Flashpoint: Gurney Street Clean Up, Ending Breast Cancer, And Philadelphia OIC
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- This week on Flashpoint: We take on the debate over the clean-up of the infamous Conrail tracks in Kensington.
For years, the one mile stretch of tracks near Gurney Street has been riddled with hypodermic needles and a makeshift home for those battling heroin addiction residents call "El Campamento."
Evidence of the opioid epidemic spilled into the surrounding neighborhood, leaving residents feeling unsafe.
In July, the city of Philadelphia partnered with Conrail to clean out El Campamento. Now residents are living with the aftermath as the human element that were once "underground" have come out of the shadows and into the neighborhood.
KYW Community Affairs reporter Cherri Gregg asks the burning questions to Joanna Otero-Cruz, Managing Deputy Director for Community Services for the city of Philadelphia; Charito Morales, a former Kensington resident turned volunteer outreach worker who has been helping individuals from El Campamento for nearly 20 years, and Gloria Cartagena, President of Somerset Neighbors for Better Living, an organization representing the residents of the impacted community.
The Newsmaker for this week is Nancy Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen and leader of the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer.
Finally, the "Non-Profit of the Week" is Philadelphia OIC, a non-profit that offers job training and career preparation. Founded by the late Rev. Leon Sullivan, the organization is now run by a dynamic new leader, Rev. Dr. Kevin Johnson who is blazing a new trail for the Sullivan legacy.
Flashpoint airs every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KYW Newsradio 1060AM.