Deseree Byrd

My connection to the West End goes all the way back to childhood. I went to daycare when this building was still the Philly Street Neighborhood House. I was born and raised here. I went to Heberle Elementary School and graduated from Taft High School.

My roots in this community run deep. My grandmother and great-grandmother both grew up in the West End. My great-grandmother would have been 95 this year. She passed away two years ago, and she was still living in the West End at the time.

When I was in school, it felt like one big, happy family. Everyone I went to Heberle and Taft with, I grew up with. After school, we would meet up outside Heberle, and 20 to 30 of us would walk together, just hanging out. Even on holidays, we would walk across the bridge to Newport in groups that size. Whether we were related or not, we all considered each other family.

The corner store across the street used to be Miss Sue’s. Now it’s being renovated into apartments, and the church on the corner of York is also apartments now. Heberle is being turned into condos. It’s wild seeing how much has changed.

Coming back here to work in this space feels like a full-circle moment. I owe so much of my life’s success to this neighborhood and the people in it. I went Division I, played a couple of years professionally, and I’m in two Hall of Fames. I truly give credit to this place and its people.

My mom passed when I was two, and my aunt raised seven kids on her own. We got a lot of help from our neighbors. On holidays, when my aunt couldn’t afford much, we were adopted by the Neighborhood House. I remember those Christmases being some of the best ever, thanks to the kindness of this community.

Back then, events hosted by the Neighborhood House were really hosted by the community itself. The moms, aunts, uncles, and cousins all played a part. Even at the event on Saturday, I told a friend I saw all my neighborhood aunties and moms. We called each other’s moms “Mom” and “Auntie” because we were raised like that.

There was always someone to guide you, even if your own parent or guardian wasn’t there in that moment. You knew how to act because the whole community helped raise you.

I would definitely love to be involved and be one of those aunties for the next generation in this community.