The city of Philadelphia owns a neglected vacant lot at 15th Street and Parrish. We, the community of Francisville, have come together to transform it into a peaceful, green, functional community space in a short time.

We gather here to meet neighbors (socially distanced), chat over coffee, bring our laptops to work from home, and enjoy two designated safe spaces for our children to play and for our furry friends. We have hosted a 40+ person neighborhood clean up from here. And that is only the beginning... We had plans to bring neighbors together for socially distanced movie nights and gatherings. We had plans to plant more flowers. We had plans to grow our community!

And then, the city put up vacate notices, threatening us with criminal trespassing - for beautifying what was previously nothing but a trash-strewn lot. This is our neighborhood, our home and we wanted to fix it! We will not stand it. We will save this park, one of the last green spaces in our neighborhood.

Join us by signing this petition (and leave a comment to show even more support!) Then please go contact Councilman Darrell Clarke. You can also follow @piratesoffrancisville on Instagram. Thank you for your support.