Want to help Kensington? Start by listening to neighborhood voices. | Editorial

If, as Mahatma Gandhi said, the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members, then Philadelphia has a lot to answer for in Kensington.

City leaders have long looked the other way as a working-class neighborhood has withered. Drug dealing, addiction, homelessness, crime, and gun violence dominate daily life in Kensington, leaving residents to navigate trauma and fear.

Kensington’s problems are legion. More than half the residents live in poverty. Roughly 80 open-air drug markets operate within a 1.9-mile stretch. Hundreds live in homeless encampments, while hundreds more die annually from overdoses. Since 2015, more than 300 shootings have occurred near the main crossroads of Kensington and Allegheny Avenues.

This is not normal or acceptable in a city that claims to be world-class. In fact, it’s so abnormal that the Mexican government used video from Kensington to warn about the dangers of drugs.

“Kensington Avenue looks like a third-world city,” said Darlene Burton, a resident and community activist. “We should not have to worry every day about risking our life just to go to work.”

Burton is right. Something must be done to make the neighborhood clean and safe. But lasting solutions are not simple.

Dismantling a $1 billion illegal drug industry will not be easy. Helping those battling addiction may be even harder. The influx of xylazine, a more addictive veterinary tranquilizer known as “tranq,” has made the heroin epidemic worse. Caught in the literal cross fire are residents who must navigate a neighborhood overrun by drug dealers and homeless encampments.

Past attempts to help Kensington have been short-lived. In 1998, the city launched Operation Sunrise, a major effort to remove trash and take control of the streets. In 2017, the city cleared an encampment that existed for decades and contained more than 500,000 used syringes.

Those efforts waned and the problems deepened.

During the Democratic mayoral primary, several candidates pitched plans to “fix Kensington.” The eventual winner, Cherelle Parker, suggested calling in the National Guard — something Gov. Josh Shapiro rejected.

Often missing from any plan is community input. Sunday’s Opinion section has been turned over to some of the people devoted to Kensington. They are on the front lines, keeping the neighborhood afloat.

For example, for the past several years, Burton and two neighbors, Sandy Wells and Sonja Bingham, have patrolled Harrowgate Park, a five-acre green space along bustling Kensington Avenue, trying to keep it free of homeless encampments and drug dealers so children have a safe place to play.

They call themselves “the old lady gang.” In place of weapons, they use respect and resolve. This board watched as Burton approached a young couple doing drugs and explained that the park was for kids and smoking was not allowed. The couple promptly left.

Harrowgate Park’s serenity stands apart from the horrific scene less than a mile away in McPherson Square. Dozens of people in the throes of addiction sleep and mill about. One morning, a man was observed sticking a needle in his neck, while another was defecating. Police officers sat in two vans and looked on.

The old lady gang quit waiting for help from the city. But if Mayor-elect Parker is serious about helping a forgotten neighborhood, she should listen to the voices from Kensington.

“No one should have to get up every morning and say, ‘I have to try to save my community,’” Burton said.

If three ladies can make a difference, imagine what the city could do.