Last week, in preparation for a Platia book drive, I spent the afternoon at Books Through Bars in West Philly. The small space is packed with tables and chairs for volunteers, lots of mail bins, and two full libraries worth of organized books. Every donation I receive goes directly to
I want to thank everyone who has donated or attended a Platia event in 2025. The idea was a big one: To take service journalism out of the gate-keeping newsrooms and teach the community how to care for itself through events. And the events shouldn't make you
If you’re not familiar with the workings of a newsroom, there’s a small army of support staff that perform the research and take the written words and edit them, fact-check them, video them, code the page, answer reader questions and feedback, and grab the data. In other
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On December 3 I am hosting a workshop for creators in Philly where we'll learn how to cite public records and file Freedom of Information requests for documentation that you believe should be accessed by the public. This is part of a program I am building in partnership
Earlier in the year I covered small, independent mutual aid groups that are not only helping people who need food, but bringing to light the understanding that food should be available to everyone, all the time, not just when SNAP is on hold. These groups run on community collaboration. There
Every month The Platia provides a space to meet new friends and discuss a major civic issue in Philadelphia. On November 23rd at noon, we are creating holiday cards, and accepting books that can be donated to people in prisons. This is a family-friendly card-making event. We'
Working in the news industry for 20 years as a community and audience expert, I now work on monthly events that empower the community, under my own tiny newsroom called The Platia. Who am I? I'm a Brooklyn native who grew up in a Mediterranean multi-generational household,
The Platia trainings focus on harm reduction and community elevation. This page features information you can save under Creative Commons license, to create mutual aid in your own community. For more information email adooling@gmail.com. Free food redistribution checklist to save and share. Download here Overdose Prevention 101: A
