Community Visions

Woodrock was originally conceived as a summer camp but within a few years began offering year-round programs by partnering with Philadelphia area schools. Today, Woodrock provides direct program services to over 3,000 youth and offers training and technical assistance to a variety of youth programs throughout the Philadelphia region. The non-profit youth agency committed to the elimination of interracial tension and hostility through programs for youths ages 9 to 18, particularly those based in the Kensington and Fishtown sections of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

John Knapich has been a film editor, writer and director for over fifteen years. He has written five screenplays, including two with Thomas Kelly and has edited documentaries for NFL Films, Lifetime and Fox Television where he won an Emmy for daytime children's programming. His feature film directorial debut, Dog's Life , was shot in Philadelphia, PA. Crafty Web surfers can find samples of his work online at You Tube and Google Video.

The Women's Community Revitalization Project (WCRP) is committed to social and economic justice for low-income women and their families. They develop housing and neighborhood facilities; provide supportive services; advocate for policy change; and honor leadership, dignity, and equity in our communities.

WCRP believes that when you start with women, you are at the core of communities and families. There is power in women working together to make change. WCRP has created a model that works for community development, putting that power to work for low-income women and their families.

Gretjen Clausing is an independent media programmer and activist, who has made her home in Philadelphia since 1989. Prior to joining Scribe's staff in September 2004, she was the Program Director of Film at the Prince. She is a founding member of the Philadelphia Coalition for Public Access, a grassroots group that has been working since 1999 to get public access television activated in Philadelphia. She has worked at Scribe as a part-time facilitator since 1990. She joined Scribe as Program Director in 2004 and was the Producer of the NAMAC conference in 2005.

Youth Health Empowerment Project (Y-HEP)is a project of Philadelphia FIGHT that offers a comprehensive range of health promotion and youth development programs using a harm reduction approach to at-risk youth.

Dina Mendros is a member of Temple University's Women's Film & Video Collective and recently completed Temple's Master's program in Anthropology. A former writer for the Philadelphia City Paper, she is currently at work on a video documentary about a New York school for cross-dressing.

Roxana Walker-Canton is a filmmaker, author, professor and television host who currently works as visiting professor of media studies at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT.

CARIE, Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, is a non-profit organization, based in Philadelphia, dedicated to improving the quality of life for vulnerable senior citizens in the Delaware Valley. CARIE'S programs include, The CARIE LINE that includes outreach to the Latino community, The Philadelphia Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, The Providing Advocacy for the Victimized Elderly program, The Education and Training Program, Policy/Legislative Program, Community outreach and special events, and the Health Care Fraud Education Project featured in this documentary. CARIE is a leader in providing direct assistance to the elderly, their families, and professionals in the aging field.

Kensington Action Now (KAN) began in 1975 with a meeting of concerned community leaders from the Kensington area of North Philadelphia. This coalition of civic, church and business groups has been concerned with and worked on general conditions in their neighborhood. Their work on housing problems led to the incorporation of the Kensington Area Revitalization Project (KARP) in May 1980. Today KARP works on the acquisition, renovation and sale of abandoned properties.

Gretjen Clausing is an independent media programmer and activist, who has made her home in Philadelphia since 1989. Prior to joining Scribe's staff in September 2004, she was the Program Director of Film at the Prince where she created a new repertory film program with strong emphasis on work by emerging and established artists, music related media and programs soliciting audience engagement at the Prince Music Theater. She is a founding member of the Philadelphia Coalition for Public Access, a grassroots group that has been working since 1999 to get public access television activated in Philadelphia. She has worked at Scribe as a part-time facilitator since 1990. She joined Scribe as Program Director and Producer of the 2005 NAMAC conference in 2004.

Founded in 1975, Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation Services (COMHAR) helps people of all ages and cultures in the community who have developmental disabilities, mental health concerns, physical limitations and other challenges. Though this video focuses on a COMHAR branch serving three North Philadelphia neighborhoods, COMHAR provides assistance at home and a broad array of services at multiple COMHAR locations throughout Greater Philadelphia and lower Montgomery County.

Sharon Mullally began her career with 10 years in staff positions at broadcast television stations in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Since leaving the commercial broadcast industry to pursue documentary work, Sharon has edited several national PBS programs for WHYY-TV 12 in Philadelphia, including The Dinosaurs!, Furniture on the Mend, and Remember When. For her editorial work on Yearbook--The Class of '65, produced by Fox Philadelphia, she received an Emmy Award in 1996. Recent editorial work includes I Witness, a one-hour documentary on the anti-abortion violence in Pensacola, Our Food Our Future, a look at community food projects, and Daring to Resist, a beautiful and compelling portrait of three young women who resisted the Holocaust. All three of these programs have been shown on public television.

As Producer/Director, Sharon has just completed Rufus Jones: A Luminous Life, a documentary on a visionary American Quaker. She has also completed New Voices, a documentary on women moving from welfare to work; Peace Theater and Building a Peaceful Community, teaching self-respect and conflict resolution skills to children; Walk With Me, Sisters (winner of the Silver Apple Award from the National Educational Media Network), for women with HIV; and Connecting the Pieces: A City's Response to the AIDS Quilt. Sharon has also maintained an active role as an instructor, teaching media literacy to middle school children in Philadelphia. She has taught editing classes at Scribe Video Center.