The Simple Way

The Simple Way website proclaims: We are a small organization supporting neighbors in building a neighborhood we’re all proud of in Kensington, Philadelphia. We celebrate together. We garden and work to make our neighborhood beautiful. We collaborate locally in practical ways, like working for food security and connecting people with nearby resources. When we run into bigger systems that throw obstacles in our neighbors’ way, we advocate for systemic change together. Ultimately, we envision all of our neighbors coming to a place of security that enables growth and flourishing.…

There is no doubt that The Simple Way deserves its recognition as a Zone of Peace. The “simple way” of the organization’s name indicates a singular focus on love as a response to many forms of violence, love as encompassing a multitude of ways to create peace. The leadership of The Simple Way has chosen to live in a neighborhood challenged by gun violence, poverty, food insecurity, homelessness, addiction, and more. They have built an impressive network of partnerships with individuals, agencies, and organizations to meet the needs of their neighbors, while being in close personal relationships with those they serve. Moreover, they recognize the systemic causes of the neighborhood’s challenges, and see that the systemic violence of policy and practice harms not only their neighborhood but others. So, in addition to direct response (for example, providing food for the hungry and affordable housing to the homeless,) they advocate for change using the power of the written word, traditional protest, and uniquely creative symbolic actions (such as beating guns into garden tools.) The Simple Way is bringing peace to one neighborhood and making impactful contributions to peace efforts in the city, around the nation, and to the far corners of the globe.