- [Announcer] Major funding for this program was provided by.

(indistinct chatters) (lighthearted music) - [Narrator] The land upon which we gather is part of the traditional territory of the Lenni Lenape called Lenapehoking.

We acknowledge the Lenni Lenape as the original people of this land and their continuing relationship with their territory.

We thank them for their long stewardship of the land and the waters.

We acknowledge their claims, and rights to their original lands.

(lighthearted music) - Environmental education is about making the connection of the benefits to nature.

If environmental education isn't making meaningful differences in your life, why would you care about it?

- My first experience with the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center and the notion of it, was when I met Mrs. Carole Williams Green.

- Fortunately, I came from a community of Cobbs Creek with really wonderful people who believed that our children deserve to have an environmental education center like other parts of the city.

There was one up in Pennypack, and there was one up in Wissahickon.

And as a former science supervisor, I used to send the children from this area up to those facilities because we didn't have that capability here in the local area.

And as it happened, this old building had been abandoned and the community came together worried about what would happen because it was obvious that people were dumping their cars down here and they were worried that more unsightly things would happen.

- Beginning of the 19 hundreds, the city of Philadelphia was gathering land for protection of the waterways because they were using the Schuylkill River and the Delaware River, as sources and discharges for their drinking water.

They put parks along a lot of the banks of those rivers and creeks.

They created the Fairmont Park, mounted park guard.

So their facilities required both a stable and a barracks.

It was built in 1936 by the WPA part of FDRs recovery from the Great Depression.

That building was attacked in the early 1970s.

One officer was shot and killed and another was shot and wounded.

The mayor of the of Philadelphia at that time was Frank Rizzo, the former police commissioner.

He felt that the building itself was too isolated to adequately protect, and so he decided to close down the Fairmont Park Guard.

It became a concession for a man whose nickname was Sensei and people came there to ride, and learn about the care of horses.

- I'm the director here at the Bill Pickett Riding Academy, it mirrors my childhood, and all the programming that we did at Cobbs Creek Riding Academy, when I was growing up.

The man who started the program, his name was Abdus Salaam, but affectionately he was called Sensei, because he was also a martial arts instructor.

The experience was so profound for me as a child.

You know, I spent my days after school, weekends at the stables.

I felt like a special person because, I was a little cowgirl.

It was great and he gave that to us.

- When Sensei moved out and it stood vacant for about 10 years and the community demanded that something be done with it.

The city and Fairmont Park said that they didn't have the funds to do it.

- It was, it was a wreck.

The roof structure was dilapidated, the openings were boarded up.

The interior was, you know, dirt floors, and general disrepair.

- We formed a community group.

We were fortunate that there was a young man by the name of Elmore Hunter, who was the director of Cooperative extension at Penn State.

- They almost fired me at Penn State.

Oh my god.

They told me that Mrs. Green was not supposed to be in our office because, well, they really didn't have a reason.

It was just like this had never been done before.

So Don Evans, who was associate dean, he understood the politics of being associated with good stuff and especially since Governor Ridge was involved.

You know, that's, it doesn't get any bigger than that.

- What is most unique about this facility, and Cobbs Creek is that we have on one side of the street, the forest, and the other side of the street, the neighborhood.

- I'm a resident in West Philadelphia for the last 50 years.

I frequent the environmental center, is very good for the community.

I am president of the Concerned Block Captains and we have activities down here.

More people need to know about it.

- To my right is what's called Snake Hill.

We would ride our bikes down that hill at lightning speed hoping that we wouldn't crash, you know?

But it was such an experience and so much fun.

We would go down the hill into the creek, the bank of the creek and we would fish.

- I usually come with my pop pop and we both like fishing, so we would probably come down here in like this Midsummer, since it's like nicest there.

It's very peaceful, I like it.

Over there, I did not know that there were fish, so that's a good thing to know for when me and my pop pop wanna go fishing, - My mom, is a person's passionate about children, and opportunities, and understanding that the world has changed and they have to be informed and educated about science.

- The youth of this community have an opportunity to appreciate this wonderful area because we're one of the few that has an urban forest, a riparian buffer, and a creek, which can let them know what environmental issues can be addressed, without them having to go out of their community.

- We're running three programs here at the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center.

The first program is the COVID-19 research group.

There's also a group working on how to create a bill, so that they can learn how to write bills, and help impact change through the laws in the legislation.

And we are the Junior Docent Climate Change Group.

And what we're doing is we're trying to learn more about climate change so that we individually can become a part of the climate change movement, and also help others to become a part of the climate change movement.

- To be in nature, it makes me feel at peace just listening, just seeing all the beautiful trees, - That's peaceful, - listening to the water, listening to the birds chirping.

- I've learned a lot about nature.

I learned about climate change and, like learning about how humans are using a lot of their resources so fast on some things that they don't really need.

- I'm from Philadelphia, the Cobbs Creek neighborhood specifically.

I actually had three older brothers that worked here, and so I'm the fourth brother that worked here, and one little sister that work here.

So I do community programs, I also do summer camps.

In this creek you can find different, about five, six different species of fish.

There are turtles, there are crayfish, there was even a water snakes found here.

So there's a lot of cool animals here.

And yeah, it's a really cool place.

- Everything spins off of it, you know, your whole life, you know, spins off of science, and environment and all of that.

That's all we're talking about now.

- Engaging with nature, it opens the doors.

It will introduce them to new concepts for becoming high earners.

The field is wide open.

- Every time I come back to West Philly, every time I come back down Snake Hill, yeah, it all comes back to environmental education was directly related to community engagement.

The fact that the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center emphasizes those elements in its name and in its creation, manifested in my work.

And so it was really great that that was my first job and had a big impression on the work that I do today.

My focus is on equitable access to the benefits of nature.

Who would've thought the connection between my first job, and my most current have a shared through line.

- There's still a lot of workforce to do, but this place is here and we're able to do it 'cause we now have the facility to do it.

- [Announcer] It's a gem, it's a hidden gem, in Cobbs Creek, and I encourage all of the community of Cobbs Creek to rediscover Cobbs Creek.

We have an environmental center.

Just get here and see what we have to offer.

(lighthearted music) - I am Carole Williams Green, and I am the founder of the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Inc. - George Ambrose, currently science coordinator.

I've been involved with Cobbs Creek since its founding.

- They had environmental centers in other parts of the city, and I felt it wasn't fair to the children in that neighborhood to have to travel so far to be exposed to the environmental science that is so necessary for their future.

Very few people have what Cobbs Creek has.

We have the forest, we have the streams, and we have the flora and fauna, and they have the animals that they can watch.

It's a wonderful, wonderful setting to encourage all of the people in that community to appreciate what they have.

- When it came time to actually do the production, I made a PowerPoint storyboard for what I thought might be the way to do the video, and we pretty closely followed that.

I also contributed photographs of earlier programs, and individuals that were part in the founding, helped round up people for interviews, I actually did interviews.

The hardest part, I think of these productions was cutting them down to the eight to 10 minutes from what we got in the camera.

- The communication to the community through this wonderful video lets them know there's a better story than we can tell in a printed page.

And it allows us to take it to other parts of the Southwest and southwest Philadelphia area.

- Cobbs Creek has community in its name, and it's importance to the community, is important to us, because we have redoubled our efforts recently to reach out, and engage, and involve the community.

And we think that's paying off.

- The center has been closed for over a year because of renovations, and it's taken much longer than we had anticipated because we wanted to start programs in the fall.

So we're gonna be able to use the film as an opportunity to go into schools, and share with them some of the things that are, we could do in a school, but then ultimately bring them back to the center.

Some other organizations like the Academy of Natural Sciences has become interested in us because of the video.

Drexel University and Penn.

Penn now has a program for us to train young people in one of the sciences.

And it's all because they've been able to see the documentary and understand that Cobbs Creek can play a vital role in building partnerships for the community, things that we would not be able to do.

(upbeat music) (lighthearted music) - Hello, my name is Ramona Chainey.

I'm the historian from Macedonia, AME Church, located in Camden, New Jersey.

So Macedonia, the first frame structure, we lost it in a fire at 1837, but the members said, "We're not going to stand for this."

So they rebuilt it, in 1838.

(lighthearted music) Macedonia began to grow.

(lighthearted music) Something unusual happened though.

At that time, for some strange reason, properties that were being owned by African Americans, there just seemed to be these unexplained fires.

♪ Soon I will be done ♪ ♪ With the troubles of this world ♪ ♪ With the troubles of this world ♪ ♪ With the troubles of this world ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ The whole Underground Railroad story is interesting because Macedonia was the first, as people came over from Philadelphia, you know, there's the river, there's Philadelphia, there's the river, and then there's Camden.

Macedonia was the first structure, that people encountered, when they came off those boats as they came across the river.

The parishioners were in the church worshiping, prayer meeting, everyone has prayer meeting, and as they were singing and praising the Lord, they heard this sound, this person saying, "Help me," screaming, "Help me, help me, help me."

♪ Sweet chariot ♪ ♪ Coming for to carry me home ♪ ♪ Swing low, sweet chariot, ♪ ♪ Coming for to carry me home.

♪ (congregation humming) - Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord for watching over us, giving us this church house, Lord,- - Ssh, did you hear that?

- I heard it too, Come on, you know what to do.

(singer sings in foreign language) (indistinct chattering) - I can't go back (indistinct chattering) Thank you God.

Thank you God.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you God.

Thanks, thanks.

Thank you God.

- He was free.

Imagine that people coming out of a church to rescue you and you go back to freedom, you escape.

That was phenomenal.

(soft trombone and trumpet music) - My name is Michael Spearman.

I grew up in the Macedonia, AME church, and I am a professional trombonist.

- My name is Daniel Spearman, I am a professional trumpet player.

I grew up in Macedonia, AME church.

- I've been going to Macedonia since I was born, pretty much.

When I say I grew up there, I mean I grew up in there.

- There weren't a whole bunch of kids in the church, so we had to do all the youth activities.

- It was a little rough growing up, in terms of like the neighborhood, but the church was always a safe place to go, where we could really develop like our moral standings and our moral foundation.

- And I think that had a huge role to play in our development as ending up becoming musicians.

- One of the pillars of my church was my grandmother, Wesley Spearman.

She was a courageous woman, and honestly I believe that's where I developed a lot of my confidence from, - I'm currently serving as the Minister of Music at Macedonia.

So I'm trying to help build the music program there, and also just help to use the skills that I have developed as a professional, in other places and bring them back and just help out in any way I can at the church.

- Church was a great place to grow up, and to this day there's a lot of family and connections that I still try to utilize and keep in contact with, and a lot of people that I still love.

(lighthearted music) - Richard Fedders was a white councilman.

He came over from Philadelphia to Camden, and decided to purchase several plots of land in the area in order to build a community.

So because of Richard Fedders, the church is still located on the same piece of land that it was purchased from Richard Fedders.

We've seen that over the years since the 50s, the city as well as the community itself, began to fall on hard times, and we see that many of the buildings, all of the residential area, we've seen a decline in that.

We've seen a lack of interest, and the question was, and it has come up a couple of times, will the church stay in this community?

(lighthearted music) - My name is Trevor Vaughn.

I'm the CEO of Urban Development Partners.

- Yes, my name is Craig Sawyer.

I'm the Chief Operating Officer with Urban Development Partners.

- You know, it's an honor and a privilege to be given the opportunity to develop first off here in the city of Camden, and to have been able to develop at a site, such as West Street, given the proximity to the waterfront, given to where it is centrally in the city, as black developers, it was an honor, and a privilege to be able to be given the opportunity to work on that site.

The project on West Street that we're currently working on, we recently got approvals to build 84 residential units, which is gonna be compromised with 80% market, 20% affordable.

- And I think it's just the honor and the blessings that we have the opportunity to make that transformative impact in the neighborhood.

- I think some of the things that, as a black developer, and anyone looking to develop in an urban community, they should have a passion for what they're doing.

You know, they should care.

You know, I don't feel development starts with building the building, I think the development starts when you build a community.

So put community first, and then everything else will fall into place.

(upbeat music) - We consider ourselves a beacon of hope, and sometimes that beacon can be a little dim, but then it can just blow up, and be really bright.

So Macedonia is going to continue to do what it has to do in the community.

(lighthearted music) ♪ Things will get better ♪ ♪ I know they will get better ♪ ♪ Things will get better ♪ ♪ When we pray ♪ - My name's Yocontalie Jackson, and born and raised in Camden, lived there most of my life.

And so, interestingly enough, I initially didn't know a whole lot about Fettersvilee, and by just doing some research, the history of the city itself, that's how I came across Fettersville, and I reached out to Macedonia AME church, and spoke to Ramona and Ramona is a historian, and we actually began to share information, and she began to tell me the history of Macedonia AME church.

And we were able to pull together, and do this documentary shot, which has really made such a difference in allowing others, who didn't know the story either, in our town, in our city where we live.

They didn't know the, the story.

And so now they know the story.

Now they really know, they called that area South Camden, but it really, that area is called Fettersville.

It's what it was called in the 1800s.

- Well, first of all, I am the historian from Macedonia, AME church in Camden, New Jersey.

I was born and raised in Camden.

My entire family, and extended family were raised in Camden.

It was great to see that there were so many African Americans who moved into the area in the 1800s and the mid 1800s, and they were entrepreneurs, and began to set up shops, tailoring and, making boots and shoes, seamstresses, all of those, and of course, the church.

Macedonia AME Church was the central part of Fettersville.

- This is a critical story, because we hear about Black Wall Street all the time, and in our community, I don't believe that individuals recognized how important it was us being there, that African Americans actually lived in this area and developed it - With this project that, that Connie initiated, and brought us into the picture, more people are beginning to understand the role of the first urban community in Camden and what it did for not only African Americans, but for the city as a whole.

- You know, one of the things you want to, is to go to the city, and have them rename the community Fettersville, and have signage that says Fettersville Community.

So that when individuals see that signage, it's like, okay, there's a question.

So what is Fettersville?

Where's Fettersville?

To also have a historical marker.

There's a lot of positive things that happened in the city of Camden.

There's a lot of great history, and if you don't take the time to come and visit and see, you're missing out.

- I live up there.

- I live up there.

(indistinct chattering) (lighthearted music) - [Announcer] Major funding for this program was provided by.