Founded in 2005, G’Town Restoration CDC is a grass-roots section 501(c)(3) non-profit community development corporation that works in the heart of Northwest Philadelphia.  G’Town service area neighborhoods range from some of the most affluent in Philadelphia to some with high rates of vacancy and poverty. In fact, there are entirely too many neighborhoods in G’Town’s service area that are virtually “food deserts” with very high frequencies of diet-related diseases. At the same time the service area has a wealth of assets including excellent public transportation, strong community organizations, hospitals and universities, and revitalized neighborhood commercial corridors.

As a relatively small, community-based organization, G’Town Restoration CDC has had a significant impact. It has provided food preparation certification job training to 210 community members; it has led commercial corridor revitalization along the community’s main spur of Germantown Avenue and created the Chew/Chelten Business Association; and engaged over 400 community members in community planning. It has also supported community greening initiatives, carried out corridor/block cleaning, and youth engagement and education programs. G’Town, in partnership with Liberation Fellowship Community Development Corporation, trained more than 450 underserved community residents, on a city-wide basis, on water quality, storm water management and household hazardous waste issues and appropriate responses. Through one of its board members, it co-sponsored, along with the School District of Philadelphia, the American Cities Foundation, and the Osiris Group, Inc., the first Urban Environmental Summit in Philadelphia, at which Majora Carter, then President and CEO of Sustainable South Bronx, was the keynote speaker. G’Town co-sponsored the visit to Philadelphia of national environmental leader Van Jones, President of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, CA and promoter of a national “Green Collar Jobs” initiative aimed at creating “green pathways out of poverty.” G’Town also brought together nearly 50 community stakeholders from Northwest Philadelphia (civic groups, institutions, residents, and elected and appointed officials) to form the Northwest Sustainability Coalition that created a comprehensive Neighborhood Greening Plan for the entire Northwest.