Where: The new Barbara and Harvey Brodsky Enrichment Center Jewish Family and Children’s Services Main Line branch
345 Montgomery Avenue, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
Why: Ty Pennington, who is volunteering his time, has a strong to connection to Philadelphia because he rose to stardom as the host of “Trading Spaces,” the cable television program that was produced by Philadelphia’s Banyan Productions. Happy to give back to this community, he said, “Helping children and families is so important to me, which is why I teamed up with JFCS. My vision to use Paint-by-Numbers art helps to make it interactive. Children add color to our lives and they will literally be adding color to this work. JFCS is doing great work in the Philly area to support those who really need it and I am proud to be a part of this project.”
Background: For 161 years, JFCS has assisted countless individuals and families in the Philadelphia region at every stage of life. And, now these services will be much more convenient to those in the western suburbs as the new Barbara and Harvey Brodsky Enrichment Center of JFCS will open on April 3, 2017 in Bala Cynwyd, PA This new 18,000 sq. ft., $8 million project becomes the fifth branch of JFCS of Greater Philadelphia adding to those in Center City, Elkins Park and North and Northeast Philadelphia, offering therapeutic services and educational programs.
This state-of-the-art building was designed by Jason Wilhelm of J. Wilhelm Consulting and has been custom-built to meet the needs and programing for a wide range of clients extending from Holocaust survivors, older adults, children, LGBTQ communities, people living with disabilities, parents seeking to adopt a child, family counseling, to food insecurities and helping individuals to gain financial stability. Its social services range from foster care and adoption, to family support and education, to financial assistance and healthcare and much more. In the lobby, visitors will find very large black and white portraits (12’ x 8’ in size) of 18 Holocaust Survivors with a supportive and much more throughout the space.
About Ty Pennington:
Popular Host of Extreme Home Makeover, Ty Pennington is a TV host, author and designer whose purview, in all its forms, is home improvement. Debuting in 2000, the reality show Trading Spaces helped make Pennington a nationally known figure. One of the show’s carpenters, Pennington soon became a nationally recognized star, and released his first home-improvement book. In 2004, he left Trading Spaces to head up his own show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which has been a consistent hit in the ratings.