PHILADELPHIA –  Today, The Community Life Improvement Program, better known as CLIP, celebrates 15 years with recognition from Philadelphia City Council.  Following the City Council recognition, Mayor Kenney honored CLIP employees at a luncheon in Conversation Hall.

“I am extremely proud of the work that has been accomplished by CLIP employees over the last 15 years but even more proud of the fact that we provide people with second chances as over 35% of our work force are ex-offenders,” said Tom Conway, CLIP Director.  “I would like to thank all the businesses, organizations and residents that have partnered with CLIP over the years, only by working together can we truly create positive change in our great city.”

CLIP was created on April 2nd, 2002 in conjunction with Mayor John Street’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative by the late Councilwoman Joan Krajewski.  CLIP was originally created to address quality of life issues in the 6th Councilmanic District, but CLIP now serves residents and businesses throughout the city. CLIP consists of several programs dedicated to improving the appearance of neighborhoods throughout the city and includes programs that educate residents and owners on property maintenance codes and their enforcement, as well as options the city provides for nuisance abatement.

Some of CLIP’s significant impacts in their 15-year history include the following:

  • Over 1,000,000 properties of graffiti vandalism have been cleaned free of charge by the Graffiti Abatement Teams;
  • Over 200,000 vacant lot parcels have been abated through the Vacant Lot Program;
  • The Exterior Property Maintenance Program has abated over 30,000 exteriors of properties and maintains a 69% compliance rate after owners receive a violation.

“Clip has been an immensely successful program for the City of Philadelphia,” said Mayor Jim Kenney. “It has made our city more beautiful, safer and improved quality of life across the City, all while getting more Philadelphians involved in their neighborhoods.”

CLIP’s programs are designed to maximize effectiveness and efficiency by inspecting and abating entire blocks at a time as opposed to addressing individual complaints piecemeal.
Additionally, CLIP encourages businesses and residents of the City of Philadelphia to get involved in their neighborhoods and partner with their programs to make a difference. The department currently manages these programs:

  • The Community Partnership Program (CPP) has assisted over 8,300 organizations and residents with the necessary supplies and resources for neighborhood cleanups to foster sustainable communities;
  • The Community Service Program has completed over 32,000 projects with 40,000 ex-offenders and volunteers.  This program provides individuals the opportunity to complete their mandated community service hours cleaning and beautifying the city.

Interested individuals, community groups and organizations can visit www.phila.gov/clip to learn more about the Department and to request support.

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