Phila. Non-Profit To Host Pope Watch Party This Weekend
By Cherri Gregg
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A non-profit located in the Tioga section of North Philadelphia is throwing a huge Pope watching party this weekend for those unable to venture to the parkway for the festivities.
"The community that we serve, we are a family," says Barbara Coleman, program director for Mercy Neighorhood Ministries. The group services Tioga residents ages 2 to 105, with both child care and adult day care programs. Located at 20th and W. Venango, they're a beacon of hope in a neighborhood with nearly 20 percent unemployment and where half the residents lack a high school diploma.
"We service families that just don't have," says Coleman, noting some residents live without electricity.
That's why Coleman says Mercy staff will open the family center and serve free food and rig up a big screen projector to show Papal weekend events.
"Many in our community are not able to get there, some of them may not have the connection to see the Pope on television and some of them may not even have a television," she says.
Coleman says the center will be open Saturday for the morning mass and then again for afternoon festivites. It'll also be open Sunday afternoon for the Papal mass. More at mercyneighbors.org or call 215-227-4393.