Rev. LEON H. sullivan community impact center
Continuing the legacy of Rev. Sullivan
"It's not only about what he's done, but what are you going to do?"
Rev. Dr. W. Wilson Goode, Sr.
First Black Mayor City of Philadelphia
(See full comments made at the 100th Centennial Celebration for Rev. Sullivan here)
OPENING 2024
With your support
"It's not only about what he's done, but what are you going to do?"
Rev. Dr. W. Wilson Goode, Sr.
First Black Mayor City of Philadelphia
(See full comments made at the 100th Centennial Celebration for Rev. Sullivan here)
OPENING 2024
With your support
Located at the corner of Broad and Venango Streets in the heart of North Philadelphia, the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center will honor a visionary leader who made this neighborhood the birthplace of a movement that reached across the nation and around the world. It will extend his remarkable legacy into the 21st century to empower and uplift members of this community today.
The Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center will bring together a constellation of diverse programs dedicated to community wellbeing as determined by local residents. It will honor Rev. Sullivan’s legacy in a particularly appropriate manner—by bringing back to Broad and Venango a thriving community center like the one Rev. Sullivan founded here in the 1960s.
The Center will occupy the same building as Zion’s Educational Annex founded by Rev. Sullivan, directly across Broad Street from Zion Baptist Church.
The Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center will bring together a constellation of diverse programs dedicated to community wellbeing as determined by local residents. It will honor Rev. Sullivan’s legacy in a particularly appropriate manner—by bringing back to Broad and Venango a thriving community center like the one Rev. Sullivan founded here in the 1960s.
The Center will occupy the same building as Zion’s Educational Annex founded by Rev. Sullivan, directly across Broad Street from Zion Baptist Church.
Watch this video produced by Blurred Vision Entertainment to learn more about the
Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center.
Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center.
PROGRAMS
BriDDge Career Pathways Program
“Come for the Games, Leave with a Career”
"Bridging the Digital Divide” will tap the booming interest in Esports to attract youth from the neighborhood and beyond to the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center and into a pathway leading to college scholarships and careers. This program will be operated by the local community non-profit, Called to Serve CDC, and the skills-building activities will include broadcast communication, software development, and videography.
The BriDDge program will operate in the Esports Events and Technology Center.
“Come for the Games, Leave with a Career”
"Bridging the Digital Divide” will tap the booming interest in Esports to attract youth from the neighborhood and beyond to the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center and into a pathway leading to college scholarships and careers. This program will be operated by the local community non-profit, Called to Serve CDC, and the skills-building activities will include broadcast communication, software development, and videography.
The BriDDge program will operate in the Esports Events and Technology Center.
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Community Arts Center
Arts programming will be offered by Alice & Daisy’s Kin, LLC, an African-American, women-owned, and locally-based business. They will provide exposure to the arts through classes and clubs, work and display space for artists, art parties, and art therapy to address mental wellbeing and community healing
Arts programming will be offered by Alice & Daisy’s Kin, LLC, an African-American, women-owned, and locally-based business. They will provide exposure to the arts through classes and clubs, work and display space for artists, art parties, and art therapy to address mental wellbeing and community healing
Co-op Café/Bookstore
Operated by a newly formed cooperative, this Café and Bookstore will provide ownership opportunities for local neighborhood residents. Offering coffee and light fare and featuring the work of Philadelphia authors, it will attract visitors and tenants.
Operated by a newly formed cooperative, this Café and Bookstore will provide ownership opportunities for local neighborhood residents. Offering coffee and light fare and featuring the work of Philadelphia authors, it will attract visitors and tenants.
The Center for Urban Bioethics at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University will provide the following programs:
- Cure Violence Philadelphia —a violence intervention program which takes on the devastating public health issue of gun violence, that has a tragic impact in North Philadelphia and specifically this neighborhood
- Farm to Families—a partnership with St. Christopher’s Foundation for Children which brings fresh affordable food from local farms to the Center for weekly pickup
- Philadelphia Healthy and Safe Schools—a collaboration with the Philadelphia School District which works to create safe, trauma-sensitive schools to better serve the needs of our North Philadelphia families
- Begin the Turn—a public health model in which community members who have been impacted by substance misuse are trained to be trusted messengers engaging individuals who are suffering from the effects of addiction
Temple University Community Care Management
Operated by Temple University Hospital, this program helps bridge the gap between patients and the healthcare system. Community Health Workers, drawn from the local neighborhood, will help patients access health and social services.
Operated by Temple University Hospital, this program helps bridge the gap between patients and the healthcare system. Community Health Workers, drawn from the local neighborhood, will help patients access health and social services.
Temple Lenfest North Philadelphia Workforce Initiative
This program strengthens the earning potential of community members through training in high-demand skills focusing on zip codes surrounding Temple’s campuses. Offerings include Community Health Workers Training, which could prepare staff for the Community Care Management Program.
This program strengthens the earning potential of community members through training in high-demand skills focusing on zip codes surrounding Temple’s campuses. Offerings include Community Health Workers Training, which could prepare staff for the Community Care Management Program.
Temple University Admissions Outreach Office
By locating this in the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center, Temple University hopes to expand paths of educational opportunity for potential students from the surrounding zip codes – its next-door neighbors.
By locating this in the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center, Temple University hopes to expand paths of educational opportunity for potential students from the surrounding zip codes – its next-door neighbors.
ABOUT REVEREND LEON H. SULLIVAN
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The Spirt of the Lion
The Rev. Leon H. Sullivan was a giant of a man—in physical stature and in vision. He used the pulpit of Zion Baptist Church, where he presided as pastor for 38 years, as a launch point for history-making global campaigns on behalf of human rights, civil rights, and economic justice. It was here that Rev. Sullivan advocated for Selective Patronage—a boycott in which Black Philadelphians refused to buy the products of companies that denied them employment. It was also from here that he founded Opportunities Industrialization Centers (OIC) of America, a job-training program active in 30 states that has served 2 million people to date. Later, Rev. Sullivan would emerge as a leading voice against apartheid in South Africa. He would serve on the board of General Motors, the first African American to do so. And he would continue the fight for economic opportunity. When he cut the ribbon on Philadelphia’s Progress Plaza, the nation’s first Black-owned shopping center, the future president of the United States and 10,000 well-wishers attended. Rev. Sullivan’s courage and power as a leader inspired his nickname, the Lion of Zion still invoked today. The Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center will honor the spirit of the Lion. |
ABOUT ZION'S EDUCATIONAL ANNEX
A Sacred Place, A Civic Space
When the former Zion Education Annex was at its height, it was home to more than a dozen active programs, from a childcare center and after-school program to a church member-operated library and a college and career guidance counseling office with social events on the weekends.
Rev. Michael Major (a native of the community) participated in the day camp and recalls the college tours offered by the college program in the mid-1970s. Like many, he remembers the vital role the Annex played in the life of the community. Today, Major, the founder and board chair of Called to Serve Community Development Corporation, along with Victor Young, Esq., president of the Leon Sullivan CDC, leads the work behind the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center. They have secured funding from the William Penn Foundation for planning and pre-construction activities.
The building at the center of their plans closed in 2014 and has sat vacant since. Though still beautiful, historic, and structurally sound, it will need a new roof and building systems, accessibility and sustainability upgrades, and interior spaces re-envisioned for new purposes – scheduled to reopen in 2024. Planning has been underway for several years, led by Zion’s community partners - Called to Serve, Sullivan CDC, and other key stakeholders:
When the former Zion Education Annex was at its height, it was home to more than a dozen active programs, from a childcare center and after-school program to a church member-operated library and a college and career guidance counseling office with social events on the weekends.
Rev. Michael Major (a native of the community) participated in the day camp and recalls the college tours offered by the college program in the mid-1970s. Like many, he remembers the vital role the Annex played in the life of the community. Today, Major, the founder and board chair of Called to Serve Community Development Corporation, along with Victor Young, Esq., president of the Leon Sullivan CDC, leads the work behind the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center. They have secured funding from the William Penn Foundation for planning and pre-construction activities.
The building at the center of their plans closed in 2014 and has sat vacant since. Though still beautiful, historic, and structurally sound, it will need a new roof and building systems, accessibility and sustainability upgrades, and interior spaces re-envisioned for new purposes – scheduled to reopen in 2024. Planning has been underway for several years, led by Zion’s community partners - Called to Serve, Sullivan CDC, and other key stakeholders: