Our Work
R E S E A R C H + C O U R S E S
Village Square at Haverford rendering by WRTPlacekeeping
A Co-designed Model for Intergenerational Co-housing and Coalition Building in a University-adjacent Community
2022-2024
Purpose: to develop, implement, and evaluate the Second Story Collective arts-centered model for intergenerational co-housing as a strategy for equitable development, particularly for historically marginalized Black communities
Primary Investigator: Dr. Ayana Allen-Handy (School of Education);
Co-Investigators: Dr. Christopher Wright (School of Education), Rachel Wenrick (University & Community Partnerships)
Partners: JoY Lab, ILLEST Lab, Writers Room, Mantua Civic Association, Lomax Real Estate Partners, Design Research for Health Lab, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, Museum of Black Joy, WURD Radio
Funder: National Science Foundation
R E S E A R C H + C O U R S E S
Village Square at Haverford rendering by WRTLAW T380
Tenants' Rights and Organizing for Change
Spring 2024
Purpose: an undergraduate law course to examine tenants’ rights, the mechanisms and effects of gentrification, and strategies that communities might use to change law and policy
Instructors: Stephanie Dorenbosch (Kline School of Law), Karen Harvey (Philadelphia Rent Control Coalition)
Partners: Andy and Gwen Community Lawyering Clinic, Lindy Center for Civic Engagement
Funder: Mellon Foundation
R E S E A R C H + C O U R S E S
Keyssh Datts during Writers Room's HOME Symposium, 2018Arts-Centered Community Action
How Public Arts Programming Strengthens Civic Infrastructure and Promotes Civic Innovation
2022-2025
Purpose: a Community-driven Participatory Action Research study to examine how intergenerational arts programming can strengthen civic engagement and catalyze transformative solutions
Primary Investigator: Dr. Ayana Allen-Handy (School of Education);
Co-Investigator: Rachel Wenrick (University & Community Partnerships)
Partners: JoY Lab, Writers Room, Design Research for Health Lab, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, Mantua Civic Association, YouthBuild Philadelphia
Funder: AmeriCorps
R E S E A R C H + C O U R S E S
Charles Lomax viewing student designs, 2022ARCH T380 Community Engagement & Design
Fall 2022
Purpose: interdisciplinary studio to engage students at all levels with community members, leaders, and organizations in informing design elements of the Village Square on Haverford project
Instructor: Uk Jung (Department of Architecture, Design & Urbanism)
Partners: Lomax Real Estate Partners, Mantua Civic Association, Writers Room, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
R E S E A R C H + C O U R S E S
Alan Greenberger, Victoria Huggins Peurifoy, and Charles Lomax during an architecture critique, 2023ARCH 281 Architecture Studio 2A
Fall 2022, 2023
Purpose: to introduce architecture students to issues of form, site, and programmatic concerns focusing on Village Square on Haverford’s 18 homes
Instructors: Jacklynn Niemiec, James Rowe, Alesa Rubendall (Department of Architecture, Design & Urbanism)
Partners: Lomax Real Estate Partners, Writers Room, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
R E S E A R C H + C O U R S E S
Activation of "Home," a mural by Michelle Angela Ortiz with Carol Richardson McCullough, Free Library of Philadelphia, 2019Anti-Displacement
The Untapped Potential of University-Community Cooperative Living
2018-2022
Purpose: a Community-driven Participatory Action Research study to examine the landscape of displacement and affordable housing in West Philadelphia and investigate co-housing as an alternative option
Primary Investigator: Dr. Ayana Allen-Handy (School of Education); Co-Investigator: Rachel Wenrick (University & Community Partnerships)
Partners: JoY Lab, Writers Room, Mantua Civic Association, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, YouthBuild Philadelphia, ArtistYear
Funder: AmeriCorps
R E S E A R C H + C O U R S E S
D.S. Nicholas leading a prototyping session with Drexel Design Research MS and Paul Robeson HS students, 2021MCSAP
Mantua Creative Standard for Aging in Place
2021—
Purpose: a multi-course exploration and five-part study to develop a standard that will help keep residents in their homes and enhance their health and wellbeing through collective creative engagement and co-housing
Primary Investigator: D.S. Nicholas (Westphal College of Media Arts & Design)
Funder: AIA Upjohn Foundation, College of Nursing and Health Professions
Courses: DSRE 750 and DSRE 760 Design Research Thesis, DSRE 620 / WEST T480 Design Problem Solving, DSRE 645 Design Research Practicum, DSRE 677 / EPI 677 Health and Design Research
Partners: Design Research for Health Lab, Writers Room, JoY Lab, AgeWell Collaboratory, Age-Friendly Drexel, Dornsife School of Public Health
R E S E A R C H + C O U R S E S
Notes from WRIT 290, 2021WRIT 290 Writers Room Experience
Fall, Spring 2020—
Purpose: creative writing studio to help undergraduate students develop the understanding and skills needed to relate and act with others across difference
Instructor: Lauren Lowe (Department of English & Philosophy)
Partners: Lindy Center for Civic Engagement, College of Arts & Sciences, Pennoni Honors College
R E S E A R C H + C O U R S E S
Students Angela Lindsay, Kelly Owen, Diane Mills, and Becky LeFevre engage in a cooperative team building activityURBS 610
Civic Engagement and Participatory Methods
Winter 2022,2024
Purpose: to teach the skills of community change-making in a format where Drexel students and West Philadelphia community members learn side-by-side.
Instructors: Andrew Zitcer, Susanna Gilbertson (Department of Architecture, Design & Urbanism)
Partners: Writers Room, Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, Mantua Civic Association
P U B L I C A R T S P R O G R A M M I N G
A Writers Room workshop at the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, 2019Creative Communities Initiative
2023-2027
Purpose: place-based, community-driven programming to identify potential co-living participants, bridge differences, and set the foundation for a supportive multigenerational community
Project Lead: Rachel Wenrick (University & Community Partnerships); Teaching Artist: Gabriele Preston (Writers Room)
Partners: Mantua Civic Association, Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, Fabric Workshop and Museum, Sankofa Healing Studio
Funder: Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
P U B L I C A R T S P R O G R A M M I N G
Portrait of UnMapping Fellow Norman Cain by Dejah McIntosh, 2023UnMapping
Celebrating and advancing the role of literature and story in truth-telling and social change
2023-2025
Purpose: a satellite project to develop Second Story Collective as an intergenerational living-learning community
Project Lead: Rachel Wenrick (University & Community Partnerships)
Partners: Writers Room, Lindy Center for Civic Engagement, Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships, College of Arts & Sciences, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
Funder: Mellon Foundation
P U B L I C A R T S P R O G R A M M I N G
Keyssh Dattts, Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet, Kia Weatherspoon, and Hadja Diallo following Determined by Design's keynote, 2022The Story
So Far
Symposium
2021-2022
Purpose: a two-part hybrid event series of workshops, discussions, a keynote, and walking tour to introduce Second Story Collective’s arts-centered co-housing model to a state-wide audience
Project Leads: D.S. Nicholas (Westhphal College of Media Arts & Design), Rachel Wenrick (University & Community Partnerships)
Partners: Design Research for Health Lab, Writers Room, JoY Lab, Determined by Design, Mantua Civic Association, AmeriCorps
Funder: Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
P U B L I C A R T S P R O G R A M M I N G
Portrait of Anjelikal Rogers by Valerie Fox, 2020Connected Communities
2019-2021
Purpose: a three-year project to develop our arts-centered model for intergenerational co-living as an anti-displacement and aging in community strategy
Project Leads: Rachel Wenrick (University & Community Partnerships), Kirsten Kaschock (College of Arts & Sciences)
Partners: Writers Room, Tiny WPA, Courtney Bowles, Mark Strandquist, Michelle Angela Ortiz, Andrea Walls
Funder: TD Charitable Foundation
P U B L I C A R T S P R O G R A M M I N G
A HOME Symposium workshop led by Kirsten Kaschock and Valerie Fox, 2018HOME
Symposium
2018-2019
Purpose: a year-long series series of public talks and workshops exploring the personal and cultural histories and potential futures of housing in West Philadelphia
Project Leads: Rachel Wenrick (University & Community Partnerships), Kirsten Kaschock (College of Arts & Sciences)
Partners: Mantua Civic Association, Powelton Village Civic Association, Design Research for Health Lab, Studio HADA, YouthBuild Philadelphia, Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, Dorsife School of Public Health, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
Funder: TD Charitable Foundation
P U B L I C A R T S P R O G R A M M I N G
Work by Patricia Burton for Power Maps, a Writers Room collaboration with Courtney Bowles, Mark Strandquist, Daniel Tucker, and Mural Arts Philadelphia, 2019TRIPOD
2017—
Purpose: a writing and photography residency that brings students from Drexel, Paul Robeson High School, and YouthBuild together with community residents to document life in a changing Philadelphia
Project Lead: Rachel Wenrick (University & Community Partnerships)
Partners: Writers Room, Museum of Black Joy, JoY Lab, Design Research for Health Lab, Urban Strategy MS, Studio HADA, Drexel Picture Gallery, Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships, Free Library of Philadelphia, Mural Arts Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Funder: Canon Solutions America
H O U S I N G + H O M E S H A R I N G
Village Square at Haverford rendering by WRTHomesharing Toolkit
2023—
Purpose: to develop the application, agreement, and mediation processes needed to operationalize and support Second Story Collective’s homesharing network
Project Lead: Susan Brooks (Kline School of Law)
Partners: Andy and Gwen Stern Community Lawyering Clinic, Drexel Office of General Counsel, Writers Room
H O U S I N G + H O M E S H A R I N G
Photo of original plaster detail in Ms. Virginia's house by Uk Jung, 2020Neighborhood Assistance Program
2022-2024
Purpose: to repair and adapt Mantua houses to help seniors age in community and welcome a homesharer
Project Lead: Rachel Wenrick (University & Community Partnerships)
Partners: Writers Room, Design Research for Health Lab, Studio HADA, Mantua Civic Association, Rebuilding Together Philadelphia, AmeriCorps VISTA
Funders: Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, M&T Bank, Philadelphia Insurance Companies, Saint-Gobain North America
H O U S I N G + H O M E S H A R I N G
Sketch of Ms. Virginia's house by Uk Jung, 2020Catalyst Fund
2020-2024
Purpose: to develop the pilot phase of Second Story Collective’s intergenerational co-living model to leverage the arts for community cohesion, neighborhood stability, and economic mobility
Project Lead: Rachel Wenrick (University & Community Partnerships)
Partners: Mantua Civic Association, Museum of Black Joy, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, College of Arts & Sciences
Funder: The Barra Foundation