Dear Family and Friends,

As we gather together this month to celebrate the holidays with friends, family, and neighbors, we wanted to give thanks to all of you!

Thank you for joining us to kick off our celebration of the Urban Affairs Coalition’s 52 years of service in the Greater Philadelphia region. Thank you to my co-host of our virtual event, UAC Board Chair Jim Mergiotti, along with all of the live virtual attendees and all those who have watched the event since on YouTube. While there’s nothing like being together in person, the virtual format allowed us to accomplish quite a bit in an hour’s time, and you can still watch it if you missed the debut. The program was beautifully woven together with messages of support from our loyal friends and supporters, along with spotlights on notable UAC programs and partners.

A big thanks goes out to our event’s fireside chat participants, “Doer” Award Honoree, Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr., a New York Times best-selling author and chair of Princeton University’s Department of African American Studies, and Sulaiman Rahman, Founder and CEO of DiverseForce. The compelling conversation between Dr. Glaude and Sulaiman focused on the iconic writer and activist, James Baldwin, and the state of race, social justice, equity, and inclusion in America – a topic Dr. Glaude has explored through his recent book, “Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own.”

Urging the audience to use their voices to join these conversations, he concluded by saying, “We have to stop being complicit with the world as it is… The world conspires to make you small, the question is whether or not you are going to be complicit. We have to change how we move in this City, in this Country.”

We are equally thankful to highlight our other honorees during the event – Dr. Ala Stanford & The Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, recipients of the Living Legacy Award; Gregory Heller, Director at Guidehouse, recipient of the Community Leadership Award; and PNC Bank, recipient of the Founder’s Award. Together, our 2021 honorees share a commitment to transforming all segments of the Greater Philadelphia community. Each honoree will be celebrated through a series of special events, which culminate in June 2022, to mark UAC’s #52YearsofService. Stay-tuned for our next event in the 52nd Anniversary series, featuring our Living Legacy Honorees in March 2022!

As if all of this were not exciting enough, we shared a very special announcement at our kickoff event. A huge thank you (!!) to PNC Bank, a recipient of this year’s Founder’s Award, who announced an expansion of our decades long relationship through a $1.5 million PNC Foundation grant and donation of the bank’s former branch location at Broad and Loudon Streets. Representing one of the largest corporate commitments UAC has received during its history, the three-year PNC Foundation grant, combined with the transfer of the building and related improvements, will enable UAC to create a community center in the heart of north Philadelphia to deliver needed community services like financial education, community services, support for small businesses. Thank you to Joe Meterchick, Regional President, Monica Burch, Senior Vice President and Market Manager of Community Development Banking, and the entire PNC Bank family for your support and partnership.

I also want to pass along a special thank you to our sponsors: AmeriHealth Caritas, Bank of America, Comcast NBCUniversal, Independence Blue Cross, JP Morgan Chase, Marsh McLennan Agency, Merck & Co. Inc., PECO, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Foundation, PNC Bank, Truist, UGI Corporation, Walmart, and Wells Fargo; all of our stalwart anniversary sponsors and year-round funders for their generous support of the 52nd Anniversary Celebration.

It was truly a kick-off event for the ages, but remember… we’re just getting started!

Stay tuned for more anniversary events and announcements over the next few months as we continue to celebrate an extraordinary #52YearsofService!

If you missed our kick-off event’s debut, you can view the entire celebration on our YouTube page: www.uac.org/premier

 

Sharmain Matlock-Turner

President/CEO
Sharmain@uac.org