All That Philly Jazz

I would like to wish you a happy and healthy new year.

I plan a fresh start in 2013 with Philly Phresh Start, a project to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) among African American youth. I will apply the lessons learned from my year as a civic innovator to connect STEM to students’ day-to-day realities and interests.

The project will use pop-up hackerspaces, interactive video and social media to empower young people to imagine a better future.

This mural in West Philly, "Reach for Your Star," captures what Philly Phresh Start is about.

The mural is not too far from Overbrook High School whose graduates include actor Will Smith and Guy Bluford, the first African American astronaut. Both Smith and Bluford reached for their star.

A lot of folks wish walls could talk. Well, now there's an app for that -- Vizy, a new form of social powered by geo-storing.

I've now participated in nine hackathons. Random Hacks of Kindness will always be first in my heart. So I had some pep in my step as I walked to Drexel University’s brand new ExCITe Centerfor #RHoKPhilly.

I didn’t pitch a project. Instead, I joined Jason Blanchard, Christopher Brown, Brian Cohen, Max Freilich, Lauren Gilchrist, Justin Murphy, Christopher Nies and Andrew Thompson and worked on a web-based food access app.

We addressed the problem of limited access to healthy food, which is a contributing factor to the obesity crisis.

And developed a solution: Philly ForagR, a location-based app that promotes healthy living and well-being.

Users can enter their address to find the location of supermarkets, grocery stores, farmers markets, etc., that sell healthy foods. They will be provided with public transit and walking directions. The walking directions will include the location of historic markers, murals and other points of interest along the way.

With a few clicks, users will have access to healthy recipes that they can whip up with the food they purchased.

Philly ForagR placed third at #RHoKPhilly. The app is live so you can test it for yourself.