A Year of Belonging,
Built Block by Block

Heal the Hood Project (DBA Thrive Philly) builds protective pathways for Black and Brown girls in Philadelphia — through wellness, mentorship, and creative learning. Here is what two community grants made possible in 2025–26.

Thrive Philly empowers Black and Brown girls through prevention and diversion programs that center education, wellness, leadership, and activism — creating protective pathways away from justice involvement and toward thriving futures.

Bridging Gaps and Building Futures

Summer STEAAM: a 10-week bridge away from harm.

Supported by a $19,350 community investment grant for violence prevention in the neighborhoods most impacted by gun violence, Thrive Philly delivered its Summer STEAAM program — an immersive, citywide summer for Black and Brown youth.

Why a summer program is prevention

Summer STEAAM was built to meet Philadelphia's youth-violence challenge head-on. The city saw 714 shooting incidents in 2024 — even amid a 40% reduction in overall shootings and a drop in homicides — proof that targeted interventions still matter for pushing those numbers down further.

Open to students citywide with no eligibility limits, the program integrates local leaders and gives youth ownership of their role in combating violence. Recognizing that at-risk young people benefit most from structured, engaging programming during the high-risk summer months, Summer STEAAM delivers a 10-week experience of hands-on learning, mentorship, and collaboration — and serves as the gateway into Thrive's year-round STEAAM program.

A passport to the diaspora.

The summer's signature experience: a week-long study abroad trip to Turks and Caicos centered on joy, mindfulness, and exploration. Many of the low-income students Thrive serves had never traveled beyond the East Coast. Thirty single-parent students earned stipends covering first-time passport costs — and 17 made the trip.

The destination was intentional. Rooted in vibrant African cultural traditions and forced-migration history, the islands let students connect with their ancestral roots, strengthen their sense of belonging at home, and see their place within a global African diaspora.

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  10-week Summer STEAAM bridge — hands-on STEAAM learning, mentorship & collaboration
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  Study abroad to Turks & Caicos — 17 students, diaspora & cultural-heritage immersion
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  30 first-time passport stipends earned by single-parent students
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  National Museum of African American History visit
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  College tour to Howard University
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  STEAAM pitch contest — student business ideas with cash prizes
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  Summer Bridges employment — 17 girls & 8 women in paid roles & career readiness
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  Closing ceremony celebrating every student who completed the experience

A festival for women who build.

In July, Thrive Philly hosted Flourish Fest — a celebration of Black women entrepreneurs featuring an all–Black-women vendor market, wellness workshops, live Pilates, a live DJ, and a spotlight stage for founders to share their work. The festival extended Summer STEAAM's mission outward: modeling for the girls what thriving Black womanhood and economic self-determination look like in their own city.

The studio as shared infrastructure

Beyond programming, Thrive opened the Career Café & Wellness Studio as a launchpad: 30 women entrepreneurs across the city used the space free of charge to host events for their own businesses. In total, the studio was offered free to 26+ community partners and served over 902 Philadelphians over the summer cycle — turning one storefront on Cecil B. Moore into a genuine community asset.

How we measured the mission.

Summer STEAAM committed to a comprehensive evaluation strategy — pairing pre- and post-program surveys with portfolio assessments and engagement tracking against four program goals.

Outcomes measured using a pre/post evaluation design drawing on established, psychometrically validated instruments for positive-youth-development programs — including the Youth Thrive Survey and the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM) for resilience and protective factors, and Dweck's Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale for growth mindset. Full instrument details and data available on request.

Consistency is the intervention.

Supported by a $10,000 community grant, Thrive Philly delivered a full five-month spring semester of STEAAM — Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Activism, and Math — for low-income Black and Brown girls. The model anchored 25 participants during the out-of-school hours that carry the highest risk.

What the funding made possible

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  Consistent programming — weekly Wednesday sessions + Saturday Pilates across the full term
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  Digital equity — nine participants received their own MacBook
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  Safe transportation — rides home after every Wednesday session, after dark
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  Embedded wellness — Pilates, mindfulness, and movement woven throughout
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  A dedicated home — every session at the Career Café & Wellness Studio

The spring cycle, by the numbers.

STEAAM really changed my life and has allowed me to meet so many dope girls from the city… I actually feel cared about. The teachers really go above and beyond for us.

— STEAAM participant, Spring 2026

Learning paired with leadership.

Five years. One growing movement.

The 2025–26 cycles are part of a longer story. Across five-plus years, Thrive Philly's reach has compounded — girl by girl, passport by passport, laptop by laptop.

Showing up for the block.

Beyond the studio walls, Thrive Philly shows up where the community gathers — at celebrations, neighborhood festivals, and partner events across Philadelphia. The Career Café & Wellness Studio at 504 Cecil B. Moore Ave anchors it all: a youth-centered, affirming space that has opened its doors to dozens of community partners. Mentorship runs through every layer — women who lead, lifting the next generation of girls with a vision.

Every dollar, accounted for.