Belmont Community

Running 1.1 miles across, the West Philadelphia neighborhood of Belmont sits between N. 39th Street and N. 44th Street from the east to the west and between Lancaster Avenue and Girard Avenue from the south to the north. Home to nearly 4,000 residents, Belmont is permeated by a culture of poverty and has been steeped in economic disadvantage and isolation from opportunities. 25% of all housing units are abandoned, creating a sense of decay throughout the community. 71% of the residents’ incomes fall at least 100% below the poverty level, with a median family income of $14,566.

Nearly 100% of students receive some form of Title I, Title II and Title V Federal funding. Nearly 100% of our students receive some form of free lunch under the National School Lunch Program or through the School District of Philadelphia’s Universal Feeding Program.

Further exacerbating the economic plight of Belmont’s residents is the level of education among Belmont’s adults. Of those residents age 25 and older, only 38% have a high school diploma and only 3% have a bachelor’s degree.

CEAWP’s multitude of academic and social service programs attempts to strategically and intensively address these challenging and potentially debilitating life conditions to help its students become active and successful learners. It is our job to ensure that our students have the supports to be successful in school and that they value the importance of education. By continuing their educations through high school and college, they will begin to break the pervasive poverty cycle.