Moments in Philly Social Impact: January Edition

2000+ Philadelphians rallied on MLK Day this year

"No one group has all the answers," he said. "But all of us together have enough people power and political power to push things in a direction we want to go." - Rev. Mark Tyler, Mother Bethel AME Church.

Image via Eli Freedman

Weavers Way Co-op started a program to help low-income residents get access to healthy, local food.

Image via Weavers Way

Ather Sharif, a software engineer and web developer who became a quadriplegic due to a car accident in March of 2013, launched EvoXLabs in the beginning of January in an effort to serve people with disabilities in Philadelphia through accessible web technologies.

Image via EvoXLabs

The homeless service provider Project HOME brought together over 300 hundred volunteers in the auditorium of the Congregation Rodeph Shalom on North Broad Street and sent them out across the city to help count the unsheltered population of Philadelphia.

Image via Alex Vuocolo

The 20,000-square-foot Philadelphia Furniture Bank, located in Kensington, is a clearinghouse for returned or donated furniture that can be “purchased” by partner human service agencies for clients in need. It opened its doors this month.

Images via SarahBones.com

Buy Nothing Project Facebook groups have been popping up across the country, but none existed in Philadelphia until Paige Wolf created one for her own neighborhood after finding out that the only groups in Pennsylvania were in smaller towns and cities.

Image modified from Flickr user OUCHcharley

Philly GiveCamp, a weekend-long event where software developers, designers, and database administrators donate their time to create custom software for 30 nonprofit organizations, had a huge showing in Malvern this month.

Image via Philly GiveCamp

Nine city officials did rapid-fire presentations about their departments at this month's OpenAccessPHL.

Image via Mo Manklang

The Philly Fixers Guild is a volunteer-run group that offers free repair services to save the community time and money, reduce waste, and educate people about mechanics, engineering and IT. This month they saw their first taxidermy repair!

Image via Philly Fixers Guild Facebook