The AAUF - African American United Fund (formerly the Black United Fund) Moving the Philadelphia Community Forward
Updates on Community Activities and Fundraising Initiatives
According to Aissia Richardson, President of the African American United Fund, "For 25 years, the mission of the African American United Fund (AAUF) has been to actively engage community members to participate in collectively addressing social and economic injustices in the African American community by pooling resources to enhance the quality of life of those most affected by these social and economic injustices."
Through its technical assistance and incubator space rental programs, AAUF builds community infrastructure by conducting workshops, one on one consultation and offering meeting and office space to emerging and existing organizations.
This summer the African American United Fund joined the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition (GPUAC) as a member organization. GPUAC unites government, business, neighborhoods and individual initiative to improve the quality of life in the region, build wealth in urban communities and solve emerging issues. AAUF is excited to join GPUAC, which has a long history of providing high quality financial management to organizations across the Delaware Valley.
In the spring, AAUF convened a coalition of organizations concerned with the future of the City of Philadelphia. Eleven organizations met to discuss how to educate voters about the issues that are uppermost in the minds of Philadelphians; crime, education, jobs and business development.
A series of successful Voter Education Forums were conducted with two dozen candidates running for Mayor, City Council, Judge and a host of other offices. A standing room only crowd asked candidates about how to improve our public schools, how to reduce crime, how to stimulate small and minority business development and how to improve the quality of life in the City.
A front page picture of the event appeared in the April 29 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer demonstrating how vital discussions about the future of the city are when we, as a community, come together to create solutions to overcome our most difficult challenges.
Additional People's Voter Education Forums, tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, October 23 and Tuesday, October 30 at 6:30 PM at the African American Conference Center, 2231 N. Broad Street, will be conducted with citizens concerned about local, state and national issues affecting the residents of Pennsylvania with the goal of exploring solutions to the, sometimes overwhelming, issues facing the African American community.
The African American community in Philadelphia is in crisis. With an average of 1.4 murders per day, rising mortgage foreclosures and a School District with a projected $80 million budget deficit, prospective elected leaders attending our People's Voter Education Forum will be asked to present their plans for addressing these critical issues. Audience members will be given the opportunity to participate in the discussion by asking questions about issues that are important to them.
Collectively, the community can create solutions to the problems plaguing our City by holding our elected officials accountable to the voting public. Our ability to work together is our greatest strength. You can participate in helping the African American United Fund create more opportunities for our community to come together. With a contribution of $50.00 or $100.00 to the African American United Fund you can become a part of the solution, an investor in the future of the success of the African American community in Philadelphia.
Please make your check payable to: GPUAC/AAUF and mail to 2227 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19132-4502.
Finally, AAUF will be conducting an African Marketplace at our Conference Center at 2231 N. Broad Street, on the 2nd and 4th Saturday from September 15 to December 22, to promote small business development, create jobs and promote holiday shopping within the African American community. The details for the about health and wellness workshops and products being offered at the Marketplace is listed below. If you are interested in vending or would like to recommend a vendor, please contact Aissia L. Richardson, African American United Fund President at 215.236.2100. Join the African American United Fund at the african marketplace on 2231 N. Broad Street Saturday, September 8,8:00 am to 6:00 pm
Vendors: Art, Books, Clothes, Fresh Produce, Organic Juices, Prepared foods Workshops on Health and Wellness - Cooking Demonstrations- Book Signings
Source
Press Release from Aissia L. Richardson
Published by JC Lamkin
Twitter: @TechCrusader business woman, tech guru, community developer, and author. View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentThanks for your response mwtsaginaw, Have you contacted the Black United Fund of Michigan in Detroit about creating incubator space in your for small businesses and nonprofits? Here's a link to their website http://www.bufmi.org/
Each Black United Fund has different goals but the same mission to strengthen the African American community where they are located.
Ms. Lamkin, If you really have an incubator that works, I would be interested; I wasn't involved but a couple here in little Saginaw, Michigan, have failed.
I'm not asking anyone to be against the Iraq War, but when in various communities I see notes such as "Philadelphia schools face an $80 million budget deficit, I keep thinking of how our resources in my opinion are misaligned. The most tragic part of that war is the death and maiming of people on all sides, but for the financial side, next time on Google simply hit "cost of Iraq War" and look at what always for me has been the first item to pop up. It will show a running toll of the dollars. (Thanks for reading my stuff. A compliment on a basketball article from the land of Dr. J is really something!)