by Kerry Roeder, Executive Director
As Historic Fair Hill has developed over the past three decades, we have seen our organization blossom with joy and adapt to new situations, even in times of despair. We’ve seen our impact, as well as our potential impact, and we take Anna Jeanes’ motto of “the next needed thing” to heart. In order to continue to grow, we’ve taken significant steps to strengthen our work and our funding and to make sure we can sustain it for years to come. After many, many, many years of discussion, we have decided that having a building of our own will be able to do just that.
With a modest community space located right across from the burial ground on the corner of 10th & Indiana, we plan to deepen our commitment to the Fairhill neighborhood while enhancing the quality of the vital programs we offer. Over the next year, we will be transforming two vacant lots into a welcoming, inclusive, accessible space to share with our neighbors. With a space of our own, we will be able to further address the need for literacy support and educational enrichment, fresh food and green space, and connection to community and our shared history.
The 1,700 square foot building will be fully accessible to the public and be a primary space for our in house programming. We currently see over a thousand visitors each year through field trips, history tours, and family fun workshops, but are often deterred due to weather. Our robust literacy programming is often limited to the school day and school year.
In our new home, there will be an all-purpose program space for indoor activities and year round literacy support, a kitchen to share recipes in, and much needed storage space. Plus, refrigeration will allow us to increase our food distribution capacity. It will be open for community meetings, workshops, and events. We can’t wait to be able to connect with even more friends and neighbors.
In late 2023, we spoke with many of you as we conducted a feasibility study and we have been working on the quiet phase of our fundraising since then. Members of our Board and our Building Committee have worked with the Philadelphia Land Bank to secure the two parcels. We have gained support from our community partners, staff, neighbors, and local officials.
As you can imagine, there is a lot of excitement around this project and we can’t wait to welcome you there soon. One of our young people recently shared with me that this new building will be his second home.
We hope that you see this as a natural and thoughtful extension of our work and a way to continue to carry on the wonder and joy that Historic Fair Hill shares with so many. This project is slated to cost just under $800,000 and to date we’ve been able to raise over $600,000 through the generous contributions of pledges and grants. We’re now asking you to help us close the final $200,000 gap and bring this space to life. Every gift moves this from a vision to a place our neighbors can walk into—a place for learning, gathering, and belonging.
If this work has meant something to you, I hope you’ll consider making a contribution or pledge. And if you’re not able to give today, there are so many other ways to be part of it—by sharing this project with others and by continuing to show up as you always have. Thank you for helping us build what comes next.
You can learn more here, find out giving options on our donation page, or reach out to Kerry at info@historicfairhill.com to set up a conversation. We’ll also be sharing more details in the coming months, so stay tuned!
