Happy New Year!!! CPMM staff changes and much more.

Friends Center Tenant Newsletter
Issue 44, January 2019
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE
Welcome back to the Friends Center! As we said in our year-end holiday card: Best wishes for a happy, healthy, more peaceful, and more just year for you and everyone in 2019. — Chris Mohr, Executive Director
AROUND FRIENDS CENTER
Happy New Year!!! Friends Center’s 2019 Holiday Closure Calendar is now online. Please bookmark or download for your reference.
EQUITY PARTNER NEWS  
AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE
Campaign Action
Since mid-October (2018), groups of asylum seekers escaping violence and poverty have been traveling north from Central America through Mexico. Instead of responding with compassion, President Trump has deployed thousands of troops, shot tear gas at children, and pursued policies to criminalize all who seek refuge. People fleeing violence and poverty in Central America and elsewhere should be treated with humanity and compassion—not face family separation, military troops, or criminalization. It’s time for Congress to stop funding cruelty against immigrants.
Sign the petition: Respect the human right to migrate and end militarization at the border    

CENTRAL PHILADELPHIA MONTHLY MEETING    
Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting is glad to announce the hiring of a new Meeting secretary, Dan Zemaitis. Dan will be taking over for Amy Ward Brimmer, who has been the secretary for the previous 4 years. Dan is a member of Moorestown Monthly Meeting, a graduate of Moorestown Friends and Haverford College and holds a PhD in Religion and Theology with a focus on Quaker Studies from the University of Birmingham, UK. Dan also teaches Comparative Religion at Rowan College of Burlington County.  
PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING
The PYM Community Events Calendar is for all events in the PYM region under the care of any Quaker meeting, organization, school, committee, collaborative, or another group. See https://www.pym.org/calendar.   Here’s one example of a calendar listing: “Women of Our World: Photojournalism with Love” When: January 5, 2019 – April 24, 2019 all-day America/New York Timezone Where: The Barn Gallery at Pendle Hill 338 Plush Mill Rd Wallingford, PA 19086 Cost: Free Contact: Jesse White, 610-566-4507, ext 137 A series of photographs of women from around the world taken by Quaker photojournalist Blair Seitz will be on display through April 24, 2019.

TENANT NEWS
Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity When: January 18, 2019 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: Drexel University Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Parnerships 3509 Spring Garden St Philadelphia, PA 19104
Contact: Email, Event website , Expungement Clinics
We will cover the creation, dissemination, and destruction of criminal records in Pennsylvania during a Know Your Rights sessions. Sit for a one-on-one expungement eligibility intake session to see if you have charges from Pennsylvania arrests that are eligible for an expungement. This clinic is FREE and OPEN to the public and operates on a first come, first served basis. No registration is needed. Graciously hosted by the Drexel University’s Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships.

Singing City: The Children’s March Sunday, February 24, 2019, 3 p.m. Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral 23 S. 38th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 With Singing City, The SC Children’s Choir, T-VOCE, Keystone State Boychoir’s Anonymous 8 Germantown Friends School Middle School Choir Charlotte Blake Alston, narrator A work that unites all ages in re-telling the story that changed the direction of the Civil Rights movement in America.

Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation Lesson
Planning for Engagement and Belonging Tuesday, January 15 @ 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM, Free   Dig into the “why” as well as the “how” of strong lesson planning.  Join Julia Katz, ArtWell Associate Executive Director and Sarah Chavez, ArtWell School Partnerships Assistant Coordinator, to learn intuitive and accessible ways to develop workshop goals, then plan your lesson working backwards. We will explore key components of a strong lesson plan as well as how workshop structure and facilitation can decrease anxiety and power dynamics, and encourage active learning, safety, and youth voice.  Artists in all disciplines are welcome.

COMMUNITY ITEMS OUTSIDE FRIENDS CENTER
Arch Street Meeting House has a devoted group of volunteers who interact with visitors as docents and greeters. They are always looking for new folks to join in! If you have questions feel free to reach out to Volunteer (@) historicASMH.org.