On Saturday, April 11, Ujima Friends Peace Center hosted an open house at Unity Monthly Meeting, where the Peace Center is housed.
The meetinghouse of Unity Monthly Meeting had not held regular meetings for worship for some time. Last December the meeting resumed worship, beginning a new chapter in the life of the meeting. Worship now takes place each Sunday at its location on Waln Street in North Philadelphia.
The open house agenda included welcome, libations, worship sharing, and lunch, along with the reading of minutes thanking Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting, several monthly meetings, and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for their continued support of Ujima Friends Peace Center.
Ujima Friends Peace Center shared a handout outlining current initiatives and past and present events, including the ongoing food giveaway held on the first and third Saturdays of each month and its intergenerational sewing project on Tuesday. The handout also highlighted the upcoming Ujima Friends Freedom School– Friendly Spaces– which will take place this summer. Friendly Spaces is rooted in the 1964 Freedom School tradition and grounded in African-centered and Quaker values.
The celebration provided evidence of the movement of the Spirit in our midst and a growing vitality and diversity in the Religious Society of Friends.
To visit Unity meeting house or volunteer at the peace center please contact the Director of Communication and Fundraising, Gloria Hagood at gloriahagood@unitymeeting.org.
Minute of Appreciation to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting from Ujima Friends Peace Center
On this 11th day of April, two thousand twenty-six, we, the members of the Ujima Friends Peace Center, offer joyful thanks to the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for their continued support of the Ujima Friends Peace Center from its inception until this present day.
Especially appreciated are the unsolicited funds offered through the Quaker Life Council that provided rental support during our time in North Philadelphia as well as the willingness of PYM to provide transitional support to ensure that renovations could begin on our new home in Frankford.
As we now celebrate the relocation of Ujima Friends Peace Center, we recognize this moment not simply as an institutional milestone, but as a living sign of what can emerge when people respond to the movement of the Spirit and work toward the community and world they hope to
see.
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, we thank you for the ways you have stood with us, prayed for us, shared resources and worked beside us to begin this journey of revitalization and reimagination of diversity within the Religious Society of Friends. Your support continues to help make space for worship, service, healing, and a deeper witness to our shared humanity.
As we enter this new chapter, we simply want to thank you for holding us in the Light and for accompanying us on this journey. With gratitude to the Spirit that continues to lead and renew us. we celebrate this beginning and remain committed to the work of building the beloved community together.
