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In 2009, a brutal string of attacks targeting Asian students at South Philadelphia High School, 2101 S. Broad St., put several students in the hospital. One of them was Wei Chen, a resident of South Ninth and Wolf Streets, who now sits on the board of directors of Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia, 1426 S. 12th St. As he recuperated, he was visited by the organization, and it became a watershed moment in his life.
“I was a victim of school violence, and I grew as a student and a community organizer,” he told a crowd that gathered to honor City Councilman-at-Large James F. Kenney at Fleisher Art Memorial, 719 Catharine St., Friday night.
He was inspired by the compassion and unsolicited support from Victim/Witness Services that he received in the wake of violence. He’s grown “to serve victims to make a better city,” Chen said since his first interaction with an organization that seeks to alleviate some of the consequences that arise as a result of crime and violence. “I feel there’s more hope.”
It’s stories like Chen’s that inspired Kenney to enthusiastically back efforts to protect the citizenship and rights of non-native and documented Philadelphians. And last week, the group formally thanked and honored Kenney for his support with the Edward J. McLaughlin Award for Distinguished Service.
“Wei’s story, to me, was very important because it’s important to understand each other’s cultures,” Kenney said upon receiving his accolade.
But Kenney’s comments also stressed that we all have a moral compass and his gut told him that unfair anti-immigrant behaviors weren’t acceptable.
“If you know what’s unfair you know what’s unfair,” he stated. “In your heart you know it’s wrong.”
The organization sees the South Philly native as a champion for standing up for immigrants through fighting to end the City’s policy of complying with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer requests. These situations have, for years, kept immigrants in fear of calling the police, filing complaints and seeking justice for criminal behavior directed toward them.
“For Victim Services, one of our main concerns is that we want people to feel safe having contact with the police, and this isn’t a complete solution, but it’s a really strong first step,” Alison Sprague, the group’s executive director, explained.
The process of fighting the ICE holds and the campaign to end them have been hard-fought battles, and Sprague describes the last year as the period that finally tipped the scales.
“[The campaign] has been since probably 2008, but this last piece of important work is really in the last year or so and thankfully we have a lot of friends in [City] Council who were already working on this issue,” Sprague said. “It was kind of a perfect storm in organizing and advocacy work, and we certainly appreciate that the mayor heard community concerns and signed the order.”
With a budget of about $300,000 and five staff members, Victim Witness Services has fought for nearly a half-million dollars to be rewarded annually to victims and witnesses of crimes through its Victim Compensation Assistance Program. In service of the South Philly-situated 1st, 3rd and 17th Philadelphia Police Districts, staffers and volunteers work with translators to guarantee services for non-English speaking Philadelphians.
“We walk people through the process. We can’t guarantee outcomes from the justice system, and we can’t promise arrests,” Sprague said, “but we can be the folks who’ll go through the process from beginning to end.”
Linda Colavita, the chairperson for Victim/Witness Services board, knows first-hand how difficult the process of reporting a crime can be.
“It’s a very frightening experience. You feel alone, you feel scared, you’re afraid to say what you’re afraid of, and our staff helps people through that,” she said. “As a victim of crime myself, unfortunately I didn’t have these people to help me.”
Their annual Spring Fundraiser and Award Ceremony also included youths’ contributions.
Sadie Sprague-Lott, the executive director’s daughter, solicited young and student voices to articulate the struggles and fears they’ve experienced for inclusion in a banner that would express the repercussions of violence at their annual candle-lighting vigil.
“One of the questions on that survey asks ‘Do you have a message about violence in Philadelphia?’” she explained. “We wanted to show that we care about what is going on, we’re not all violent flash mobs and we are not all the cause of the violence as it is being portrayed. In fact we are often victims of violence.”
“Why has my car been keyed and kicked? Is it because of the flag that hangs on our mirror?” one young woman read to the crowd.
“No one should have the power to oppress others” and “Violence is not only physical but verbal,” another young woman read. “Go back to where you came from,” yet another teenager read.
“We’ll take ’em all,” Kenney said shortly thereafter, a hypothetical response to the often-used threat from Philadelphians who forget that Native Americans may be the only citizens authorized to use the phrase. “This is my home because I chose it — let’s continue to grow and work together and support each other,” Kenney suggested as an appropriate response to bigots.
“He has truly improved the lives of LGBT [citizens], immigrants, the elderly and the poor,” Rich Lazer, Victim/Witness Services secretary and the event’s chairman, said in introducing the politician. “He was an advocate for those who were underserved and gave them a voice to make sure Philadelphia is a safe place to live and work and raise a family.
“The help that Victim/Witness Services provides on a daily basis on a shoestring budget is remarkable. They renew our faith in our city as a great place to live,” Lazer added.
“It’s amazing what people think that’s so dead wrong because they’re going to be dead wrong until the day they die,” Kenney concluded. “I love standing up to bigots.”
Staff Writer Bill Chenevert at bchenevert@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
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