| Support Penn's Village
We love our Village - and we know you do too! Penn’s Village is a community of neighbors connecting, engaging, and thriving together. Did you know that membership fees cover only about half of our very lean annual budget? The rest comes from small grants and contributions from people who care about this community. Would you consider making a donation to Penn’s Village today? Your support helps keep our neighbor-to-neighbor network strong.
| Welcome New Staff Member
We are delighted to welcome Audrey Moffatt, who joined Penn’s Village this week as our new Member Services & Volunteer Coordinator.
Audrey brings a background in nonprofit program management, volunteer coordination, and community engagement. She currently also works as a Case Manager with the Nationalities Service Center, where she supports immigrant and refugee communities through trauma-informed services and community programming.
At Penn’s Village, Audrey will help recruit and onboard new volunteers, support the intake of new villagers, coordinate services, and assist members in accessing the programs and supports that make our Village community thrive. Because Penn’s Village is powered by neighbors helping neighbors, Audrey’s role will be an important part of strengthening the connections that make this community so special.
If you see Audrey at an upcoming program or event, please take a moment to say hello and welcome her to the Village. Her email will be volunteer@pennsvillage.org.
| Friendly Mail From Penn's Village
Did you know that a small group of Penn’s Village volunteers spends time each month sending birthday cards and friendly renewal reminders to our members? Their notes have become a quiet but meaningful way we stay connected as a community.
Now they’d love to send a little more cheer. Our Friendly Mail volunteers are offering to send occasional handwritten cards or notes to members who would enjoy receiving a bit of snail mail. Sometimes it’s just a hello, sometimes a seasonal note — always a reminder that you’re part of a caring community.
If you’d like to receive Friendly Mail, please email volunteer@pennsvillage.org and let us know. Your mailbox might just get a little happier! 💌
|  | | Penn's Village has many social workers among our membership....and we want to salute you! Social workers are essential because they promote social justice, enhance well-being, and provide critical support to vulnerable, oppressed, or underserved populations. They address complex challenges like poverty, mental illness, and homelessness by connecting people with resources, offering clinical therapy, protecting children, and advocating for policy changes that improve lives. | This Week at Penn’s Village: March 16, 2026
| | Movies for the Mind
Tuesday, March 17 at 2:00 pm
Arch Street Presbyterian Church
1724 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
Enjoy a film and discussion with friends. No registration required.
| | | | The Amazing Success of Philly's William Penn
How he turned a howling wilderness into America's fastest growing city
Wednesday, March 18 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm
Via Zoom
This presentation covers more than 300 years of Philly history in about 45 minutes plus Q&A. It includes facts about Philadelphia most residents don’t know … shows an out-of-this world photo of Philly … and ends with an easy way to remember Philadelphia Streets south of Market.
Bio of presenter: Jim Murphy is a writer, certified tour guide and Philly resident who lives inside the limits of William Penn’s original, 2-square-mile planned city. He’s also written over 60 articles on Philadelphia for community publications. Many of them have been updated for Jim’s book, “Real Philly History, Real Fast” by Temple University Press, which can be purchased.
Members: please log in before registering.
| | | Next Week at Penn's Village | | What is AI and How Does It Work?
Wednesday, March 25, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm
MacColl Room, 201 S. 21st Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Artificial Intelligence seems to be everywhere today. This talk will help you understand what AI is, and what it can and can't do. We'll talk about:
- How do AI Chatbots work?
- Do they really understand?
- Why might we want to limit what AI programs can do?
- Will we have super-intelligent AIs soon? (No! We'll talk about why.)
Bio of presenter: Mitch Marcus is RCA Professor of Artificial Intelligence Emeritus in the Department of Computer and Information Science (CIS) at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was also Professor of Linguistics. He received an AB from Harvard University in Linguistics and Applied Math, and a Ph.D. from the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab. He was also a member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories before coming to Penn in 1987. His early work focused on computational models of human syntactic processing, showing deep connections between the linguistic theories of Noam Chomsky and computation, and was responsible in the early 1990’s for the Penn Treebank Project, which has been widely used for the past 40 years to train statistical natural language processing systems. He is currently chair of the Penn Association of Senior and Emeritus Faculty (PASEF).
Members: please log in before registering.
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From the Community
Please note that these activities are not Penn’s Village activities, so questions about fees, sign ups, and content should be directed to the community group holding the event.
| Reimagining the Rest of Your Life
Join Road Scholar on Tuesday, April 7 at 2:00 pm for a free online program with Jane Pauley as she discusses reinvention and connection through every stage of life. For more information and to register, visit Here | Learn more about vaccines and disease prevention in our most recent Health and Wellness blog post shared by Jay Pomerantz, MD from the Penn's Village Advisory Council:
| WE VALUE YOUR OPINION
Do you have feedback about a recent program? Let us know here. We would love to hear from you so that we can improve future programs.
Penn’s Village welcomes and actively encourages an inclusive and diverse community of members, staff, Board of Directors and volunteers. Inclusiveness and diversity means welcoming all and excluding no one because of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, physical abilities, religious beliefs or political beliefs. | |