Four Years In, Mighty Writers Sets Its Sights on West Philadelphia Expansion

The Mighty Writers sign is installed at the 15th and Christian location. A West Philadelphia branch will open its doors this fall. (Photo via Mighty Writers) 

Mighty Writers is completing its fourth year of helping kids learn the writing and critical thinking skills they’ll need to succeed. Not content with their success in serving over 1,000 Philadelphia students a year in South Philadelphia, Mighty Writers is getting ready to open a second location, at 3861 Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia, this September.

“Tim, our executive director, doesn’t come from the nonprofit world,” explained Maggie Leyman, development director, so he doesn’t have preconceptions about a development timeline.

“His vision has always been to have three centers, in South Philly, West Philly, and North Philly, to tackle three neighborhoods with strong needs — and the sooner the better.”

“Tim” is Tim Whitaker, who started out teaching fifth and sixth grades in Philadelphia public schools but then became a writer and editor, including 14 years as editor of Philadelphia Weekly. That career came full circle when he helped found Mighty Writers in 2009 to combat the literacy crisis in Philadelphia, a city where more than half of the adults lack the literacy skills needed for employment.

Mighty Writers offers an array of programs to Philadelphia students between the ages of 7 and 17. During the school year, students attend a daily after-school academy that offers tutoring plus writing classes. Short- or long-term writing workshops are offered evenings and weekends, along with SAT prep and courses devoted to preparing college applications. During the summer, MW offers free workshops on everything from poetry to pirates to photography.

“Ten of the eleven workshops we’re offering this summer are at capacity, with waiting lists,” Leyman said — and with the cutbacks in public school budgets, it is expected that demand for Mighty Writers programs will only grow. That demand is reflected in the fact that they’re already getting applications at the new West Philadelphia location.

Volunteer James Wright, the father of Mighty Writer Evelyn, found the new location for them. It’s a property owned by his employer, the People’s Emergency Center, a nonprofit that serves homeless single mothers and their children. “It fits our location model,” Leyman said. “It’s close to kids and volunteers in a revitalizing neighborhood with a lot of foot traffic.”

Though they’d been offered other West Philly sites, most would have required significant renovation, and the organization prefers to spend its budget on providing services, not rehabbing space, Leyman said.

Of the $200,000 Mighty Writers needs to open the new location, they’ve already raised $170,000.

“We have gotten generous grants — from the Hamilton Family Foundation, the Samuel Fels Fund, and the Lindback Foundation — but most of the support comes from individuals who support our mission,” Leyman says.

Those supportive individuals also include the 300+ volunteers who teach and mentor young Mighty Writers.“We’ve gotten a lot more strategic in how we use our volunteers” over the last four years, Leyman said. They now ask people to sign up for a specific commitment to come in at a particular time every week. Those volunteers include everyone from college students — many from Temple — to working professionals to retirees.

With the move to West Philly, Leyman anticipates developing partnerships with Drexel University and with the Graduate School of Education at Penn, and hopes to find many new volunteers among their students.

In addition, the West Philadelphia center plans to develop a community partnership with its landlord, People’s Emergency Center, similar to the one it enjoys with its existing landlord in South Philadelphia, Universal Companies.

The work of building those partnerships and recruiting volunteers will be a priority for the recently appointed director of the West Philadelphia location, Annette John-Hall, who has been involved in Mighty Writers since its founding. John-Hall, an award-winning Inquirer columnist, has taught a sportswriting course for teens since 2009 and been a member of the organization’s advisory board since 2010.

“I try to avoid social work jargon,” Leyman said, “but what we’ve learned over the last four years is the importance of building community. Parents, kids, volunteers, funders — they’re all a part of our success.”