June 8, 2016

David Chiles – Executive Director, Providence Center

Providence Center is a ministry of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

Recently, Providence Center was interviewed for an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about life expectancy differences in Philadelphia neighborhoods. Where Providence serves in the city’s Fairhill section, the life expectancy is 71 years, less than in Iraq or Syria, and 17 years less than a neighborhood only five miles away.

While this neighborhood has the highest murder rate in Philadelphia, violent crime alone doesn’t explain this disparity. The article explores the impact of toxic stress and trauma on children and how traumatic events in childhood can lead to life-long health effects, including heart disease and diabetes.

All of the children at Providence have been exposed to violence. Aisha, a 12-year-old who has been in our program for four years, spoke about her nervousness when playing outside with her younger siblings.  According to Aisha, if something happened, like a stray bullet, “it’s going to have me thinking it’s my fault.”

If you need someone watching out for you, Aisha is the person. She is strong and at the Center, we are excited to watch her grow as a leader. But she is 12, and she shouldn’t be bearing this burden. She should be able to be a kid.

Thanks to the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus’ founding of Providence Center, a Holy Child education stays in Fairhill, the economically poorest community in Philadelphia. The children won’t be defined by statistics. Our children will be defined by their unique selves, by the dignity of their individual lives, by the grace and the promise that is in each one of them.