Historic Philadelphia

the basic standards and practices for all OICs
and provides ongoing technical assistance to
existing and developing OICs. There are OICs
on Native American reservations and in city and
rural counties, with each OIC serving the multicultural
indigenous population within these
communities. Moreover, OIC has influenced
major education and job training legislation,
notably the CETA Act of 1973 and the Carl
Perkins Vocational Training Act of 1984.
The international expansion gave rise to OIC
International (OIC/I) headquartered in
Philadelphia. OIC International is celebrating
thirty years of international self-help institution
building and human resource development.
OIC/I has provided technical assistance in
emerging and developed countries including
Great Britain, South Africa, Poland, Liberia,
and Sierra Leone. OIC/I can boast of building
one of the largest international development
organizations founded by an African American
and of being instrumental in freeing South
Africa of apartheid.
Wherever the OIC, the philosophy and operational
mandate is “Helping People Help
Themselves.” Nowhere is this more evident than
in Philadelphia where Sullivan concurrently
developed his economic agenda. He believed
that black people should not only have the
opportunity and training to work for others, but
to own businesses and work for themselves and
their communities. This concept evolved into
two shopping centers, Progress Plaza and
Haddington Plaza, the former financed by the
“10-36 Plan” in which community people
invested $10 a month for thirty-six months,
thus owning shares in the enterprise.
The prototype Philadelphia OIC maintains
its fidelity to the principles of self-help. It has
diversified service delivery while maintaining
its core vocational training programs. One
notable example is Opportunities Inn: The
Hospitality Training Institute. Funded by the
Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority
through 2010, this program trains two hundred
people annually who begin their career path in
culinary arts, front desk operations,
travel/tourism, and guest services. Its unique
simulated hotel environment has been featured
in national publications and replication across
the country is envisioned.
Diversification has included services for
delinquent youth being released from state
institutions; social and vocational rehabilitation
for mental health consumers; computer-assisted
literacy and GED test preparation for adults;
training for homeless people; management
of a forty-four-room transitional housing
complex for newly employed, homeless men;
job readiness, job placement, and individual
and group counseling for non-custodial
parents; and extensive job placement services
for welfare recipients.
✧
Above: OIC/A President Reverend Dr.
Staccato Powell.
Below: Reverend Powell with Dr. C. L.
Mannings, president of OIC International.
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