Seven years ago today we hit the ground running in our journey for a safer and more equitable Philadelphia. From the start of my very first session as a City Councilmember, we led the charge together on a people-first agenda that fundamentally changed this city. 

And we never stopped fighting. Take a look at what we accomplished together, John.

⏩ We ended a 17 year state takeover of Philly’s public schools, restoring local control and putting the destiny of our education system back into the hands of Philadelphians. We restored full-time nurses and counselors, arts and music programs, and brought clean water back to every public school in the district.

⏩ We developed and implemented one of the most successful anti-eviction programs in the nation — keeping thousands of Philadelphia families housed. To date, our Eviction Diversion Program has had over a 90% success rate, and continues to be a national model for housing justice.

⏩ We stood up for Philly’s labor force and passed our transformative and groundbreaking Fair Workweek law — securing stable schedules for over 130,000 hard-working people in retail and service industries. Since its passage, Philadelphia workers have won hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements from corporations who have violated their rights to a fair workweek.

⏩ We kept fighting for our most vulnerable youth. We established an office for the Youth Ombudsperson who will advocate for young people in residential facilities and group homes. We led the way on juvenile justice, and ended city contracts with facilities and agencies that had a documented history of abuse.

⏩ We never stopped fighting for the rights of first-generation Philadelphians. Together we led one of the first and largest airport protests against Trump’s Muslim ban and helped detained refugees seeking asylum. We established a city legal defense fund for immigrants facing deportation and greeted asylum seekers with open arms after political stunts by the GOP.

As I write to you seven years later, the core of our movement remains the same. We’re reigniting a new politics built from the ground up, and we’re delivering innovative and successful policies that capture the attention of the nation. 

Our people-first agenda is a winning agenda, but we need the resources to take our movement all the way to the Mayor’s Office. Can I count on you to pitch in $10 right now?

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As Mayor, I will continue to build on this transformative agenda and create the Philly we all deserve. Thank you for your support along the way, John.

With gratitude,

Helen Gym