I’d like to consider myself a person in the know especially when it comes to goings on in Philadelphia. Somehow, the fact that Philly was getting its own rail park was NOT on my radar until maybe 4 months ago but when I DID learn about this new green space I was counting the days until the park would be open to the public. Today was that day, and it couldn’t have been a more beautiful day to unveil Phase 1 of the Philadelphia Rail Park. 
Once complete, the rail park trail will be over 3 miles long and will pass through 10 Philly neighborhoods. Phase 1 is located in the Chinatown/Callowhill section of the city and surprisingly, this neighborhood was lacking a park or substantial green space but all of that changed today. At the opening ceremony there was a mixture of people from different neighborhoods, ages and backgrounds. I think this is very indicative of what the vision of this space was meant to be and turning that vision into reality has been long in the making. What’s interesting is that the idea for the rail park was brewing long before the High Line in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York came to fruition. (It’s still awesome none the less) There were several speakers on hand to commemorate the park’s grand opening including Mayor Jim Kenney, and Executive Director Kevin Dow.
Mayor Jim Kenney
It has truly taken a VILLAGE to bring the park to life with contributions from city and state officials, parks and recreation, benefactors and residents. There is no word yet on when the construction of Phase II will begin, but this is a promising start. This project is a great look for Philadelphia and creates an innovative space where people can come to connect, and to play and I believe it will encourage people to venture outside of their own “backyards.”
To learn more about the history and evolution of the rail park or to find out how you can contribute, please go to therailpark.org
When I was a child, my mother saw to it that I receive a private school education but it wasn’t easy and she had to FIGHT to learn about scholarships (pre-internet) because without those scholarships I wouldn’t have been able to attend. I understand first hand how important these scholarships are. My first volunteer experience with CSFP was participating in “Lottery Day” where volunteers called parents to let them know their children received a scholarship. I loved it. There is nothing better than giving people GOOD news. The parents were so happy and more than one told me that they stumbled across the scholarship fund by accident. So imagine all of the families who don’t know that this fantastic organization exists! It was there that I met Christanne Clymer who is the Senior Development Manager at CSFP. Her enthusiasm and spirit is infectious. She invited me to the next volunteer effort which consisted of assisting the staff with canvassing the Brewerytown neighborhood (my hood) to help spread the word by handing out flyers and brochures to residents and store owners. Most recently, I was invited to participate in Career Day at Gesu School in North Philadelphia, which you can read more about 
