Who we are
Helping Hands is a non-profit organization whose mission is to rehabilitate vacant and blighted properties into livable housing, and use the revenue created to reinvest back into the neighborhood that is being rehabilitated. Such investments in the community
include funding for local libraries. Too many kids , as well as elderly residents, are put at risk every day. Providing funding to support this popular library will enable it to expand its educational resources to better meet the needs of the large number
of people who seek out its services. The type of support we would like to give to this local free library includes:
*** Providing Queens Memorial Library in the Point Breeze community with new tables
*** Providing financial support for the purpose of attaining new computer programs including Microsoft Office
*** Establishing a partnership between Queens Memorial Library and local universities for the purpose of providing after-school tutoring for area students
.
Leadership
Bill Zandi is the current President of Helping Hands Philadelphia. Bill is a recent graduate of Wake Forest University with a major in Philosophy and a minor in Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise. Bill is also President and Founder of Students Helping
Students, a 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to reallocate gently-used furnishings and supplies from wealthy to low- income educational institutions across the United States. To date, Students Helping Students has reallocated supplies valued at thousands
of dollars to over sixty schools in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, and North Carolina.
Why you should care
If you take a look at the needs of the city of Philadelphia, you will come to the realization that the problems with which the city struggles the most include public education equity, income inequality, and infrastructure.
Unfortunately, in the city of Philadelphia, more than a third of its public school students fail to graduate high school each year. The city is also home to approximately 65,000 vacant properties. The consequences of these glaring problems are evidenced
by the city’s stagnated economic growth, its 7.9% unemployment rate, a 28.4% poverty rate, and a median household income of only $34,207.
In neighborhoods such as Point Breeze, the problems associated with income and unemployment are even more glaring. With a total population of roughly 85,000, 28% of its residents live in poverty, nearly 15% are unemployed, and only 37% of the entire population
graduate from high school.
In order for life to improve in neighborhoods like Point Breeze and the city of Philadelphia as a whole, improvements to both its educational system and infrastructure are necessary to fuel future growth and enable the economy to flourish. At Helping Hands
Philadelphia, we believe that we have devised a solution for relieving these problems that have plagued too many of our citizens for too long. Our approach is one that will impact not only the areas most greatly affected, but the entire Philadelphia community.
With the money we raise, we will do the following:
*** Provide Queens Memorial Library in the Point Breeze community with new tables.
*** Add financial support for the purpose of attaining new computer programs, including Microsoft Office
*** Partner Queens Memorial Library with local universities for the purpose of providing after-school tutoring for area students
Help can come in many sizes
*** $390.00 purchases a Bush Westfield 82"W x 35"D Racetrack Conference Table, Slate
***$120.00 purchases Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 (1PC/1User)
***$100-$125 purchases One-on-One Tutoring (One Session) for ACT Prep, SAT Prep, GRE/GMAT, or resume building.
Check us out!
https://www.facebook.com/HelpingHandsPhilly
