In 2022, Leroy transitioned from his role as Facilities Director at North10 into a new role as the Director of Community Services in the Sheriff’s Office. As a former police officer and someone who has cultivated rich community ties, Leroy is able to leverage his existing relationships with police districts, community orgs, churches, and Registered Community Organizations (RCOs) in this role- to host events and food drives, table at community locations, and share sheriff’s office resources citywide as the Director of Community Services.
Leroy’s current position reflects a long trajectory of community-rooted work in North Philadelphia. He first became involved through Hunting Park United, where he started as a volunteer working to strengthen relationships among neighbors through community service, recreation, and shared stewardship of local spaces. What began as a passion project focused on the park gradually expanded into a broader effort to support residents and connect organizations working in the area.
His work with Hunting Park United eventually led to his role at North10, where he was recruited in part because of what he describes as a “PhD in the streets”: deep trusted relationships with community members and organizations. As Facilities Director, Leroy managed buildings, oversaw construction projects, and helped shepherd new initiatives designed to support neighborhood development.
Today, in his citywide role with the Sheriff’s Office, Leroy continues to build on those relationships. Through community outreach, he organizes events and food drives, tables at neighborhood hubs, and helps connect residents with public resources. The goal, he says, is to meet people where they are and make government services more accessible.
Even in his new role in the Sheriff’s Office, Leroy remains deeply involved in the ongoing work of Hunting Park United. The organization continues to host regular programming that brings residents together while addressing everyday neighborhood needs.
On January 15, 2026, Hunting Park United celebrated a monumental win: it gained recognition as an official 501c(3) organization, allowing for increased capacity to continue and expand their programming in Hunting Park.
Other recent highlights include a Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service cleanup, where 46 volunteers braved freezing temperatures and snow to collect nearly 20 bags of trash from inside and around the park. Volunteers also distributed free tacos and winter coats to residents.
“We were out there in the cold, and the snow was covering the trash so you could barely see it,” Leroy said. “But the volunteers still showed up, and we were able to clean up the park and serve the community.”
Upcoming collaborations also hone in on youth opportunity. On May 18, Hunting Park United will partner with the Bicycle Coalition on a combined neighborhood cleanup and workforce development effort, connecting teens with employment resources while improving public spaces. Later that month, the organization will participate in the Bicycle Coalition’s annual bike race event and join citywide volunteers for Love Your Park Day on May 31.
One of the organization’s largest annual gatherings, Family Fun & Fitness Day, will return on August 8, 2026. The event typically draws more than 1,000 participants and brings together health providers, community groups, and local partners to offer screenings, school supplies, raffles, and other services.
“We bring all the resources together and share them with the community,” Leroy said. Last year, they focused on prostate cancer screenings, and this year they hope to provide mammograms along with a host of other health-related services.
Additional programming throughout the year includes an October Safe Halloween event for children, an annual turkey drive, and regular neighborhood cleanups that offer community service hours for residents.
For Leroy, collaboration is central to making this work possible. “To borrow something from the Eagles, we’re not great without the greatness of others,” he said. “We need this collaboration.”
“To borrow something from the Eagles, ‘we’re not great without the greatness of others.’ We need this collaboration.”
“To borrow something from the Eagles, ‘we're not great without the greatness of others.’ We need this collaboration.”
He also credits the Citizens Planning Institute (CPI) with helping him build relationships across Philadelphia. CPI, he says, is a “badge of honor.” “You’re able to meet with new or longtime graduates throughout the city, develop relationships, and open doors to grants, partnerships, and opportunities to serve the community.”
At its core, the mission of Hunting Park United remains simple but ambitious: supporting the place where residents live, work, and play. The group began as a “friends of the park” organization but has since grown into a connector among community members, nonprofits, and public agencies working to revitalize the area.
Leroy emphasizes the organization’s dedication to taking care of the area that Hunting Park residents live, work, and play in. Whether that’s cleanups, resource fairs, improving walking paths, or investing in local spaces, community care is always the core goal.
Looking ahead, Leroy and his partners share a long-term vision for the neighborhood: the revitalization of the historic Logan House. Though still in the early dream stages, the goal is to transform the building into a permanent home for Hunting Park United and the North Philadelphia Aztecs football and cheerleading program.
“The work continues,” Leroy said. “And we remain committed to strengthening the Hunting Park community.”
As he puts it, one of the most important parts of community work is telling these stories.
“We have to be our own advocates and talk about the great things happening in our communities,” he said. “Because it’s not always reflected on the news.”
“We have to be our own advocates and talk about the great things happening in our communities, because it’s not always reflected on the news.”
Leroy Fisher was already a seasoned neighborhood activist when he enrolled in CPI. He sees CPI not just as an opportunity to continue to learn how to further his own goals as a Citizen Planner, but also to share his knowledge and success revitalizing Hunting Park with others in order to see other neighborhood parks go through the renaissance he helped create in North Philadelphia.
Established in 1856, the 87-acre park was once a crown jewel in Philadelphia’s park system, with hundreds of trees, numerous athletic fields, and a state-of-the-art recreation center. Hunting Park’s neglected facilities fell into disrepair in the 1960s, and by the mid-1980s, the park that was once recognized as a neighborhood asset was better known for prostitution, drug use, and other illicit activity.
In 2009, dismayed with the deteriorated condition of the park, Leroy decided it was time to take the park back for the people. Leroy convened other neighborhood residents and friends of the park to found Hunting Park United, a park stewardship organization devoted to bringing the park back to its former glory. Every month, residents, local leaders, and representatives of various organizations meet at the Hunting Park Recreation Center to discuss problems and advancements as well as create initiatives for the community.
Hunting Park United partnered with the Fairmount Park Conservancy, an organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of Philadelphia’s park system, to work towards implementing the Conservancy’s Hunting Park Master Plan that proposes $21 million of improvements to the park.
Leroy worked tirelessly as President of Hunting Park United to help raise $5 million in funds and resources from more than 30 different partner organizations and contributors in order to implement Phase I of the Master plan and is the local neighborhood liaison on Conservancy-led projects in the park. Thanks to the tireless work of Leroy, Councilwoman Maria D. Quinones-Sanchez, Council President Darrell L. Clarke, and countless others, the following improvements have been implemented as of 2016.
- A state-of-the-art baseball field, with help from MLB player Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies
- Two new playgrounds whose equipment was donated. The Fairmount Park Conservancy supported the cost of the safety surface and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation supplied the fencing
- Six new tennis courts built through a partnership with Billie Jean King, Philadelphia Freedoms and Legacy Youth Tennis and Education, and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.
- Year-round youth tennis programming
- A new football/soccer field developed through a partnership with Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles NFL team
- New lighting throughout the park
- Over 200 new trees planted
- A community garden and farmers’ market established through a partnership with The Food Trust
- And an orchard planted adjacent to the garden created through a partnership with the Philadelphia Orchard Project
Photo credit: Sikora Wells Appel
Currently working on securing resources for Phase II of the Master Plan, Fisher encourages anyone and everyone in the community to be involved in the park stewardship process.
Come out and be involved, your voice matters. The direction of our community is led by us and we have a voice when we come together. This is our home, we care about our home, and we’re taking it back and doing great things.
Update on Leroy Fisher and North 10 Philadelphia
I landed my dream job working in the community I grew up in.
Since Leroy’s last Citizen Planner in Action Story, he left his position as a community outreach worker for the City of Philadelphia’s Parks and Recreation office. He has since accepted a job that allows him to continue his work in the Hunting Park neighborhood. As the new facilities director of North 10 Philadelphia, Leroy helps to ensure all the nonprofit-owned properties and projects meet the physical environmental standards and are well maintained. North 10 Philadelphia is a community-based non-profit that works to improve the quality of life in the Hunting Park and East Tioga neighborhoods. The main areas it focuses on are education, improving housing options and quality, economic development, and promoting wellness.
As the co-founder and president of Hunting Park United, Leroy has facilitated and assisted many projects throughout his years of community activism. His most notable has been establishing Community Benefit Agreements (CBA’s). He has done this with the Broad-Germantown-Erie Collaborative, which he is also a member of. This is an agreement between the community and the developers of an apartment complex next to the Beury Building on North Broad Street. This agreement promises construction jobs and affordable housing units in exchange for community support of the project. This is the second of the two CBA’s that Leroy has had a hand in establishing. He and the Broad-Germantown-Erie Collaborative are currently working on their third.
Part of Leroy’s role as the facilities director at North 10 Philadelphia, is to oversee Be A Gem Crossing. This is a $20 million investment to construct a mixed-use facility with 41-unit of affordable apartments and a health care center. This housing development is at the site of the former Liberty Hotel. This former hotel had been a nuisance to the Hunting Park neighborhood for years. On the site is also the old Carman Gardens Skating Rink which will be restored and transformed into a health-care facility. This redevelopment project will now be a landmark in the neighborhood.
CPI has opened countless doors for developing relationships with like-minded community activists who want to share information and grow Philadelphia.
Since Leroy’s last interview with CPI, he has not slowed down in his efforts to bring positive change to the Hunting Park/East Tioga neighborhood. Leroy is an active member of many community groups and is now working full-time for an organization that works to better the community he grew up in. Leroy attributed CPI for providing him with a diverse network of individuals that are pursuing the same work he is. This has allowed him to reach out to people across the city with questions about their projects. This has helped to further inform his activism efforts. Leroy also mentioned that the most valuable resource he took from CPI was the relationships he was able to build with like-minded people.
You never have all the answers, but just know there are others who may be able to help you find the solutions.