Home About Me Portfolio Contact
Photo by Wallace Chuck on Pexels

Portfolio

Articles & Blog Posts

Explore a featured selection of my writing work below.

Blog Posts

City of Philadelphia •

Parks & Rec’s Playstreets: nutrition never takes a vacation | Philadelphia Parks & Recreation

Did you know one in eight kids experience food insecurity? For more than 50 years, Parks & Rec has helped fix that problem when schools are closed. Our Playstreets program provides kids with free meals and a safe place to play during the summer. This year the program runs from June 20, 2023 to August 25, 2023.
• None Playstreets take place in every neighborhood in the city from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• None The program is open to all children 18 years and younger.
• None Playstreets’ supervisors open
City of Philadelphia •

Six places to see and interact with horses in Philadelphia | Philadelphia Parks & Recreation

Did you know there are six horse stables located in Philadelphia parks? We’re not horsing around! Some stables offer regular lessons and programs for children. One site hosts a therapeutic riding program and equine-assisted therapy. Each site offers annual activities where the public can interact with horses.

Read more about the stables below:

A boarding and teaching stable in West Fairmount Park. View more about the Academy on Facebook.

This site in West Fairmount Park is Home to Work to Rid
City of Philadelphia •

Sitting volleyball—adaptive, inclusive, and fun for everyone | Philadelphia Parks & Recreation

Philadelphia Volleyball and Parks & Recreation’s Lloyd Hall have partnered to offer sitting volleyball pick-up games. This helps Parks & Rec fulfill its mission of providing enriching experiences for all.

Sitting volleyball brings athletes with disabilities and able-bodied athletes together. The action- and motion-filled games:
• Are played sitting on the ground.
• Are also great for injured standing volleyball players.

Jimmy Falls takes part in the sitting volleyball program held at Lloyd Hal
City of Philadelphia •

September events: practice self-care at Parks & Rec sites | Philadelphia Parks & Recreation

As summer winds down, the hustle and bustle of everyday life returns. Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and our partners offer activities to help you stay healthy and practice self-care. This September, you can visit one of our sites to:
• Soak in the sunset on a kayak cruise.
• Attend the Honey Festival and taste honey from all over the region.
• Hike in the woods and enjoy s’mores around a campfire.
• Take part in an organized walk or run.

Check out the details for these events below. And be su
City of Philadelphia •

Watch Walt Whitman’s poetry come alive at Venice Island in Manayunk | Philadelphia Parks & Recreation

Whitman on Walls (WoW!) is a one-of-a-kind family friendly event that brings together local poets and film. At the event, seven short films will be projected onto Venice Island Performing Arts Center. The films present parts of Walt Whitman’s poem Song of Myself. Following each film, a local poet will “speak back” to Whitman in their own words. The poets will challenge or agree with Whitman.


The project is the brainchild of Karin Coonrod and her Compagnia de’ Colombari. In 2020 the company wa
Still I Run •

Running helped her overcome depression says suicide survivor

Still I Run member and suicide survivor says running helped her overcome depression and raise awareness about suicide prevention

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Members of Still I Run Suicide Survivors share how running helped them overcome depression and anxiety.

According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Suicide is the second leading cause of death for children, adolescents, and young adults aged 15-to-24-year-olds.

It’s just one of the reasons Sti
Still I Run •

Ending the Stigma of Suicide: A Story of Hope

A member of Still I Run and mental health advocate wants to end the stigma associated with suicide

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Craig Roush, a member of Still I Run (SIR), a community of runners whose mission is to promote the benefits of running for mental health and end the stigma around mental illness, wants people to know they are not alone, and there is hope.

According to the CDC and NAMI, Almost 50,000 people died of suicide in 2018 alone, and suicide is the second le
Still I Run •

Speaking Up for Mexican-American Mental Health Awareness

When Stephanie Davis, a Mexican-American, learned the Still I Run (SIR) Community asked BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) members to share their stories to end the stigma of mental illness, she felt compelled to write something. By sharing her thoughts, she hopes to raise Mexican-American Mental Health awareness.

“I’m so glad SIR is raising awareness about this topic.”

“I have been thinking about it a lot because I come from a culture that generally does not talk about mental illness.
Still I Run •

Runner Shares Her Story to Raise BIPOC Awareness

Kristen Brown, 37, understands the power of a story and how it connects people. July is BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Mental Health Awareness Month. Kristen wanted to share her story, her struggles with mental illness, and how her passion for running and the Still I Run Community (SIR) has enabled her to rise above her anxiety, fear, and depression.


Brown started running in high school; she was on the track team for two years and competed in the long jump, 100 meters and the 200

 Articles

FunTimes Magazines •

Local artists, performers and entrepreneurs show their true colors at The Colour of Culture: A Celebration of the African Diaspora this past weekend | FunTimes Magazine

This past weekend, FunTimes Magazine, in collaboration with Elebration, Sol Fed and ZBE Productions, hosted "The Colour of Culture: A Celebration of the African Diaspora" -- a free community African art gallery featuring local visual artists, musicians, singers and spoken-word artists at newly renovated FunTimes building, 1226 N. 52nd St., in West Philadelphia. The festivities were part of FunTimes’ multicultural mission to showcase the arts, culture, music, education and small business while ce
The Chestnut Hill Local •

8 years in search of cure for boys with rare disease

While fun is the order for the 8th annual Make a Splash on Sunday, Sept. 9, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Flourtown Country Club, 150 McCloskey Road in Flourtown, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

The family-friendly event includes swimming, dancing, games, raffles, a silent auction, a DJ, the Philly Phantic and more, is being held to benefit the Progeria Research Foundation (PRF) – a foundation looking for a cure for an incredibly rare condition that effects one in 6 million children.

Incredibly
The Chestnut Hill Local •

VIDEO: It's a car, it's a bike – no, it's a solar-powered ELF

Don't be surprised if you're walking down the Avenue and see a bright, orange bike-mobile. It's just Chestnut Hill resident Jeff Krieger riding in his ELF, a tricycle that runs on sunshine and sweat.

Krieger, president of Krieger + Associates Architects Inc., said he was visiting in his father in Oxford, Md., over Thanksgiving when he saw “this orange bike fly by.”

“I had no idea what it was, and I just caught the three letters ELF on the side,” he said. “I was fascinated by it. And when I got
The Chestnut Hill Local •

An Ugundan refugee finds his family

It's easy get lost in the hustle and bustle of the holiday. Recently, a story about one man and his struggle to survive, his unbreakable spirit of hope and an impossible family photograph reminded me that family is the greatest gift of all.

At the age of 10, while he was in Gulu, Uganda, Denis Fred Okema, a graduate student at Chestnut Hill College, was kidnapped by Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), where he experienced unfathomable brutality and backbreaking labor serving the rebels.
The Chestnut Hill Local •

Glenside man a survivor of the Chinese oppression of Tibet

This year marks the 54th anniversary of National Uprising Day – March 10, 1959 – the day Tibetans surrounded the summer palace of the Dalai Lama in defiance of the Chinese occupation. Kugno Shewo Lobsang Dhargye, of Glenside, is one of the last living witnesses of that event.

Dhargye was just 26 years old at the time and was working at the Dalai Lama's summer palace as a guard.

“The memories of that gloomy day still freshly flashes into my eyes,” wrote Dhargye in a letter seeking political asy
The Chestnut Hill Local •

Former 'Lost Boy of the Sudan' speaks for unheard children

"Ayuen Garang Ajok, a former Sudan refugee volunteer at Global Education Motivators (GEM) based in Chestnut Hill. He tells his story to raise awareness of human rights issues. “We are the voice of unheard voices around the world,” says Ajok."] [/caption]

Ayuen Garang Ajok's message is simple. He is a voice for the forgotten children.

“We are the ambassadors to our world, and it’s our duty to educate each other about social j
The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC •

Waves of summer fun at area water parks

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor's latest attraction is the Tornado, a funnel-shaped water ride at the Jackson, N.J., park. Read more

Surfing, swimming and sliding are all part of the sun-splashed days offered at water parks this summer.

If you can't stand the heat or a big squeeze on your pocket, consider spending the day in cooling waters. Sahara Sam's Oasis in West Berlin and Thundering Surf Water Park in Beach Haven, N.J., are among the parks offering never-ending waves without a trek to the bea
The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC •

Waves of summer fun at area water parks

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor's latest attraction is the Tornado, a funnel-shaped water ride at the Jackson, N.J., park. Read more

Surfing, swimming and sliding are all part of the sun-splashed days offered at water parks this summer.

If you can't stand the heat or a big squeeze on your pocket, consider spending the day in cooling waters. Sahara Sam's Oasis in West Berlin and Thundering Surf Water Park in Beach Haven, N.J., are among the parks offering never-ending waves without a trek to the bea
The Chestnut Hill Local •

Mt. Airy man overcoming abuse suffered in detention

Mt. Airy resident Craig Stone, now 24, was just 14 years old when he was sent to Glen Mills Schools (GMS), a juvenile detention center in Delaware County, for nine months. GMS, which was originally called the Philadelphia House of Refuge, was lauded for its peer pressure model, which encouraged students to report their peers for any infraction of the rules.

However, GMS was a far cry from a house of refuge. The state closed the school in the Spring, 2019, following allegations of decades of chi
The Chestnut Hill Local •

Was a human guinea pig in gruesome experiments - At CHC, Holocaust survivor recalls Nazi murderers

Eva Mozes Kor, 79, a survivor of Dr. Josef Mengele's horrific twin experiments in Auschwitz and founder of CANDLES (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors) Holocaust Museum, shared her story of survival and her journey to forgive the “Angel of Death” at Chestnut Hill College on Oct. 10.

Kor recalled how her family in Romania was loaded onto a cattle car and transported to the Auschwitz Nazi Death Camp in 1944. She remembered seeing “a patch of grey sky through the barbed wi
The Chestnut Hill Local •

Spoke out at Chestnut Hill College - Holocaust survivor forgives those who killed her family

On January 27, 1945, Holocaust survivor Eva Kor, who spoke on Oct. 10 at Chestnut Hill College, and her twin sister Miriam walked out of Auschwitz holding hands. “The little promise to myself in the latrine became a reality,” Kor said. Only about 200 children were found alive by the Soviet Army by the time the camp was liberated.

Kor also shared with the audience three important life lessons and her personal journey to peace. The first life lesson was “never, ever give up!” The second lesson wa
The Chestnut Hill Local •

Erdenheim company named 2nd best in Philly area

B.Q. Basement Systems, which specializes in basement waterproofing, concrete leveling, crawl space, foundation repair and gutter installation, recently was ranked number two in the small-businesses category of The Philadelphia Inquirer’s 2021 Top Workplaces. The Inquirer partnered with Exton-based Energage to rank the Philadelphia region’s top large, midsize and small businesses for the 12th year in a row. The listings appeared in a magazine-style separate section of the Inquirer on Aug. 22.
The Chestnut Hill Local •

A mother breaks the silence of family struggle with son's addiction

This is the first article in a series that examines adolescence and addiction. Instead of focusing on the growing problem, it attempts to make the public aware of some the programs that are attempting to address addiction and provide hope for those who struggle with addiction every day.

Mt. Airy resident Nancy Peter, 61, is trying to break the silence of addiction by sharing her son’s struggle with the disorder.

Peter, director of the McKinney Center for STEM Education at the Philadelphia Educ
The Chestnut Hill Local •

Recovery high school helps teenagers overcome addiction

This is the second article in a series that examines adolescence and addiction. Instead of focusing on the growing problem, it attempts to make the public aware of some the programs that are attempting to address addiction and provide hope for those who struggle with addiction every day.

For many of us, just surviving adolescence was hard enough without the stigma and shame of addiction.

Rebecca Bonner, executive director at the Bridge Way School in Roxborough and a founding board member of Gr
The Chestnut Hill Local •

John Pappas, MD, joins Mt. Airy Pediatrics

As a teenager growing up in Bala Cynwyd, Dr. John Pappas, 30, enjoyed working as a lifeguard at the Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne, Pa. He was just 16 years old when he saved a child from drowning in the pool.

He recalled watching a toddler play in the baby pool. “The baby boy was being very adventurous running in and out of the pool,” he said. “I noticed he kept slipping.”

He said the child was laughing and giggling; the child would fall and then immediately get up. “Then one time, he
The Chestnut Hill Local •

Library 'Friends' new director 'brings people together'

Amy Wilson, 35, the new executive director of the Friends of Chestnut Hill Library Board and manager of Hilltop Books, is an environmentalist, social justice advocate, cyclist and avid book reader. She wants the Friends of Chestnut Hill Library’s non-profit bookstore, located at 84 Bethlehem Pike, to be a welcoming space for everyone.

“I hope it’s a space that brings people together,” she said last week. “It should be a welcoming space, regardless of what zip code you come from. I hope people c
The Chestnut Hill Local •

Mt. Airy's 'Rosie the Riveter' a construction pioneer

Mt. Airy resident Ty'Aja Jones-Brown and Norristown resident Maya Crockem are just two of many women changing the perception that women can’t do construction work. They are the modern-day Rosies the Riveter who are proving that women can not only perform the same job as men but can also excel at it.

Having started on March 6 and continuing to March 13, the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWC) is celebrating Women in Construction week; it’s also the week Ty'Aja Jones-Brown is gra

Social Media 

About Me

I am a digital content writer, storyteller, editor, and media relations specialist.