Strawberry Mansion United Teamwork makes the Dream Work

A Philadelphia organization, Strawberry Mansion United, is "branching together" to bring back love and hope to their community.

- Breina Burnett

This is how they are doing it: Renovating Napa Street Basketball Court, hosting Community Workouts, hosting Basketball games, addressing issues in the community, and more. The team of the Strawberry Mansion United Organization consists of Kenneth Thompson, founder and chairman of SMU; Jovon Jones, President of SMU; Marlina Ellis, Vice President of SMU; Julius Phillips, Event Coordinator of SMU; Rashida Lovelace, Secretary of SMU; Yasmin Caldwell, Branding of SMU; Basil York, lead trainer for Community Workout; John Scarborough lead trainer for Community Workout; and Eli Johnson, lead trainer for Community workout. They all have had conversations about the fallen and missing pieces that they believe are needed for Strawberry Mansion and Philadelphia.

“Right now, we are rebranding our neighborhood. People are saying, I’m going to Strawberry Mansion to go workout instead of saying, I don’t want to ride through Strawberry Mansion because it's violent,” said Kenneth Thompson.

Renovated Basketball Court/The Cage

The basketball court on 2565 Napa Street in North Philadelphia, also known by its lifelong name “The Cage,” was renovated in March 2023. This was not an overnight success. Julius Phillips, founder of Best in the Business Events and Productions, and Jovon Jones worked on this project for three years.

“Well in my mind, body, and soul, I felt it was needed in the community. I always knew if we get this up and running, we will get the community up and running. This was more so like the energy source,” said Phillips.

With the help of community support, they were able to begin the process of painting and designing the court grounds, installing glass backboards, and cleaning the court.