About AWF
The Allegheny West Foundation is one of the oldest and most successful community development corporations (CDCs) in Philadelphia. Since 1968, we have worked to revitalize our community and have focused tremendous energy toward improving the quality of life for the residents of Allegheny West.
We are a cornerstone in the Allegheny West community, and our initiatives aim to continuously develop and improve the neighborhood by helping residents find safe, affordable and desirable housing while achieving educational and economic success. The foundation of our success to date has been our close ties to the community and our strong network of supporters and partners.
In the 35 years since our founding, we have incorporated, grown, and expanded to become a key partner in revitalizing and developing the Allegheny West neighborhood. We play a critical role in the growth of our community, and are constantly working to:
- Promote the region
- Create social and business networks that bring investment into our community
- Advance strategic community initiatives
- Encourage efforts that foster human development
- Instill a sense of pride and safety in the community
AWF helps strengthen the fabric of the community, and we have been instrumental in repairing or rehabilitating over 5 percent of the local housing stock, and have helped scores of low- to moderate-income residents either rent or own homes in Allegheny West. We have also made improvements to the commercial and retail corridors, initiating development through community planning.
We recognize that community development takes much more than four walls. Looking to the future, we have expanded to include many more youth, education and community programs.
We’ve partnered with several grassroots community organizations to provide assistance for area residents through a variety of initiatives. For senior citizens, we administer food giveaway programs and coordinate a cancer screening program. We run career development programs for high school students, including summer employment and civic engagement, and educational programs, including Communities in Schools and City Year. We’ve also helped provide services like technical and financial assistance to over 200 business owners.
We enjoy excellent working relationships with other Community Development Corporations and participate in regular meetings with these organizations through the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations. We also receive funding from our corporate sponsor, Tasty Baking Company, through the Department of Community and Economic Development Comprehensive Services Program’s contributions.
Many more programs and improvements are planned in the coming years.
We would not be where we are today without the financial support and partnership of the Tasty Baking Company, whose facilities are located in our neighborhood. The company recognized an opportunity to contribute to the improvement of its surrounding community, and has provided Allegheny West the chance to not only survive, but thrive.
We are a Pennsylvania nonprofit community development corporation, and are an operating, not funding, organization with
501(c)3 status.