Despite the plummeting net income of its parent company and the growing number of vacant business properties along the Avenue, Borders Book Store at 8701 Germantown Ave. will remain open for the foreseeable future.

As director of policy and information services for The Reinvestment Fund, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit agency that specializes in urban neighborhood revitalization projects, Dr. Ira J. Goldstein has extensively studied the reach and impact of predatory lending in Northwest Philadelphia and other parts of the city.

Recently, I attended a permaculture workshop at the Wyck House in Germantown, given by Phil Forsyth of Forsyth Gardens and co-founder of the Philadelphia Orchard Project. Phil gave an informative slide presentation on the history of permaculture, a term initially meaning “permanent agriculture.”

It has since been modified to also stand for “permanent culture,” acknowledging the social aspects in a sustainable system. Permaculture refers to the care of the earth, care of the people, reduction of consumption and sharing of the surplus, while mimicking the relationships found in nature.

Northwest Philadelphia residents made tiles that will be part of a mural on the wall of the Neighborhood Interfaith Movement’s headquarters, 7047 Germantown Ave. (Photos by Erin Vertreace)

Members of faith groups from around the area came together this weekend to bring the latest Northwest mural to life at the Allens Lane Art Center.

During four 90-minute sessions, more than five-dozen residents and community members came together to make tiles representing their various congregations that will be included in a mural to be installed on an exterior wall of the Neighborhood Interfaith Movement headquarters at 7047 Germantown Ave. in Mt. Airy.

Eileen Nathanson, 69, of Chestnut Hill, said she has always been a fan of mural arts projects.

“I saw an e-mail asking people to help,” said Nathanson, whose tile represented P’nai Or a religious fellowship in West Mt. Airy.