FTC Final Project

As part of the final VOICES Showcase for 2009, we created this short narrative film to promote our work in Feelin' The Cuts!

Enjoy

FTC meets PYC

Ok, so we met with the Philadelphia Youth Commission about 2 weeks ago. We talked about alot of things regarding the cuts happening within the city and interviewed several members of the commission.

I don't know too much about them, but, according to their mission statement, "The Commission represents Philadelphia’s youth in public hearings and gives testimony that reflects the youth perspective." I think that's cool. Us at Feeling the Cuts were happy to be able to talk to them and get their perspectives on what's going on with the city's budget.

We have video!

Dev's First Blog!

The townhall meeting to me was very essential because I got to understand more of what the whole 5 year plan was about. I expected for it to be a little uptight or eccentric, if you will. But it was different because I thought that the city council memberswould be more uptight, but they displayed their self as down to earth kind of people. Even though this was my first time I feel a bit more profound from hearing and being at that meeting. First when I heard Darrel Clarke and how articulate he was, it made me loosen up and actually live through his experiences vicariously. So that was fun to me in a more personal manner. You may find this funny, but a guy like me isn't into politics but my will to learn about my surroundings is wicked, like for instance I never knew what FY08 meant, and when I found out that it meant fiscal year 2008 I felt a little dumb. However there was not a lot of youth there but even so it was intricate and prudent to all of the curious people in the world.

They're Feelin' It

Hello All,

So a lot has been going on Feelin' the Cuts and Philadelphia politics recently. On March 19th Mayor Nutter proposed his "People's Budget" based off what people at the Penn Project for Civic Engagement Budget Forums had to say. After being part of the forums, we felt it only right that we be at City Hall to hear the proposal. The atmosphere was tense to say the least. You can read more about it in the Philadelphia Inquirer's front-page article from March 20, 2009.

Not to be outdone, City Council's Committee of the Whole has taken their hearings to the people, hosting their meetings in the community to hear testimony directly from the people. Last night was the first night of these hearings, and City Council came right here, to Temple University.

The committee heard testimony from a long list of people, mainly leaders of non-profit organizations and community members, worried about cuts and about the proposed tax hikes on real estate and sales.

The general consensus seemed to be that these were tough times, and people are looking to City Council to help Philadelphia and its citizens through this crisis.

Two FTC interns, myself included, and two FTC VOICES members went to hear what everyone had to say. We were even interviewed by The Temple News!

There will be three or four more public hearings like this. The schedule isn't confirmed yet, but you can bet that FTC will be making sure we get all the information and share it with you.

Best,
Liz

What's up

This is Zack, just entering the world of blogging, feel as though that I should share my 2cents on the Feelin' the Cuts group. So far Feelin' the Cuts attended a number of town hall meetings 4 the cuts and budget in Philadelphia. Though I have not attended a meeting myself, my comrades have been able to cover a lot of questions and provided ideas for the budget cuts that were talked over in our group meeting. I've heard great stories about the meetings, such as the Devin getting interviewed by the Temple News, and would like to attend the next to give you my own personal feedback!!

Art is for feelin'

We all know that Philly is not the only place Feelin' The Cuts. The current economic crisis is far-reaching, and cities all across the U.S. (and the world for that matter) are struggling to save important services for their residents while searching for creative ways to increase revenue (if taxes can be called creative...)

New York, for example, is facing a $1.2 billion deficit just on their transit system - the MTA. That's Philadelphia's 5 year budget deficit for the entire city that needs to be cut just out of New York's subways and buses. Now MTA is a lot more efficient than, say, SEPTA, so probably some service reductions will still ensure that the city continues to function. But during a recession, when many depend on public transit for an inexpensive and dependable means of getting around, some people are still going to be affected.

This article in the NY Times shows how two artists, Miranda Purves and Jason Logan, interpret the effect of the transit cuts on the MTA passengers Purves and her son have recently gotten to know. Instead of analyzing numbers, their simple drawing shows little details about the regular people who are being affected by the crisis in human ways, not huge economic ones.

I'm posting this here for two purposes: FIRST, to remind us that we are not alone, though our fight is still ours to fight! And SECOND, for inspiration - let's make art to show how and who in Philly is Feelin' it, to remind us that this is about people, not dollars.

Looking for youth to join the FTC Fam!

Hey guys! Just wanted to briefly touch base on what's going down in the next couple of weeks... We have some really cool events in the works, so stay tuned! But as of right now, we are looking for some creative, talented and passionate youth to join our team and help spread our mission--to encourage and educate youth and to provide an outlet for youth to share their voices. These times are particularly frustrating for youth and it is important to take advantage of our political rights and develop a youth perspective on the ongoing budget cuts.

One thing we're trying to put together is a type of youth forum, where we can discuss and debate issues concerning the current economic crisis and how this may affect the youth. We'll also be working closely with media, particularly blogging and film production. Tomorrow, Earla and I will be giving a presentation on Feelin' the Cuts and hopefully we can recruit some great people to help us achieve our goal.

Until next time!

Peace out xoxo
-Jess