The Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center (CBCC), a site under the division of Community Based Services of Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is hosting a dedication and ground breaking ceremony for the new Learn to Shelter Training Program. The kick-off event will be held on Friday, August 22, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. at the CBCC (2646 Kensington Ave.)The ceremony will conclude with the ground breaking at a new project site behind the center at 2621 Potter Street. The CBCC and the Leadership Camp participants will honor Mr. John McFadden for this project. His vision of service and youth leadership development for local youth has continued to make this program a continued success year after year.

The Learn To Shelter Training Program is a new initiative of The Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center (CBCC) to create projects for a hands-on training program to encourage the youth of the Kensington area to stay in school, to assist those who have dropped out of school to re-apply themselves to developing skills to gain meaningful employment and to create a training program that can be used by other organizations.

The CBCC will house the weekly training sessions beginning August 26. The current project site preparations on the Potter Street lot are being done by the area's young men attending the Leadership Camp that is part of the Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center's after-school and summer camp programs.

The Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center of Catholic Social Services recognizes the need to keep our youth in school and to help them to exceed in the classroom, to help those who want to return to learning or to continue their education and to assist the economic development of the Kensington area.
The ground-breaking and dedication for the Learn to Shelter's initial projects are for their workshop and for a greenhouse proto-type. Both structures will be used for hands-on training, to learn product improvement processes and teamwork development. The Learn to Shelter program will use these small projects to introduce the principles of the Project Management Institute and Total Quality management standards as a preparation for meaningful employment for the increasingly demanding skilled positions in industry.

The Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center, which opened in November 2003, provides social, cultural, educational, and enrichment services and programs consistent with human dignity and family life. The Center welcomes all community members without regard to religion, gender, race, creed, or national origin. The CBCC is located in the Kensington neighborhood of North Philadelphia and is accessible by public transportation.

For more information on the Learn to Shelter Training Program, contact Estela Reyes-Bugg at 215.426.9422, fax 215.426.9426, or write to 2646 Kensington Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19125.

Contact
Meredith Wilson
Communications Specialist
215-587-3747