Happy 2026! The Tacony Community Development Corporation (TCDC) was very busy this past year. Let’s take some time to celebrate our achievements.This year we made significant progress in our mission to revitalize the neighborhood and commercial corridors through business development, art and design, housing preservation, and environmental action
Organizational Changes
This year, TCDC saw growth and restructuring. We created two new positions: the Residential Services Coordinator and the Community Engagement Coordinator. We hired Gwen Thomas as our Residential Services Coordinator to assist our residents with housing and quality of life issues. Gwen has worked in subsidized rental assistance for the past three years at Mazzoni Center, and often worked with clients in Tacony, which attracted her to the neighborhood. Our part-time Communications Coordinator, Nicole Huff, was hired full-time as our Community Engagement Coordinator. Nicole started her new role on January 2nd and will be planning fun events while continuing to manage our social media and communications. Nicole started at TCDC in October of 2024 as our Communications Intern and has been here since! She graduated from Temple University in May of 2025 with a BA in Communications. Our longtime staff member and Corridor Manager, Amarynth Ruch, has continued to expand her role. As we enter 2026, TCDC will focus on functioning as a non-hierarchical team dedicated to working collaboratively - we’ll be using all of our individual strengths to serve our mission to the best of our abilities.
Our entire staff attended the Main Street America 2025 conference, which was held in Philadelphia this year. As part of the official activities, our Corridor Manager Amarynth led a walking tour of Tacony for conference attendees. Riverfront North Partnership teamed up with TCDC for the tour and led a bicycle portion that visited the riverfront trail and The Arsenal. Participants were impressed by the beautiful architecture and green space in and around Tacony.
TCDC expanded the 2026 Board of Trustees by recruiting two new members from partner organizations. Board members engaged in training by the Nonprofit Center at La Salle University to learn more about board development and best practices. We also officially completed our five-year strategic plan for 2025-2030, led by feedback from our residents and partners. In the summer, TCDC moved its office from Edmund Street to 4823 Longshore Avenue and are excited to be located on one of our commercial corridors.
Business Improvement
2025 was a big year for Tacony’s businesses! We were pleased to welcome several new shops to Torresdale Avenue, assist our existing businesses with expansions and improvements, and increase safety and design on the corridor via cameras and public art.
One of our new businesses, Thunder Mug Café, opened in April of 2025 at 6940 Torresdale Avenue. This is their second location, and although they are closed for the Winter we look forward to welcoming them back again this Spring! Other new additions to the Corridor include El Portal Maya, located at 6824 Torresdale Avenue, Arelis Unisex Beauty Salon at 6804 Torresdale Avenue, and Skin Age Rejuvenation Spa at 6821 Torresdale Avenue.
Other businesses saw expansions and improvements to their exteriors. After a car accident caused extensive damage to her building, the business owner at Marie Huff Hairdressing at 6934 Torresdale Avenue was able to fix the building, install safety bollards, and complete exterior renovations using the Storefront Improvement Program and the Merchant Fund’s Emergency Grant. Maebee’s Beauty at 6728 Torresdale Avenue has continued to grow into their new space and is looking forward to completing renovations on the first floor of the building!
Torresdale Avenue got a bit more beautiful this year, thanks to the Philadelphia Activities Fund, Councilmember Mike Driscoll and the Tacony LAB Community Arts Center. The LAB partnered with TCDC on an Artist-in-Residency program with artist Ayiana Viviana. She did a fantastic job involving the community in her street banner project, “The Interconnectedness of Community,” which combined inspirational art work with welcoming messages in 13 of the languages spoken around our neighborhood. You can visit the new banners on Torresdale Avenue between Tyson and Unruh Streets or check out a map at www.storydaleavenue.com.
Through the Business Security Camera Grant program, we’re happy to say that three new cameras were installed along Torresdale Avenue in 2025, along with eight cameras and four license plate readers at the intersection of Longshore Avenue and State Road. This brings the total number of security cameras in the Tacony neighborhood to 155! Over the last 10 years TCDC and the City of Philadelphia have invested more than $100,000 into installing security cameras in Tacony.
As always, TCDC continues to provide Small Business Services to our business owners. This year, we began hosting open office hours every Wednesday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stop by the Tacony Library to talk about your business goals with us! We also completed a Market Analysis and a Business Owner Survey, which we presented to our business owners at two events. If you missed it, we’re happy to share the information with you - just reach out to Amarynth@taconycdc.org!
More positive change is coming to the Torresdale Avenue Business Corridor and surrounding commercial areas, and we can’t wait to share it with you in the year 2026!
Arts & Events
This year was full of fun events! We hosted our annual Spring Spectacular where we hosted many events including a Floral Arrangement class, Spring clean ups and more that brought Tacony families and friends together to celebrate the season!
Towards the end of Summer, we amped up our yearly PARKing Day celebration by having two locations set up. In front of the Tacony LAB, they had face painting for kids, crafts and cozy seating. While out front of Thunder Mug Café we had a plant swap, live music, and a welcoming “work from home” space. We loved PARKing Day and the sense of community we were able to bring to Tacony.
Fall for Tacony was back again with free family-friendly Halloween and Fall activities, culminating in our Fall Festival at the Tacony Library with a costume contest, live music, community and crafts.
In 2025, TCDC launched the Corridor Enhancement Mini-Grant through the Philadelphia Department of Commerce. With this grant, we were able to award $500 to residents and neighborhood organizations who wished to lead free community projects! Four projects have been funded with this grant. Arielle’s Pet Pantry was a big hit at the Tacony Library’s Resource Fair where a line of attendees received different pet necessities. The “Our Family” art workshop, led by Tacony resident Nadiyah, hosted families at the Tacony Library where they were able to create their very own story book together. Kingdom Life Christian Center used their funds for a Toy Giveaway around the holidays where recipients enjoyed snacks and community gift-giving. Lastly, the Tacony LAB has begun hosting Weekly Teen Open Studio hours where teens are invited to come make art, enjoy community, snacks and refreshments!
We ended the year with our Winter Wander event and our first Tacony Toy Drive. TCDC worked in partnership with the Tacony Library and Disston Elementary to collect about 200 toys along with a couple hundred stocking stuffers! Both the Library and Disston Elementary were able to give gifts to around 80 children each because of the Toy Drive. We also had multiple Tacony businesses who participated in this event by signing up to be donation drop-off sites. Our Winter Wander took place at Marie Huff Hairdressing where we had pictures with Santa, holiday treats, and sold our new Tacony merch.
We’re so excited for the events and collaborations 2026 will bring and will continue to work hard at bringing fun and engaging experiences to our Tacony community!
Environmental Action
In 2025, TCDC took major steps towards improving our neighborhood’s shared spaces and greenery. Tacony will now join many other neighborhoods in the city of Philadelphia that have a Community Garden, funded and supported in part by Farm Philly. Planned in collaboration with the Tacony Civic Association (TCA), the Garden will be located at the corner of Longshore and Keystone at Disston Park, and will hold over 20 beds for community organizations, schools and churches, as well as public plots for anyone to come and plant. The garden will also provide a beautiful outdoor space for community events. Gwen completed and submitted the application for a community garden to Farm Philly in August of 2025, after several meetings with community leaders and gardeners. The application was approved by Farm Philly, who will be providing a water connection for the garden as well as 10 VEGo planter beds for pollinator plants and raw materials for other planters. TCDC has also worked closely with TCA on securing funding for the garden’s fence and construction, which we hope to begin before the planting season of 2026!
In addition to the Community Garden, TCDC worked with the Tacony Free Library on establishing an Adults Gardening Club! Master gardener Ellen Russell led the group, and the club met in July and August of 2025. Though Ellen could not continue the club through the rest of the year, she did help TCDC with the Plant and Seed Swap for PARKing Day in September 2025, and the club has been able to stay in touch about community gardening and events with the Community Garden Whatsapp group, and has been successful in generating interest for the community garden as well.
In August of 2025, Isabelle Rocca, a graduate of Temple University’s school of Architecture, presented her capstone project, a re-imaging of Disston Park. The project, a result of collaborating with TCDC, provides an excellent framework and foundation for a thriving and active park in the middle of Tacony! Attendees of the presentation were also given the opportunity to plan out their own visions of Disston Park.
TCDC’s Residential Services Coordinator Gwen helped organize a Block Club meeting in November of 2025, the first of its kind in Tacony. At the meeting, Veteran Block Captain Rita Randolph of the 7200 block of Keystone Street answered questions about her duties as a Block Captain, and spoke about her challenges and triumphs. Over 30 residents attended the meeting, voiced the need for community cleanups, and joined the Tacony Residents Whatsapp group to coordinate future cleanups.
For nearly a decade, the Tacony CDC has been collaborating with Ready, Willing and Able to keep up with litter along Torresdale Avenue via the City’s Taking Care of Business Program. This year, we were able to expand cleaning services to include even more of the Tacony neighborhood. Now, our “Men in Blue” can be seen cleaning three days a week on Torresdale Avenue between Harbison and Cottman Avenues, as well as on Longshore, Knorr, Disston and Princeton Avenue. These streets were chosen based on factors such as foot traffic, proximity to schools, commercial activity and cleanliness. In 2025, the hardworking crew from Ready, Willing and Able collected more than 4,000 bags of trash in these areas. We hope to continue expanding cleaning services in years to come, and are so grateful for our partnership with RWA and for the support of Tacony businesses and residents who help to keep our neighborhood clean and beautiful!
Housing Preservation
TCDC stepped into the realm of housing preservation this year by receiving a Neighborhood Advisory Committee (NAC) Grant and hiring Residential Service Coordinator Gwen Thomas in June 2025. The NAC Grant helps connect residents with available housing resources and provides education and assistance. Among Gwen’s list of responsibilities is reaching out to homeowners in danger of mortgage and tax foreclosure and tangled titles, hosting quarterly Service Area Briefings to educate residents about housing resources, establishing a Neighborhood Advisory Subcommittee to bring neighborhood issues to the attention of the city and publishing a quarterly newsletter. In addition, Gwen also tables at multiple events and attends trainings, seminars and meetings of City and neighborhood organizations focused on residential well-being. Gwen has also stepped up and taken on responsibilities related to quality of life issues in the community, like Block Cleanups and the Community Garden.
In 2025 Gwen tabled at 32 different events, where she distributed housing resource information. Gwen has connected with the community in numerous ways - from constituent service hours at Councilmember Mike Driscoll’s office, to educational events hosted by legal housing clinics, to TCDC led events like Fall for Tacony and PARKing Day. In total, Gwen directly reached 520 individuals with her services as well during housing outreach, office hours and at events. Each month since August 2025, Gwen has published the housing section of the TCDC newsletter and in August and November also published a six-page housing resources edition of the TCDC newsletter. Gwen hosted two service area briefings: one in August in collaboration with Board Member and Tacony realtor Rachel Shaw aimed at First-time Home-buyers, and another in November aimed at forming a Tacony Block Club which saw over 30 attendees.
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