5 Minutes With The Next Mayor
Sr. Mary Agatha Cebula, CSSF
Director of Mission of St. Ignatius Nursing Home

 

Promise. That should be the most important word in your vocabulary.

Before you take your oath of office, carefully consider every word and then promise to honor that oath. Be aboveboard in everything you do. Surround yourself with people of integrity and then pay attention to everyone and everything. Because when all is said and done, your integrity is on the line.

Think before you make a promise – and then keep it.

Through the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, you have promised to clean up our communities, so do a good job. Don’t just slap a few Band-Aids here and there and then forget about us. Everyone knows this can’t happen overnight. Create a farsighted and workable plan. Think it through.

To keep your promise and make this work, you will need the support of the community. So ask around. What are the neighborhood concerns? As a nurse, I recommend a triage approach.

In our Mill Creek community, the number one concern is safety – and with good reason. Just last week three of our neighbors were murdered right behind our home, including a young girl with a promising future. Like everyone else, I never walk outside at night. And if I am afraid to walk around in my religious habit, imagine how my neighbors feel?

In the past, we have been promised more police visibility. But the promise fell short. Our corner of West Philadelphia is home to many elderly men and women who are prisoners in their own homes. We shouldn’t have to put bars on our windows to feel safe. This is not a normal way to live. Mr. Mayor, would you like your mother to live like this?

You have promised to work together with community leaders, so talk to us. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Our community already has so much to offer – churches, schools, health and senior centers, public transportation – so let’s collaborate and build on our resources.

For more than fifty years, St. Ignatius Nursing Home has been the cornerstone of stability in our nook of West Philadelphia, prompting construction of the Alain Locke Public School and Philadelphia Health Center #4. Behind our home, we have just completed construction on Angela Court, an affordable housing model for low-income seniors as well as a new athletic field for West Catholic High School. But we can’t stop there.

Just think how great it would be to have a supermarket, barber shop, community center or convenience store nearby. They would not only improve our quality of life, they would also add to the economic growth of our neighborhood. Services don’t have to be freebees, just affordable.

The possibilities are endless, but we can’t do it alone. Together we can move mountains and make a difference throughout the Philadelphia region.

So remember Mr. Mayor, a promise is a promise.