Strawberry Mansion Learning Center Renovation
Donation protected
The passion and focus of the Strawberry Mansion Learning Center is our youth and the community in which we serve, and where we inspire, communicate, and educate.
My mother always encouraged me to be the change I wished to see in the world. She told me that I had to make a difference in a community that was failing our youth; a community plagued with gun violence, poverty, and low literacy rates. We eventually had the idea of turning our family-owned bar into a learning center for local kids and teens. Unfortunately my mother did not live to see the vision realized, but others would. In 2008, The Strawberry Mansion Learning Center was born.
With much prayer and little money of my own, I began transforming the corner building inherited from my mom into a neighborhood education and resource center. What was once a dingy taproom and a drain on the community’s vitality and near-empty pockets, now serves up support, mentorship and a different kind of spirit.
The building is still in need of renovations that will surely be most beneficial to our youth and the community. We would like to enlarge the small bathroom, allowing the girls and boys to have their own separate restrooms. In addition, a new kitchen area, where our youth can learn about healthy eating, prepare healthy meals, and take onsite cooking lessons, which we would offer to the the entire community. There is also a need for a new office space; thus allowing the administrative duties to be performed without interruption of the daily activities of the youth.
The new and improved learning center will continue to be an afterschool safe-haven for local kids and teens who might otherwise go home to an empty house or neglectful parents which, inevitably, often leads to street mischief and juvenile crime. The center is much more than a place to do homework: it is a harbor light for young minds adrift in a community lacking in motivation and positivity.
“Strawberry Mansion Learning and Resource Center: A roadmap to wherever you want to go.”
If you feel called to contribute financially, please do so. All donations are tax deductible.
You can find additional information on our website: http://strawberrymansionlearningcenter.com/
My mother always encouraged me to be the change I wished to see in the world. She told me that I had to make a difference in a community that was failing our youth; a community plagued with gun violence, poverty, and low literacy rates. We eventually had the idea of turning our family-owned bar into a learning center for local kids and teens. Unfortunately my mother did not live to see the vision realized, but others would. In 2008, The Strawberry Mansion Learning Center was born.
With much prayer and little money of my own, I began transforming the corner building inherited from my mom into a neighborhood education and resource center. What was once a dingy taproom and a drain on the community’s vitality and near-empty pockets, now serves up support, mentorship and a different kind of spirit.
The building is still in need of renovations that will surely be most beneficial to our youth and the community. We would like to enlarge the small bathroom, allowing the girls and boys to have their own separate restrooms. In addition, a new kitchen area, where our youth can learn about healthy eating, prepare healthy meals, and take onsite cooking lessons, which we would offer to the the entire community. There is also a need for a new office space; thus allowing the administrative duties to be performed without interruption of the daily activities of the youth.
The new and improved learning center will continue to be an afterschool safe-haven for local kids and teens who might otherwise go home to an empty house or neglectful parents which, inevitably, often leads to street mischief and juvenile crime. The center is much more than a place to do homework: it is a harbor light for young minds adrift in a community lacking in motivation and positivity.
“Strawberry Mansion Learning and Resource Center: A roadmap to wherever you want to go.”
If you feel called to contribute financially, please do so. All donations are tax deductible.
You can find additional information on our website: http://strawberrymansionlearningcenter.com/
Organizer
Kevin Upshur
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA