Lobbying Issue: Funding for Philly Youth Poetry Movement (Phase Four)

For my lobbying project, I made a petition that I’ve been circulating on Tumblr as well as sending an email to the mayor’s office to request he and city council allot more funding to PYPM because it is a very influential, innovative program that allows young people to express themselves in such a constructive and creative way that it also helps promote literacy improvement as well as building better social skills. My primary plan is the email I plan to send shown below,  which basically explains why this is something that should be acted upon as well as getting people from Philadelphia to sign this e-petition.

To Whom This May Concern,
Hello, my name is Chelsea Starks and I am a senior at Science Leadership Academy. I have been working on a lobbying project in my American Government class to help me learn more about how the legislative system works. For my lobbying project I chose to lobby aiding the non-profit organization Philly Youth Poetry Movement (P.Y.P.M) which promotes youth to use power of their voice through spoken word and literary expression. PYPM is more than just a group of poets rhyming together, it’s like a family. No mater how long you’ve been there 6 months or 6 minutes, they will show you love regardless and will make you feel welcome. This organization was originally founded in 2006 by Greg Corbin, and really gives at-risk youths aged 13-19 a safe environment to express themselves, explore and find their identity as well as advocating for themselves in such a way that is creative but building better social skills at the same token. A program like this has been an inspiration to many including myself. My first time being at a workshop was very intriguing and I was interested to come back again and get to know everyone. The environment overall had so much love there even though they didn’t know me and I felt accepted by these people whom I didn’t even know. Programs like these need to exist around the city, but until the city can fund all of those projects, starting off with PYPM will help start it. This organization has been doing very well and has gained support of many politicians holding office in the city but now it’s calling on it’s community, i.e the city to help them continue to grow and flourish. With this funding this organization could be so much more, we could finally get a main building and hold workshops there, have youth night as well as open mic there as well. But that also cuts down on the unintentional  segregation that sometimes happens when young people can’t go as far as others in terms of traveling outside the city. By having one building it will actually put some parents at ease because that allows them to know this limits how far some kids are traveling and are in one specific place. PYPM is an inspirational, innovative, uplifting organization committed to helping the city’s youth. So in closing, I hope that you will take this into consideration and help this organization prosper. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Chelsea Starks
Science Leadership Academy
cstarks@scienceleadership.org

Basically what I’ve done so far I can’t even begin to believe I’ve done honestly. I didn’t think I could get this far on my own nor did I really think I could make a true difference in the system of politics. I always thought most of them really didn’t care about what the young people had to say as a lot of politicians don’t but those whom I am working with to get PYPM more funding are definitely in favor of the young people in the city and really want us to be all we can be. I think that once the issue of money is settled for Philly, this will be a great investment because we are investing in our future via the young people that participate in these programs. This only the beginning of something that could change this city for the better. We already have the “Unlitter Us” campaign to help keep the city clean and it seems to have something of an impact. With proper funding I believe this could really help put the city’s youth into a better place as well as the city itself.

Right now I could use help with the letter before I send it off because I want to make sure this makes sense and is professional enough. Please feel free to leave constructive criticism below.

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