Hard at Work at Haverford House: An Update from Sabea Evans '18

As the temperature drops, the sun eludes us, and we’ve witnessed our first snow of the season, Haverford House folks are on a mission to stay as cozy and present as possible! 

This month, Sara facilitated our second gathering of folks from Haverford House, the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship, and some of our organizations. Hosted at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, our discussion focused on intersectional perspectives on urban development and how development trends in Philly relate to the work of each of our organizations. There was an incredible diversity of perspectives and knowledge in the room that definitely left us with a lot of questions about how to be impactful in the work that we do while also working to minimize our compliance with systems that displace communities. Sara also collabed on a plant walk in the Woodlands Cemetery with Peter Dudley '18, a current arborist at the cemetery. We took a tour of the trees and practiced identifying them, with and without our identification guide booklets. 

The House had the wonderful opportunity of participating in a workshop on secondary trauma lead by Susanna Gilbertson ‘98 of the Blue Door Group. We discussed how to protect our time, energy, and emotions when engaged so fully in our social justice oriented work, as well as very useful tips on rejuvenating ourselves if we find ourselves getting lost in it. 

Claire has been super busy tabling for Committee of Seventy amidst election season. TJ’s had his hands full with finishing up a big report on charter schools for Education Law Center and his Philly Fridays are a hit– his most recent gathering at Philabundance had a great showing and produced great work. The group packed over 500 boxes of food! Jason’s juggling several cases, both at Community Legal Services and in managing our house details– we are eternally grateful for his organizational savvy. Callie’s been supervising a number of fun trips and workshops for the middle schoolers at Puentes de Salud like bike riding and fishing at Bartram’s Garden with Chloe Wang '17.

I’ve been working with folks at the Center for Hunger Free Communities to release reports on how racial and ethnic discrimination is so deeply rooted at the core of food insecurity in Philadelphia. People of color who report experiences of discrimination (EODs) are more likely to report higher levels of food insecurity while white people who report EODs remain financially unaffected. We focused on multiple arenas in which people report discrimination, such as in education, the workplace, public settings, the judicial system, healthcare, as well as when applying for jobs, housing, and public assistance. I got the opportunity to be the first author on our piece on housing, healthcare, and public assistance and am very excited about the release!

Here’s to a new season!

- Sabea Evans '18, Fellow at Center for Hunger-Free Communities