had hundreds of financial contributions from all over the world (literally). Words cannot express how thankful we are.

We'd like to thank the band "The Fray" for their support. At a packed show this week in Camden's Tweeter Center, they dedicated a song to our neighborhood and organized a benefit for the relief fund. Thanks Isaac and all. Next time you're in town well do dinner, maybe in a new building or better yet, we'll have a picnic in the park on H Street.
Love. the simples

6/25/07 1:25PM

Want to do something, but just don’t know how to help?

Call our Mayor and Councilman to voice your support. Here’s how…

We are starting a gentle phone-calling campaign to let City officials know that there are thousands of people watching and supporting as our neighborhood asks that the lot where the factory burned be restored into a park and recreation space. Please be nice, as we are hoping that this is an opportunity for them to use their power to honor the pain of families here – and we actually believe it is very likely that they will do what we are asking. Here are their numbers and a few talking points:

Mayor John Street
215 686-2181

Councilman Daniel Savage
215 686-3448

Some possible talking points:

• Thanks for your commitment to the 7th District where the fire on H street occurred on June 20.
• We recognize that there is some confusion over who owns this property and who was responsible. We also know that this is an opportunity for you to honor the devastated community by listening to its residents who are asking that the lot be restored into a park and recreation space.
• Please arrange to meet with the Neighborhood Coalition being organized by The Simple Way – 215 423 3598
• Please check their website – thesimpleway.org and consider their petition.

6/22/07 11:25PM

One of our neighbor kids came up and told us, "I'm ready to help you rebuild because this wasn't just your house that burnt down, this house was also mine."

Last night we had an emergency board meeting to begin making plans for immediate and future goals. From that we are excited to announce a plan to begin rebuilding on the 3200 lot whenever we are able. We will continue to create and re-imagine what this space can be. A number of folks have been working with our insurance company with whom we met today and are hopeful that needed resources can be provided. (Please keep all of this in your prayers)

There is a lot of momentum in the neighborhood that is leading to the formation of a neighborhood coalition. This community of neighbors will begin a campaign to ensure that the warehouse lot is given back to the neighborhood to become a park and recreation space. On Monday night we will have the first meeting of families whose homes were destroyed or damaged in the near future we will provide next steps for how you can support this campaign. Thanks so much for the prayers and support that we've received, well over a hundred gifts from all over the country.

6/21/07 1:25PM

We have a new form for the donations. Many thanks to Doug from EAPE for setting this up for us and the rest of EAPE for all of their help and support in this difficult time. http://tonycampolo.org/simpleway_donation.php

6/20/07 11:25PM (UPDATED)

This morning, a 7-alarm fire consumed an abandoned warehouse in our Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia. The Simple Way Community Center at 3200 Potter Street was destroyed as well as at least eight of our neighbors’ homes. Over 100 people were evacuated from their homes, and 400 families are currently without power. Despite this tragedy, we are incredibly thankful to share that all of our community members and every one of our neighbors is safely out of harm’s way.

This fire will forever change the fabric of our community. Eight families are currently homeless, and in many cases have lost their vehicles as well as their homes. One of our neighbors, the Mahaias Family, lost their three cars as well as the equipment one family member uses for her massage therapy business. Teenager Brian Mahaias is devastated not because he has lost his belongings, but because he fears that this fire will force him to move away from this neighborhood that is his family as well as his home.

The Simple Way has lost a community center that was home to our Yes! And… afterschool program, community arts center, and Cottage Printworks t-shirt micro-business as well as to two of our community members. Community members Shane Claiborne and Jesce Walz have lost all of their belongings, Yes!And…’s after school studio and library were ruined, and community member Justin Donner’s Cottage Printworks equipment and t-shirts were destroyed.

We are thankful that we are able to help each other during this time of need, and we will continue to keep your informed about today’s events.

We have established funds to support the families who have lost their homes, the Yes! And… afterschool program, and the Simple Way community.

These funds have been established through a partner organization, EAPE. Tax-deductible donations can be made at http://tonycampolo.org/simpleway_donation.php. Please make sure to designate “TSW-Kensington Families Fund” or “TSW-Rebuilding Fund”.

-The Simple Way Community

---

6/20/07 - 3AM
At around 3am community members of the simple way 3200 house awoke to the sound, heat and flames of the warehouse across the street. Residents on Potter Street were all evacuated safely. By morning, it was a seven alarm fire that consumed many of the houses in the neighborhood, including the simple way's 3200 Potter Street house.

Please keep checking back for more updates throughout the coming days and below for information on how to donate.

Donation information, the different funds, and how to volunteer or DONATE STUFF explained further down this page, or click here.

Please remember: to support the simple way at this time, please point people to this website (www.thesimpleway.org)

Another World is Possible (MySpace blog)
The Ashram (friends in KY)
Yes! And...
MeesheMama (founding partner of the simple way)
Potter Street Records
Cornerstone Festival
Zondervan
Christianity Today (Blog)
Lisa Samson's Author Intrusion
Loco LL (ex-member of the simple way)
Journey through Willzhead
Awakening (friend Mike's blog)
Swanson's Log Book
Joel Kurz
MetroBlogging Philadelphia
PhillyBlog.com
Tall Skinny Kiwi
Monkfish Abbey
Peace Meme
Signs of Emergence
Gathering | InLight
Just Showing Up
In Search of Kingdom Living
"Hello" Said Janelle
Revolution of Christ Followers
Emerging Thoughts
Zack Newsome
Word Of Mouth Ministries
Emerging Women
Various Parables
What a Lovely Little Church We Are
By the Way...
Perigrinatio
Justice and Compassion
*The Blogstar
Urban Ministry.org
Reformissionary
Catalyst
Jordon Cooper
Hit the Back Button to Move FWD
The MethoBlog
Wild Rumpus
Simply Missional
Seek and you will find
Swinging from the Vine
Notes from the Trail
CSM Urban Updates
Sojourn Church
Godspace
Pink Sneakers N'At
Living the Simple Life
NYC Emergent Village Cohort
Two42
To Write Love on Her Arms (MySpace blog)
Joshua Case
God's Politics (Article by Shane)
Josh Tinley | Corrupt Generation
Ars Gratia
Young Anabaptist Radicals
Bacon's Great
Chris Elrod
Suzy's Prayer Diary
Matt Prentice
The Prophetic Heretic
Away with words
Gink World
Becky Garrison
Eric Bryant
Today at the Mission
Trying to Listen
&And
Canton Family
Emerging Anglican
Joel Rakes
Ninth Street Records
(e)mergent Voyageurs
Art Kauffman

More DONATIONS DONATIONS DONATIONS

We are now accepting donations and volunteers to help sort them! We’re excited to announce a fabulous partnership with Circle Thrift to help families with donations, furniture, and house furnishings as they recover from the fire. Here’s how it will work best. All donations will be coordinated by Circle Thrift, and the families in our neighborhood will have a line of credit there so that they can get the things they need. All other donations will be sold by Circle Thrift who shares their profits with folks in need here in Philly and throughout the world through Mennonite Central Committee. And if you are interested in helping sort through the donations, please give them a call to help out (as they may be a little overwhelmed, and by helping them you are helping our neighborhood). Lovely.
Thanks Circle of Hope and Circle Thrift!!!

[Note: hopefully it goes without saying, but.... all donations must be CLEAN, in WORKING CONDITION, and have all its parts. Just want to make sure our neighbors and friends get stuff you’d be proud to put in your own house after a fire]

To Donate or Volunteer, please contact:
Martha Grace -- circlethrift@gmail.com

You can also mail donations to:

CiRCLE THRiFT
2007 Frankford Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19125
215-423-5060
www.circlethrift.com