Humans of Fitler Square, Part II

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By Rolando Rosa

Humans of Fitler Square is our take on the long-running Humans of New York project: brief, verbatim portraits of local residents, offering a glimpse into the people and stories behind the rowhouse doors.

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Kristin Davidson, 83

I came from England. I originally came to Philadelphia for a year. I ended up in a job that was interesting so I stayed a little bit longer.

Then I met my husband, settled in Center City, and really liked this community. I worked at Penn for most of my life in administration.

After I retired I got involved in a group called Penn’s Village. Older adults like myself want to stay in their own homes and don’t want to move anywhere else but need a little bit of help. So you get your help from volunteers. Kind of neighbors helping neighbors.

That group offers a lot of support for older adults. We get some help with light chores, tech help, companionship, rides to the doctor or rides to the supermarket, whatever is needed. It now has about 400 members, so that’s an exciting thing to have been a part of. Especially as I’m aging myself, you think about these things. What will your needs be when you’re not as mobile as you used to be? And you certainly don’t want to move out of this neighborhood.

The former surgeon general talked about the loneliness and social isolation epidemic in the country. Social isolation not only has a mental effect but it’s been proven that your physical health is better if you’re not isolated.

I’ve found that I’ve got a whole new social network at a time in life when you’re not expected to, so that’s interesting. My husband died eight years ago. I’ve lived on my block for a long time and I have wonderful neighbors. It is really good at this time for me to have a whole new set of relationships and sort of a sense of purpose.

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David Traub

I’m a professional architect. I came to Philadelphia to study with the famous architect Louis Kahn in 1964. I graduated and decided I wanted to stay here. I fell in love with the city. Just this environment. The squares, the little narrow streets. The intimate character of the city. I’ve been here ever since except for a couple years in the Army.

I’m the co-founder of a preservation organization called Save Our Sites, which advocates for saving historic sights and buildings in Philadelphia. The idea was: ‘We’re not looking for your money. We’re looking for your voice.’ Unfortunately the other co-founder passed away last year, so I’m kind of left with a lot of the responsibilities. It is burdensome but it’s very important to me.

A lot of older people don’t have much to do but I have maybe too much to do. It really gives me a lot to do and it fills my life with really enriching activities.

Philadelphia is a traditional, conservative city. But I wouldn’t live anywhere else. I love traveling all across the world but I always love coming back. I could’ve gone back to Louisville, or New York or Paris when I graduated from Penn. I was free but I decided to stay here.

Correction: In an earlier version of this article, Mr. Traub’s organization Save Our Sites was misspelled. The article has been updated to fix the spelling.