Cedar

Donna M. Henry is the Executive Director of the Southwest Community Development Corporation (CDC). She has served in this role since 1994 and has 36 years of experience in housing, community and economic development. Prior to joining Southwest CDC, she was an architect at the Philadelphia Housing Authority. In her current position, she furthers the organization’s mission to improve the lives of Southwest Philadelphia residents through programs that help with utility payments, foreclosure prevention, job assistance, after-school care, and more. Southwest CDC also publishes the neighborhood newspaper, the Southwest Globe Times.

Donna serves on the advisory boards for Gemma Services and Hilco Redevelopment Partners. She previously served as a member of the Bartram’s Garden Board of Directors, the 12th Police District Advisory Council, and the Comcast Community Advisory Board. Donna was also a member of the Rotary Club of Southwest-Eastwick for 27 years.

Donna earned a Master of Science in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Roger Williams University.

The Advocacy Institute, a program of PHMC subsidiary Health Promotion Council, empowers Philadelphia youth to make sustainable community changes through policy, community and media advocacy. Each program cohort runs for 12 weeks and provides participants an opportunity to implement an action project to address an issue that affects their community.

Two prominent projects of The Advocacy Institute include #RealTalkTobacco, which focuses on youth tobacco prevention, and The Pennsylvania Opioid Prevention Project, a multimedia opioid misuse prevention campaign that equips youth with education, knowledge and resources to make healthy choices. Both initiatives allow participants to learn the fundamentals of impacting health policy, advocacy in media, and community engagement and organization.

After participants complete the program, they are inducted into the AI Alumni Network. This network includes all cohorts and provides opportunities for individuals to expand their action plan project and reinvest their experience into future cohorts and ongoing campaigns. Participants can also plan and attend events, meetings and trips as part of the Alumni Network.

Learn more about The Advocacy Institute here.

Falguni Patel is the Manager of Community Impact at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). In this role, she leads the hospital's community benefit activities and employee volunteering and community engagement initiatives, including the CHOP Cares Community Grants Program. Falguni partners with CHOP teams and community leaders to leverage CHOP’s resources to advance the health and well-being of children, families, and the community across Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey.

Falguni has over ten years of project management experience and extensive expertise in research design, program evaluation, and community-engaged programming. Prior to joining CHOP, Falguni served as the Program Director for St. Christopher's Foundation for Children, where she led community-based programming for children in North Philadelphia. She has also led trauma-informed programs that improved mental and physical health, increased economic security, and protected child development among low-income families throughout Philadelphia. Prior to moving to Philadelphia, Falguni led community-based research programs in Baltimore, Maryland. Falguni received her Master’s degree in Public Health from Drexel University and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland.

The Economy League of Greater Philadelphia is hosting a Community Listening Session at the PHMC Public Health Campus on Cedar on Monday, September 26 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. The goal of the session is to learn more about the health inequities affecting the West Philadelphia area from the community’s perspective, particularly regarding barriers to cardiovascular and/or mental health care. Dinner and raffle prizes will be available.

The information gained from this listening session will help to shape an upcoming program called the Well City Challenge (WCC). WCC is a competition that aims to identify everyday innovators within Philadelphia who have great ideas to address health concerns that affect our communities. The theme for this upcoming year will be “Community Solutions for Heart & Mind Health.” The program will act as an incubator for those who have ideas or early-stage businesses with creative, promising, and scalable community-based health solutions to address environmental conditions that limit cardiovascular or mental health care. Successful applicants will be able to access a network of experts to help develop their business ideas. Finalists will be connected to investors, health care systems, and other organizations to help execute their ideas. A grand prize of $50,000 will be awarded to one or more participants.

To learn more about the Community Listening Session or the Well City Challenge, please contact Tia Abdulhadi by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or calling 267-866-0272.

Neighborhoods United Against Drugs (NUAD) is a community-based organization whose mission is to reduce substance use disorder, chronic illness, violence, the spread of HIV/AIDS, and teen pregnancy. NUAD strives to help individuals in West and Southwest Philadelphia to gain knowledge and skills to make healthy life choices and positive contributions to their communities.

NUAD provides a range of services, including rapid HIV testing and linkage to care; pre- and post-test counseling; referrals to primary care, substance use disorder counseling, and social services agencies; after-school programming; and violence prevention and health education. Additionally, NUAD provides free HIV home test kits via delivery or pick-up.

To learn more about NUAD, visit their website. For information about upcoming events, view their calendar.