Haverford House

I am not exactly the most artistically inclined person.  While I love going to galleries and the Philadelphia Museum of Art and could spend hours staring at a sculpture on the street, my own art is usually limited to hand-made greeting cards and coloring books.  Therefore I never imagined that part of my Haverford House experience would be spent organizing, designing, and setting up an exhibit of photographs for the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship Cafe and the Multicultural Center, both located in Stokes Hall.  Yet these photographs are also beyond the ordinary, they are works of art that were created by mothers on public assistance in Philadelphia.

These women are part of a project called Witnesses to Hunger, which is project that is run out the Drexel School of Public Health. Witnesses to Hunger brought together 40 mothers and had them document their lives through digital photography.   Through presenting these images at Haverford we are working to open up dialog on campus about public assistance and hunger and how do we choose to recognize or to ignore these issues that are a reality for many families in the city that is a few miles from Haverford’s gates.

For me, this project represents what Haverford House should be all about.  I am collaborating with two of my house-mates to put on this exhibit and discussion and we in turn, are being supported both financially and organizationally (not to mention emotionally) through the Hurford Humanities Student Arts Fund and the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship.  We are working with professors, students, staff, advocates and residents in Philadelphia, and with each other to connect Haverford students to Philadelphia in a way that provokes conversation, reflection, and potentially action.  These photographs are both beautiful and powerful and are not always easy to look at; they are reminders of poverty, desperation, and hope.

While the next few days before our exhibit goes up are sure to be stressful ones, filled with levels, sticky corners, mat board, frustration, and late nights.  Yet we will keep at it, because we know that on this Wednesday evening, looking into the faces of both the photographers and the Haverford community members, it will all be worth it.

We hope to see you at the panel (Wednesday 12/3, at 7:30 in Stokes Auditorium) and checking out the exhibit which will run in the CPGC Cafe and Multicultural Center from December 3rd until December 19th.  Please contact me at jweber@haverford.edu with any questions or thoughts and check out the Haverford calendar listing.

The first question that anyone asks when I tell them about my job is “How’s the commute?” The question is understandable seeing that I live in West Philly with all of my Haverford House buddies, but I work in Camden, New Jersey. Therefore I usually cross state lines twice a day and spend anywhere from an hour to two hours a day in the process of commuting. What I usually tell people, which is true, is that I actually love the commute. I love the built in separation of home and work, a time that allows me to clear my head before entering the office and the time to mentally leave behind my work at the end of the day. The other great thing about my commute is the chance to fly over the Delaware River twice a day. For those of you out there who have never taken the PATCO line between 8th and Market and Camden City Hall you should definitely get yourself on a train today. It feels absolutely magical to be up so high and to see this world splayed out before you.

Yet besides for being good for my mental health, the commute has also filled me with questions and made me a bit unsettled. As I began my daily ritual back in July there were a few things that one could not fail to notice on my commute. The first was that I am actually a reverse-commuter, meaning that I am going in the opposite direction of most of the people taking the PATCO. Day after day, my trains are always empty as I travel to New Jersey in the morning and then back to Philadelphia in the evening. Whereas the trains coming into Philadelphia in the morning are jampacked, as are the trains flying away from Philly and into Jersey in the evening. While I don’t know the exact statistics behind this phenomenon, I can only guess that it occurs because Philadelphia is an economic hub and attracts workers across state lines, however, it does not retain these same individuals to live. What are the effects of this influx and outflow to both Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia?

The other strange thing about the commute is that it reminds me on a daily basis of my mobility and the incredible privilege that I to cross state lines at will. With my PATCO pass in hand, I can leave and enter Camden at any time I want, but I know that many Camden residents do not have that ability. The feeling that I often get from talking with people in Camden, many of whom have lived through the city’s economic boom and devastating busts, is that they are stuck. Therefore while I commute against the crowds from South Jersey, I am very much a part of the daily evening exodus from Camden of those who can afford to leave. There is a part of me that wants to stake a claim and stay in Camden and prove everyone wrong who constantly degrades the city. I want to stay and show people the beauty that I see in the city and its people, but I also cannot ignore the reality that I see and hear about on a daily basis. So as I fly back over the river every evening, interspersed in my emotions remain a feeling of betrayal, a clenching of anger, and a twinge of relief.

I know that Liz and Janice just both wrote about the upcoming election and I don’t want you to think that’s all Haverford House is about, but seeing as the election is less than two days away, this is probably the last chance I’ll have to write about it.

Actually, Haverford House is actually kind of election central these days. As I write this, Corey and Sonia are out canvassing (I don’t know if I should say for who, but perhaps you can guess from this jack-o-lantern we made). I think almost all of us are volunteering on election day, either through the office of this unnamed candidate or with Vote for Homes, a non-partisan voting effort assisting people who are homeless, formerly homeless and low-income to exercise their right to vote. We’re all excited to be involved in voting efforts in such an important state, and it’s great that our jobs are flexible enough that we’re all able to spend election day working on the election and can at least feel like we’re making a difference.

Yesterday, Sonia and I were a canvassing team and hit up a couple of blocks west of our house.  I was unfortunately reminded of how much I hate knocking on doors (does anyone like it?) and there were so many people not home that it felt like we were wasting a lot of time, but it was great being able to give out voting information and connecting to the few people who seemed super excited about the election. I was also glad for the excuse to spend some time west of the house– Jane and I have talked a lot about how much more we head east than west (if you aren’t familiar with West Philadelphia, the eastern part of West Philly has been dubbed “University city” and is dominated by the University of Pennsylvania and everything that comes with it that might be appealing to recent college grads). While I don’t think I can quite tackle a discussion about diversity and gentrification of West Philly in this blog post, I guess I should say that I was happy getting a chance to talk to folks who have lived in this city for years and know a lot more about Philly than I do. And we didn’t encounter a single McCain supporter, making me think more about how much an Obama victory will mean to this city. (I had to give up on my attempt at nonpartisanism to get that last sentence out, I’ll have to make sure  to put my  nonpartisan hat back on for Tuesday when I’m with Vote for Homes).