Bruce Baldwin, South Philadelphia, dedicates his life to helping neighbors on 7th Street

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) – You may never have heard his name, but Bruce Baldwin is royal on 7th Street in South Philadelphia.

“We respect Mayor Kenney, but we consider (Baldwin) 7th Street Mayor,” said Bernadette Wells, a lifelong friend of his.

‘Mayor’ is a title that the 64-year-old acquired with decades of work in his community, much of it through the Ford PAL Recreation Center

“He’s a blessing because a lot of people need someone in their life to give them hope and love. He’s there for them,” said Officer Joseph Ellerby, who was appointed to the PAL Center.

Since the pandemic, Baldwin COVID-19 has organized and tested food distributions for the area, and two weeks ago he gave away 200 bicycles and scooters to children in the area.

His name, which is now synonymous with respect, used to arouse fear in the area.

“Interestingly enough as kids, we ran away from him,” Wells said.

“I was cut out of the same cloth when the other young guys were on the street,” said Baldwin, who is now president of the Seventh Street Community Civic Association.

He was in and out of jail for a decade, at the age of 17, but the tragedy changed his life.

“I was in state prison, I lost my baby brother because of AIDS, HIV, and I was not home,” he said.

He starts writing behind bars.

“When they robbed us of our dignity and took us away from our home,” he said, reading one of his poems.

Writing was his outlet and how he processed his emotions. Now, that’s how he honors his neighbors. He wrote 4,000 poems, including one for each member of his community who died.

“The hardest words I ever spoke were to say goodbye to my baby,” he wrote of a 16-year-old girl who had died in his area.

For thirty years, all of Baldwin’s work has focused on a few blocks of 7th Street, but his reach extends so far beyond all the people he has helped.

“The reason this community means so much to me is because I initially took out a lot. That’s what happened. So I had to put in again,” he said.