FA:STER
Fortress Arts: Strong Ties to Economic Revitalization

Launched in 2019, FA:STER, rooted in the arts, brings entrepreneurship training and civic engagement to an economically depressed section of the Kingsessing neighborhood in Southwest Philadelphia. In 2020 and 2021, Fortress partnered with Empowered CDC, Inc. to expand and evolve the program to include gardening and Black Political Education and thanks to a generous grant from the Knight Foundation, were able to engage teens on site in an outdoor garden and virtually.

FA:STER Program Components
 

• Mosaic Mural Making
   

• Civic Engagement (Neighborhood Ambassadors)
   

• Job and Entrepreneurship Training
   

• Intra- and Interpersonal Skills Development
   

• Black Political Education