Addressing Homelessness

PHA President & CEO Kelvin Jeremiah celebrates with residents after 25 distressed properties in Sharswood were rehabilitated into new affordable homes.

PHA’s Opening Doors Initiative will include continuing its nationally recognized efforts to work with the city and the community to transform vacant and distressed properties into creating housing that reduces homelessness and housing insecurity in its neighborhoods.

One such example is PHA’s ongoing efforts to rehabilitate 25 distressed properties in the Sharswood neighborhood into affordable housing and provide homes for residents, including those who were living in the Ben Franklin Parkway homeless encampment.

Seven of those properties on Westmont Ave. were completed in 2021, as part of an agreement by the city, PHA and the Heritage Community Development Corp. to address homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in the neighborhood.

PHA provided over $1 million of its own funds to rehabilitate the seven units. Some of the renovations were done by contractors who donated their time and trained some of the encampment residents to help with the renovations.

Another way in which PHA’s Opening Doors Initiative hopes to stabilize its scattered site portfolio is by transforming some of its underutilized properties into low-cost housing for community college students.

This effort would build upon best practices established through a 2021 agreement with the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), in which two PHA properties were renovated into dorm-like living quarters for 16 students who are homeless or experiencing ongoing housing insecurity. The buildings are located less than a mile from campus.

The CCP/PHA Shared Housing Program provides more than just a roof over students’ heads. PHA and the college provide other support, such as working with students on a stability plan with the goal of establishing secure, permanent housing. The college also provides support for students coming from the foster care system, as well as academic advisory services and tutoring.

In 2023, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials recognized PHA and CCP with an award in the client services category for their efforts to house and support students.