Michelle Feldman, left, with Parks & Recreation’s Joan Blaustein and Alix Howard of Tookany/Tacony Frankford Watershed Partnership
Michelle Feldman spent much of the last several years marching up and down Frankford Ave., the heavily blighted stretch of a once-mighty commercial corridor that has anchored the Frankford section of Northeast Philadelphia, helping small business owners and residents connect to services and one another, and generally sprucing up the streets.
It was an incredibly difficult job considering the task at hand and the limited resources. She was part of a small but incredibly devoted staff at the Frankford Community Development Corporation, and now she finds herself as a one-woman show at another high-profile post with a similarly daunting task — to keep her entire city as clean as can be.
Heading up Keep Philadelphia Beautiful, the local version of Keep America Beautiful, Feldman coordinates litter prevention, beautifulcation and community improvement, and waste reduction initiatives throughout the Philadelphia, which has increasingly green reputation but still faces many issues related to its industrial past and poverty stricken neighborhoods.
How did your time at the Frankford Community Development Corporation, located in a neighborhood that needed a lot of aesthetic help, prepare you for your new position?
