16/07/2026
Proud to photograph for Grid Magazine 🫶🏼
Early in 2026 in the Oxford Circle neighborhood, 115 Philadelphians representing 15 different nationalities sat down to enjoy dinner at the first in a series of 21 events across seven diverse neighborhoods. The social impact project, called “Breaking Bread, Breaking Barriers” and conceived by president and CEO of The Welcoming Center (TWC) Anuj Gupta, rests on the conviction that sharing food can bring strangers together for meaningful conversations that lead to better understanding, stronger neighborhoods and more civic engagement. Host sites such as churches, mosques and community centers invite both longtime and newly arrived residents of their communities to attend these complementary dinners. But TWC’s goal is far greater than giving neighbors the chance to sample many new foods.
Founded in 2003, TWC is a nonprofit whose mission is to provide pathways to economic growth and strengthen communities by assisting immigrants. Taj Sheikh, project manager for Breaking Bread, and Seth Myers, project coordinator, bring their mix of personality and professional experience to the myriad challenges of hosting large dinners citywide: coordinating logistics and providing up-to-date communications with the staff, host sites and a wide array of volunteers. Both Sheikh and Myers are transplants to Philly (Sheikh from Texas, Myers from Missouri), so they know what it means to be a new arrival to an established community.
➡️ Read the full story at https://gridphilly.com/blog-home/2026/07/01/phillys-welcoming-center-aims-to-connect-strangers-through-conversation-over-culturally-diverse-meals/
✍️ Marilyn Anthony
📸 Taylor Ecker