Wake up everybody! music mogul Kenneth Gamble is leading the charge to clean up the Ghetto. (Reviving Communities).

"Wake up everybody no more sleeping in bed No more backward thinking time for thinking ahead The world has changed so very much From what it used to be There is so much hatred, war, and poverty"

--"Wake up Everybody" (Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, The Philly Sound, Volume 3)

IN SOUTH PHILADELPHIA, ROWS OF DILAPIDATED HUSKS HAUNT THIS ONCE-THRIVING COMMUNITY.

The skeletal structures, remnants of homes long since abandoned, are as numerous as the boarded-up storefronts, each symbols of entrepreneurial dreams unattained--another indication of a collapsed local economy no longer capable of supporting such ventures.

But on a hot summer morning, as the thermometer flirts with the 100-degree mark there are signs of improvement amid the blight. On street corners where drug dealing and prostitution once flourished, there are now well-lit residential neighborhoods. Construction sites boast signs advertising new housing, schools, and retail locations--all with the ubiquitous Universal Cos. logo. On 18th and Christian streets a convenience store with an ATM is open for business in an area where just months prior there was none. And although it's summer, class is in session at the newly renovated Universal Institute Charter School, where children clad in plaid uniforms flood hallways decorated with images of prominent African Americans.

These are among the fruits of the Herculean labors pioneered by music-legend-turned-philanthropist Kenneth Gamble. The two-time Grammy Award winner, who along with Leon Huff, penned hits such as "Love Train," "Me and Mrs. Jones," and "If You Don't Know Me By Now," has assumed a role as urban redeveloper.

Since 1963 the songwriting and producing team of Gamble and Huff has earned 175 gold and platinum records and created what was known as "The Sound of Philadelphia," a style of music that dominated the pop and R&B charts for two decades.

These days, Gamble, 59, is also known as founder and chairman of the nonprofit Universal Cos., the umbrella company comprised of a slew of real estate development, educational, and retail operations. In this post, Gamble is helping to redevelop his native South Philadelphia and is constructing a how-to model for urban redevelopment he hopes communities across the nation will adopt. From education and affordable housing to promoting entrepreneurship and creating jobs, Universal Cos. is looking to effect social change in these communities through economic and educational improvement, one neighborhood at a time.

The company, which employs 180 people and grossed $15 million last year--75% of which came from government grants and private sector donations, with the remaining 25% coming from earned income--is on a mission to redevelop three neighborhoods within South Philadelphia: the 15-square-block area of Hawthorne, 40 blocks that constitute Southwest Central, and 72 square blocks that make up Point Breeze. Launched with $6 million to $7 million of Gamble's own money, the company's assets now include:

* Universal Real Estate Development Co., which has a portfolio valued at $14 million. Its assets consist of 250 developed residential properties, an additional 300 units under construction, and approximately 250,000 square feet of commercial space. Some 450 people currently reside in housing provided by Universal Cos.

* Universal Business Support Center, designed to foster business development within South Central Philadelphia. Some 40 businesses are enrolled in the center.

* Universal Retail Cos., which operates two convenience stores, a barbershop, and several other locations under construction in South Central Philadelphia.

* Universal Construction Co., the firm that manages the construction and contracting for the parent company.

* Universal Education Management Co., which manages the Universal Institute Charter School in addition to three South Philadelphia public schools, totaling 2,500 students.

* Universal Capital Investment Fund, a community development financial institution (CDFI) that has raised $300,000 to provide small loans and equity investment to businesses associated with the business support center. Universal hopes to expand the fund to $1 million over the next year.

The company's operations also include a technology center to teach area residents about the benefits of technology, as well as a medical center, a housing facility for abused women, and a drug and alcohol program. All of these programs and businesses have a common theme. They address issues that cause, or are the result of, a shattered local economy. "It's not enough to deal with the symptoms," says Abdur-Rahim Islam, president and CEO of Universal. "We have to deal with the root cause--education and economics. Too long we've been saying we should do this and do that, but where's the model? So we're working on developing the model and hope it can be replicated."

The first step in the Universal plan was to map out the area in which its redevelopment efforts would focus and conduct detailed studies. "We marked off an area of territory that's maybe 14 to 15 blocks," explains Gamble, who says in that area there are close to 100,000 people, 98,000 of whom are African American. "The businesses total maybe 1,500 to 2,000, and about one-half of 1% are owned by African Americans. These are the areas where Universal is concentrating."

Universal's housing redevelopment plan has shown the most dramatic results. Clusters of newly renovated, brick-face townhouses stand amid abandoned tenements like an oasis in a desert. Universal finds vacant lots or abandoned buildings and either purchases them from the owners or receives them gratis from the city. Afterward, Universal Construction Co. solicits contractors--in some cases manages them to form a joint venture--then renovates the properties and either sells or leases them. For commercial property, Universal rents locations to other businesses or opens its own business under the Universal umbrella. Total investments to date exceed $100 million.

Redeveloped three-bedroom homes typically rent for between $500 and $750 a month. Houses can be purchased for anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000. The hope is that as Universal creates affordable housing and jobs, while educating the masses, many of the other social issues will resolve themselves. During an afternoon tour of Universal's operations, Islam stops his minivan and points to a row of newly developed homes on the corner on 16th and Federal streets. "This was the hottest drug corner in the city and it doesn't exist anymore," he says passionately. "Did we do a drug program? Did we do a crime prevention program? No, we just built houses and put people back here." On Point Breeze Avenue, Islam identifies the property where Universal plans to build a $12 million performing arts center. "We just got $6 million from the [state] government to do it," he says proudly. He expects to complete that project in two years. Simultaneously, the company plans to renovate the historic Royal Theater on South Street, which will serve as an entertainment venue for local and national talent.

As one would expect, Universal's origins are steeped in music. In 1977, Philadelphia International Records, a music label and former BE 100 company, owned by Gamble and Huff, joined with CBS Records to launch an urban beautification program. Gamble and Huff, along with several Philadelphia International's performers, including Teddy Pendergrass, Archie Bell, and the O'Jays, recorded a single called "Let's Clean Up the Ghetto." Proceeds from the single and the accompanying compilation album were used to finance inner-city cleanup projects. "The song was pretty much a culmination of us traveling all over the United States and seeing how devastated African American communities were," says Gamble, who along with Huff graced the December 1979 cover of BLACK ENTERPRISE. "We decided to bring attention to it and eventually developed a program."

The following year, Gamble took the message of "Let's Clean Up the Ghetto" to heart and began the arduous task of restoring South Philly by purchasing 120 dilapidated buildings--the first one was his abandoned childhood home. "At that particular time I was living in another area of the city called Gladwyne," says Gamble, who left that posh locale and moved back into his childhood home. "You don't see how devastated a community is until you move back into it. The conditions [African American] people come from--on a psychological, economic, and educational level--are unbelievable."

When South Philly's native son returned to his roots, he inspired others to follow suit. Among them was Islam, a former transportation analyst for Sun Oil Co., who was looking to redevelop sections of his own Philadelphia neighborhood, Tioga. The two met in 1992. "I was basically trying to rebuild my home community, and he was trying the same for his," recalls Islam. "But he had more going for him than I did, so I thought my best shot to get this done was to partner with him."

In 1993 the two men formed Universal Community Homes, a nonprofit community development corporation that provided low- and moderate-income families with homes built or refurbished by the corporation. By September 1999, the company became the umbrella entity Universal Cos., with Islam overseeing the operations as chief executive. But affordable housing was only a portion of the equation. Gamble and Islam decided to go into education as well. "Our goal was to make the cleanup of the ghetto a reality by improving the standard of living in the African American community," says Gamble.

One of the results is Universal Institute Charter School, an academic program for students in grades K-6. The school is independently run and largely funded by taxpayer dollars and has more than 550 students. "Our goal was to deal with education in the area, so we started with kindergarten to third grade, and each year we added a grade," says Gamble, who says the school plans to add 7th and 8th grade over the next two years.