ICYMI: PHILADELPHIA

WITH SO MUCH GOING ON IN THE NEWS, YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED SOME LOCAL STORIES THAT AFFECT OUR COMMUNITIES DIRECTLY. HERE, BROKE IN PHILLY BREAKS DOWN FIVE IMPORTANT STORIES FOR PHILADELPHIANS. READ MORE AT THE LINKS LISTED.

‘EVERYONE DESERVES AN ATTORNEY’: CITY COUNCIL ADVANCES BILL GUARANTEEING LEGAL AIDE TO RENTERS FACING EVICTION

Full article by Jake Blumgart, Plan Philly, WHYY

A bill that would secure lawyers for low-income renters in eviction court moved out of a City Council committee. At the City Council hearing, tenants gave emotional testimonies about tumultuous relations with landlords and expressed the difference that having a lawyer made for their cases. The bill passed on November 14. “This bill is rooted in the basic and steadfast belief that housing is a human right,” said Councilmember Helen Gym. “Today is about making sure we use every tool at our disposal to keep folks in their homes by creating a more fair and just system.” The legislation, which Gym introduced earlier this year, would guarantee legal representation for renters below 200% of the federal poverty line, roughly $33,820 annually for a family of two. The bill was amended in the hearing to expand its scope to encompass not just judicial proceedings, but administrative ones as well, which means the law would cover fair-housing cases before the Philadelphia Fair Housing Commission and a variety of cases before the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

YOUNG PEOPLE IN WEST PHILLY CREATED A DIGITAL DROP-IN CENTER FOR HOMELESS YOUTH

Full story by Hector Davila, Jr. at Technical.ly

Young people at the nonprofit People’s Emergency Center (PEC) unveiled a virtual drop-in center for youth experiencing housing insecurity. The resource was created in collaboration with local media artist Maria Alarcón. With help from Neighborhood Time Exchange media artist, they used Google Earth Studio, SketchUp, Daz 3D and Unity to create avatars of themselves leading a tour of their imagined center, The Stoop. The final product will be viewable online and eventually be turned into an interactive virtual reality app using the Unity development platform. PHILADELPHIA’S JOB GROWTH HAS LARGELY BEEN LOW-WAGE, REPORT FINDS

Full article by Juliana Feliciano Reyes, The Philadelphia Inquirer

The last 10 years were a period of historic job growth for Philadelphia. But a closer look at the kind of jobs Philadelphia is adding shows the majority are in the low-wage sector, according to a new Center City District report. The report suggests a few possible explanations for this phenomenon, including that employers can’t find the workers they need in Philadelphia so they stay in the suburbs, and that it’s prohibitively expensive to locate in the city. Possible solutions, then, include business tax reform and improving public education.

The report doesn’t suggest, upgrading these low-wage jobs, a recommendation that urbanist Richard Florida recently championed in a report about achieving “inclusive prosperity” in Philadelphia. “A key pillar of inclusive prosperity must be to upgrade current low-paying, precarious service jobs into higher-paying, more-secure and stable, family-sustaining work,” the report says.

WILLIAM WAY OPENS NEW TRANS RESOURCE CENTER

Full story by Laura Smythe, Philadelphia Gay News.

The Arcila-Adams Trans Resource Center opened Thursday at the William Way LGBT Community Center near the intersection of Spruce and Juniper Streets in Center City. The new hub provides services including health care and therapy referrals, job services, and help enrolling in insurance and food assistance programs. The initiative stemmed from an “urgent need” for focused services for the city’s trans population, said Chris Bartlett, executive director of William Way LGBT Community Center. “[It’s] so that trans folks can plug into our services and to those at other agencies and have a safe place that’s their own,” he added.

#BROKE IN PHILLY is a collaborative news initiative among 22 local news organizations to provide in-depth, nuanced, solutions-oriented reporting on issues of poverty and push for economic justice in Philadelphia. Learn more at BrokeinPhilly.org.