Frankford Civic takes a stand

The Frankford Civic continues to oppose the use of 4243-47 (map) Frankford Ave. as a drug- and alcohol-rehabilitation center. Emphasizing that their opposition is not to the commendable work being done but the fact that there are just too many of these centers already on Frankford Avenue.

Read the entire story here in the Northeast Times. Another story from the News Gleaner is here.

Wedge Medical and the facts of life

Diane Prokop at the Northeast Times has done her usual fine job of summarizing the Frankford Civic meeting last week on the subject of Wedge medical. Wedge came to the meeting with letters of support from a handful of politicians who must have carefully studied the workings of this "for profit" company and then concluded that they were very fine folks and deserve to exploit Frankford to enhance the corporate bottom line.

The facts of life are that politicians do not support anybody unless there is something in it for them. The owners of Wedge (Minda and Armando MAGUNDAYAO) are listed several times as contributors to the Friends of Dwight Evans in 2006. They were smaller contributors to the Friends of George Kenney in 2004. Does this make a difference? Yes. It's the way the system works.

We are not against these services. They are needed. But this one is not needed in this place and at this time. It's legal but its not wanted.

Wedge Medical

I wanted to get the account from the Frankford Civic Association on what has transpired so far with Wedge Medical opening up on Frankford Avenue within sight of the PAL center.

Yes, the civic found this out and opposed their work permits. Kevin Walsh did the research and brought it to the Civic's attention.

It was discussed over the past few meetings and petitions against were circulated. The owner of the building applied for a medical center/rehab in November and the civic had 30 days to appeal - at the cost of $200.00. An Anonymous donor put up the money and the civic appealed. Like NET no zoning variance is needed.

We only have the work permits to appeal. At the hearing the information was circulated about Wedge Med and their services. The hearing was last week and it was continued. It was at that hearing that the name of the provider was established, until then we were working with an owner's name only. We are presenting more information at the next civic. We are hoping to stop another Rehab from coming to FKD. We did not get wind of NET until it was too late but we found out about this in time.

Wedge med is a For Profit Company according to the PA Dept of State. We will stop this and hope the community and our elected officials will support us in this.

FKD Civic

Is another big rehab coming to Main Street Frankford?

I reported last week about how we are reviewing the real estate transactions on Frankford Avenue. One of the largest took place July 16 of 2007 with the purchase of 4243-47 Frankford Avenue for $510,000 by Berkley Property LLC.



The legal address for Berkley is 1010 Shepard Road in Blue Bell. This is the same address as the Wedge Med Corporation a major provider of substance abuse services. They are making significant improvements to the property.

We have no more accurate information at this point but we'll continue to research the issue.

Third Federal Building on Frankford Avenue

Renovations are well underway on the Third Federal building. It is mostly evident on the upper floors with materials shown in the windows.








At the rear of the building a dumpster and more indications of renovations for a new tenant. This would be the main entrance to the NET facility.

Project PRISE

I was in the neighborhood last week and got this picture of the sign on Griscom street across from St. Joachim. This is a description of the program:

Project PRISE is a new outpatient and intensive outpatient treatment program for adolescents with substance abuse and co-occurring mental health disorders located in the Kensington section of Northeast Philadelphia. Located in one of the most under-served communities for adolescents with substance abuse problems in Philadelphia, Project PRISE (Promoting Recovery through Integrated Services and Education) will serve approximately 30-40 youth at any given time, and approximately 75-80 youth per year. The PRISE IOP will offer a range of services, including comprehensive bio-psychosocial assessments and individual, group, and family therapy that will be informed by evidence-based assessment and treatment models developed as part of the CSAT funded Cannabis Youth Treatment Study. The program will also include a home-based, family-focused case management component that focuses on linking adolescents to a range of pro-social activities in the community and is based on a nationally recognized model. In addition, Project PRISE will be designed to promote increased collaboration between probation officers and the Clinical Treatment Team through regular meetings, information sharing, and communication.

Project PRISE is a program of the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation (PHMC). PHMC is a non-profit public health organization that conducts research and evaluates programs, provides management and technical assistance services for other non-profits, and provides specialized direct services in the community. PHMC currently manages eight other behavioral health programs in Philadelphia, including The Joseph J. Peters Institute, The Bridge, Bridges’ Step-Down, CHANCES, Interim House, and Interim House West, WestHaven and The Family Therapy Treatment Program.

This is an update of the drug treatment facilities:


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Frankford Drug Treatment Facilities

There has been an ongoing discussion over on phillyblog about the prevalence of drug treatment facilities in Frankford. Does Frankford have a lot of these facilities compared to other areas of the city? Do the facilities exist to treat Frankford residents or do the drug users move to Frankford because of the existence of the facilities.

One poster took the time to compile a list of these facilities and I have mapped them to Google maps to let everyone see where they are. As we update the list I'll adjust the map.


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