2023
An n ua l
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COMMUNITY MOMENTUM
The Momentum Continues s I think about the work we all do each year to support our mission, I’m humbled by the undeniable strength of our partnerships and residents, and the heart with which everyone works together. Building a community of allies who share a vision for the future of our watershed brings me happiness and energy, every single day. Many of you are aware that this is my final year as Executive Director of TTF. To say I’ve enjoyed my time with all of you would be an understatement, as it’s been my honor to have worked tirelessly together to make a real difference. I may be leaving, but I promise that you’ll all be in good hands throughout this change in leadership and into the future. Thank you again to the TCP Keepers, Streamkeepers, volunteers, donors, Board of Directors and Advisors, and all our dedicated constituents for your ongoing support, day in and day out. From the bottom of my heart.
905
Volunteer Hours
440
Free Programs Hosted
205
Individual Donors Julie Slavet Executive Director
Get GetInvolved Involved It takes real people like you to to protect our It takes real people like you protect our creeks! Check out our website to to learn how. creeks! Check out our website learn how.
To o k a n y/ Ta c o n y - Fr a n k f o r d Wa t e r s h e d P a r t n e r s h i p | 2 0 2 3 A n n u a l R e p o r t
Stories
Contact:
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info@ttfwatershed.org
SCAN THE QR CODE TO DONATE!
The Power of Early Learning Last year, families found exciting ways to engage with our new interactive River Alive! Learning Trail. The creation of this unique bilingual environmental education and playful early learning experience, based on the exhibit at the Independence Seaport Museum, was led by Victoria Prizzia of Habitheque, with lots of neighborhood input. This special project was made possible by the William Penn Foundation.
As true ambassadors for the watershed, these neighbors continue to make a very symbolic difference through their commitment to keeping their landscape healthy, while also tackling stormwater runoff at their homes and in their yards.
Learn more about the Learning Trail and how educational activities like River Alive! contribute to our community.
The TTF team unloads rain barrels for watershed residents
Residents keep an eye on the creeks in their backyards
Projects like Stream Smart play a role in supporting creek health for fish and other wildlife
“TTF did an audit and calculated how much runoff they would catch off [my property]… the grant was approved and not only did we get our hands dirty but our two kids did, too. Plus... we got a snapping turtle walking down our driveway!” — Timothy Voit, Homeowner & TTF Bioswale Advocate Rd.
Visit the signs between Cheltenham Avenue and Tabor Road. We’re hoping to secure funding so we can work with our partners at Olney Culture Lab to tell more stories from additional neighbors.
As part of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative and through a generous grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, we’ve helped residents create rain gardens and bioswales, plant native trees, and install rain barrels. We’ve kept the momentum going by not only offering evaluations of residential needs, but by selling over 200 barrels in the TTF footprint over the last 10 years. Really, we’re just getting started.
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Over the last ten years, many of our residential constituents have done their part to improve and maintain the health and vitality of our watershed. Through the Stream Smart program, we’ve provided both recommendations and assistance to upstream residents to improve their properties through Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) – nature-based solutions – to manage stormwater runoff pollution, cleaning the water before it enters the creek and helping to reduce future flooding.
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This year we introduced People of the Park, a pilot project composed of a permanent series of physical portrait signs along the Tacony Creek Park Trail. As part of this unique community engagement opportunity to honor the ethnically, linguistically and culturally rich surrounding constituents, we selected four very different neighbors coincidentally connected by their relentless love and deep appreciation for this green space. Through images, words and sound, these unique and quite personal installations not only promote advocacy for protecting the land, but also serve as a heartwarming, engaging storytelling vehicle for the park itself.
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Neighbor and steward Maria Vazquez is featured on a sign in the park across from her home
Visit park lover Dr. Rhoda Moise on the sign near the Adams Avenue bridge.
SCAN THE QR CODE FOR MORE ON STREAM SMART AND WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
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250 rain barrels sold since 2015 — that’s over 1 million gallons of rain!
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We’ve been selling rain barrels since 2015. We have sold over 250 rain barrels across our Montgomery County communities. We estimate that these barrels held back over 1 million gallons of rain from the stormwater system in the last year.
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Scan this code for more info on the Learning Trail and People of the Park!
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Stream Smart features 13 residential projects: rain gardens, bioswales, creekside plantings, live staking.
We can’t wait to share future projects with you, like our Alverthorpe Park restoration in Abington.
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TCP Keepers
— Dr. Rhoda Moise; Epidemiologist, Artist, Yoga Instructor
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“...to be in tune with nature, to be able to hear the birds chirping, the water running, to look around and be amongst the trees or on a trail tucked away from a main street. That access creates a safe haven for me to decompress and ground myself.”
COMING SOON:
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How special was this project? In October 2022, Chelsea Clinton of the Clinton Foundation visited the Learning Trail on a Philadelphia tour of playful learning experiences led by the William Penn Foundation and Too Small To Fail, a Clinton Foundation initiative.
Doing Your Part to Stream Smart
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Neighborhood kids and their families explored and engaged with the six animals that swim, fly, and live in our streams and green spaces. They created the mosaic bases for each animal, celebrated the opening of the trail, participated in activities using a special Learning Trail Discovery kit, Seek and Find map, and water poetry. Families even visited the exhibit that inspired the trail at the Seaport Museum, traveling together by bus, chaperoned by TTF. While the families reluctantly said goodbye to their adopted animals as the weather got colder, we’re all looking forward to welcoming them back each summer.
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The fish sculpture at the Learning Trail gets some hands-on attention
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The sculptures feature six animals that live in the watershed: fox, fish, turtle, heron, watersnake, and otter. Each sculpture includes an interactive water feature and an animal song, written by City Love and accessed via QR code, to demonstrate that the animals are part of our diverse urban community. Crosswalks leading from the closest Tacony Creek Park gateway to the animals were painted with colorful fish by local artist Jay Coreano, with the help of neighbors.
— Seri Chao, Chef
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Located next to Ferko Recreation Center along Tacony Creek Park in Juniata Park, the unique installation includes six stations, each featuring an animal sculpture, seating, and English/Spanish bilingual signage for families to learn about the local watershed, nearby Tacony Creek, and the water itself!
“The park is a retreat from city life. It’s a nice green space and helps me clear my mind.”
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Board of Directors and Advisors
Donors and Partners Individuals and Businesses
Jennifer Mastalerz ennett Compost B
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University | Jeffrey Ackler | Adventure Aquarium | Leigh and Carol Altadonna | America’s Charities | Anonymous ‡ | David Arscott | Naomi and Skip Atkins | Christopher Ballod | Dottie Baumgarten | Susan Becker | Dalila Bedoya | Kurt and Caoimhe Beil | David Bell * | Gary and Donna Berkowitz | Eileen and Eli Brill | Alan Bronstein | Bernard Brown | Dave and Marion Brown | Elizabeth Brown | Traci Browne * | Karl Buchert | Greta Bunin * | Barbara Burke | Cake Life Bake Shop | Marc Cammarata * | John and Leah Canty | Pete Carter * | Karen Chenoweth | Jenee Chizick-Aguero | Virginia Christensen | Dennis and Mariel Clark | Sarah Clark Dixon | Sarah Clark Stuart * | Michael Cloud and Laura Craig | Michael and Jackie Connor * | Herb and Barbara Cooper | Clive Copping | Jay Coreano | Francis and Elizabeth Coyle | Philip and Audrey Cross | Emilia Crotty | Joanne Dahme * | Ruth Damsker | Kenneth Daskus | Fiona Davenport | Christopher Deephouse and Donna Hunt | Stephen Dennis | Allegra Derengowski | Thomas Derivera | Vincent DiGirolamo | Lisa Donahue and Ken Rose * | Robert Dromboski and Laura Frank | Earl Drumheiser | John Dulik | James Duncan | Rosalind Dutton | Emily Ennulat-Lustine | Dana Espinosa | Janet Everly | Jen and Rob Eyre | Katherine Falso | Farmer Jawn | Johannah Fine | Fishtown Pickle Project | Fishtown Seafood | Friends of the Wissahickon | Elizabeth Fuentes * | Anthony and Lynn Gale | Tracey Gale * | Sharon Garfield | Glen Foerd | Silvina Godoy * | Seth Goldenberg * | Betsy and Steven Goldstein | Lissette Goya | Kimberly Hamm | Susan and Marc Harris | Bryan Havir | Bonita and Jim Hay | Judy and Steven Heath | Mark Heere * | Jenny Heitler-Klevans | Patricia Hendrick | Dallas and Diedra Herbert | Hans Hesselein | Deborah Heuckeroth | Stephen and Erica Heverin * | John and Ruthanne Hoover | Joan and Burton Horn | Barbara Hughes | Independence Seaport Museum | Michael Infanti | Regina Ingiosi | Robin and Christy Irizarry | Jenkintown Home and School Association | Rose Johnson * | Kim Jordan | David Judge | Marc Kalman | Laura Karmatz | Leslie Kaufman | Sean Kelley | Daniel Kelly | John Kennedy | Maria Kiernan and Salvatore Rotella Jr. | Judith King and John Sorrentino | Christopher Kircher * | Gail Korostoff | Tyler Krechmer | Sherry Krider | Stefanie Kroll * | Ken Kulak | Cheryl Lang * | Maggie Lasota | Learning Times, LLC ‡ | Gregory Lech | Jon Lesher | Jan LeSuer | Donna and Jack Levin | Liberty Point | Donna Long | Evan Lovett | Ken Lovett and Jeff Perkins | Lunar Inn | Carole Maher * | Norman Marcus | Karon Massado * | John Mattar | Stephen and Deborah McCarter | Charles McCurdy | Connie McGeorge | Ryan Megna | Kimberly Mehler | Darlene Melton | Merle Slyhoff Pottery | Andrew Miller | Elliot Miller | Pamela Miller | Sarah Minges | Rosanne Mistretta and Steve Miano * | Bernard Mitchell | Matt Moore | Amanda Muir | Dan Muroff | Rasheeda Murphy | Susan and Benjamin Myerov * | Jennifer Richey Nicholas | Lynn Nicholson | Daniel Norris | Mary and Howard Panitch | Matt Pappajohn and Catherine Recker | Linda Pascale | Daniel Paschall | Sara Patterson | Pennsylvania Horticultural Society | Dr. Bonnie Perlmutter and Philip Witman | Constance and Kevin Perry | Perrystead Dairy | Sara Poindexter | Victoria Prizzia | Jerry Raider | Dan Reynolds | Brian Rissinger | Risa and Bill Robinson | Carol and Gregory Roddy | Migdalia Rosado Lopez * | Joseph Rozak | Lynette Saunders | Nancy Schek | Rebecca Schultz * | Bernice and Mark Schwartz | Jennifer Schwartz | Donald Scott | Ruth Seeley | Aaron Segall * | Martin Selzer * | Lucy Sharp | Violet Shenkman | Mar Sherman | Elissa Siegel | Sisters of IHM | Gregory Smith | Shirley Spirk | Rita Stevens | Phyllis Stickney | Sandra and Paul Szalinski | Bryan Szeliga | Steve Tambini | Lynn and Bill Thames | Robert Thomas | Phaedra Tinder | Robert Traver | Walter Tsou | United By Blue | Krista Vandetty | Tim Voit and Tanya Borman-Voit | Voya Financial ‡ | Julia Way Rix | Weavers Way Coop | Marcia Webber | Stacey Lee Webber | Marvin and Lillian Weilerstein | Henry Weisenborn | Robert Wendelgass | Janet Wetzel * | Keith and Slavka Wetzel | Peg Wetzel | Sarah Willig | John Witherspoon | Betsy and Sheldon Wolf | Anita and Harry Yampolsky | Beth Yount | Jonathan and Cecile Zorach
Montez Devine James
Partner Alliance
Officers
Board of Advisors
Susan Myerov, Co-President
Laura Craig, PhD
Member, Abington Township Environmental Advisory Council
Princeton Hydro
Senior Program Director, Pennsylvania Environmental Council
Susan Harris Cerulean, LLC
Sara Poindexter, Co-President
Christopher Kircher, AIA
Rodriguez Consulting, LLC
Metcalfe Architecture & Design, LLC
Alyson Elliott, Vice-President, Montgomery County
Stefanie Kroll, PhD
Assistant Township Manager, Cheltenham Township
Jon Lesher
Marc Cammarata, Vice-President, Philadelphia Deputy Commissioner for Planning, Philadelphia Water Department
Consultant
Montgomery County Planning Commission
Robert Thomas, AIA Campbell Thomas & Co. Architects Philadelphia Parks Alliance
Tom Johnston, Secretary ThinkGreen, LLC, Landscape Architecture, Ecological Design & Construction
Donald Pierce, Treasurer Partner, Maillie LLP
Silvina Godoy, At Large Speech Language Pathologist
Board of Directors Dalila Bedoya School District of Philadelphia
Joanne Dahme Mayfly Communications
Commissioned Notary
Abington Friends School | A.D. Marble | American Society of Civil Engineers of Philadelphia Younger Member Forum | Apiary Studio Landscape Architecture | AquaReale | Arcadis | Bennett Compost | Brown and Caldwell | Cerulean, LLC | Collins Nursery | Ecostead | The Essential Foundation | Ferguson Waterworks | Fine Garden Creations, LLC | Frankford Friends School | Garfield Refining | Gilmore & Associates, Inc. | Globe Dye Works | Green Hill Art Services | GreenWeaver Landscapes | Jobsite Products, Inc. | Land Stewards, LLC | Metz Engineers | MOM’s Organic Market | Mondo Contract Flooring | Octoraro Native Plant Nursery, Inc. | PECO | Pennoni | Pennsylvania Environmental Council | Philadelphia Insurance Companies | Pixel Parlor, LLC | Primex Garden Center | Quaker Houghton | REI Co-op | Rodriguez Consulting, LLC | Spacious | Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia | Sustainable Choices, LLC | Teamsters Local Union No. 169 | The Communication Solutions Group, Inc. | ThinkGreen LLC | University Of Pennsylvania Master of Science in Applied Geosciences | Wyncote Audubon Society
Donna Long Writer & Environmental Educator/ Substitute Teacher
Luanda Morris Urban Affairs Coalition
Elise Ruse-Esposito Philadelphia Parks & Recreation
Marilyn Torres
Foundations and Government
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
Abington Township | AmazonSmile Foundation | Anonymous ‡ | Cheltenham Township | Jenkintown Borough | Montgomery County Conservation District | National Fish & Wildlife Foundation | National Wildlife Federation | Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development | Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources | Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection | Philadelphia Activities Fund | Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation | Philadelphia Parks & Recreation | Philadelphia Water Department | Rockledge Borough | Scattergood Foundation | Springfield Township | Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership | William Penn Foundation
* Sustainers: our monthly donors ‡ Matching gifts
Revenue and Spending
Grants and Agency Support
$ 73,810
Total $ 73,810
$ 1,202,837
$ 1,202,837
Municipal Dues
$ 63,000
$ 63,000
Program Fees
$ 348,322
$ 348,322
Interest Income
$ 4,576
$ 4,576
Other
$ 4,182
$ 4,182
$ 1,696,727
$ 1,696,727
$ 24,138
$ 24,138
Administration
4% 5%
Fundraising
91% Program
20
Total Revenue and Support
100
Temporarily Restricted
80
Contributions
Unrestricted
60
Support and Revenue
EXPENSES 2023
40
FINANCIAL SUMMARY 2023 7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023 (in thousands)
$ (24,138)
$ 1,696,727
General and Administrative
$ 84,471
$ 84,471
Fundraising
$ 58,493
$ 58,493
$ 1,628,556
$ 1,628,556
TOTAL EXPENSES
4% Municipal Dues
4%
21% Program Fees
Change In Net Assets
$ 92,309
$ (24,138)
$ 68,171
71%
Net Assets $ 384,698
End of Year
$ 477,007
$ 24,138
$ 477,007
Managed prepared financial statements.
Stay In Touch! @ttfwatershed
$ 408,836
Grants and Agency Support
0
Beginning of Year
Contributions
80
$ 1,485,592
60
$ 1,485,592
100
SUPPORT & REVENUE 2023
Expenses Program
0
$ 1,720,865
40
Total Revenue and Support
20
Net Assets Released From Restrictions
215-744-1853 | ttfwatershed.org Printed on recycled content paper
Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership 4500 Worth Street | Philadelphia, PA 19124
