Office of Homeless Services

Services

What we do

The Office of Homeless Services works with more than 60 homeless housing and service providers, as well as city, state, and federal governments. Together, we make up Philadelphia’s homeless service system.

This system provides homelessness prevention and diversion aid, as well as emergency and temporary housing, to people who are experiencing homelessness and those at risk of homelessness.

Get help

If you need help paying rent

You can apply for financial assistance to help pay for overdue rent or a security deposit to move into a new home. To learn how:

Call the Homelessness Prevention InfoLine at (215) 686-7177 and follow the instructions; or
Visit a City-funded homeless intake center.

If you still need help applying, email the OHS Prevention, Diversion, and Intake Unit at OHSPrevention@phila.gov.

If you’re living outdoors

If you are or see someone living outdoors, call the City’s Homeless Street Outreach Hotline at (215) 232-1984. The Outreach team can help you find or get to a City-funded homeless intake center. Anyone who needs shelter can visit the centers.

For all other questions, email us at OHS@phila.gov.

Connect

Address	1401 John F. Kennedy Blvd. 10th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19102
Email	ohs@phila.gov
Phone	Phone: (215) 686-7175 ask a question (215) 232-1984 help a person on the street
Social	Twitter

Posts

Post

Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week 2025

November 7, 2025

Post

“Landlord 101” is back this month — and virtual!

October 31, 2025

Post

Celebrate World Food Day on October 16

October 16, 2025

See all posts

Events

Mar

10

Event

OHS Service Connections/Site Clean-ups

All Day

Multiple locations
Event

OHS Service Connections/Site Clean-ups

March 10, 2026
All Day

Multiple locations
map
A Service Connection/Site Clean-up will occur today at:
- Skatepark Schuylkill River Trail (near 23^rd Street and Spring Garden Street)
- Logan Circle (200 N. 19^th Street)
- 200 N. Camac Street
- 5^th Street and Callowhill Street
- 6^th Street and Callowhill Street
About Service Connection/Site Clean-up Days
Office of Homeless Services Encampment Resolution Team (ERT) staff members join the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services’s (DBHIDS) Homeless Street Outreach Team (Outreach) and the City’s Sanitation Department to conduct Service Connection/Site Clean-up Days.* OHS’s ERT staff schedules and leads service connection clean-ups at various selected outdoor encampment locations in Philadelphia.
How it Works
The teams post signs in advance to alert people living in tents, RVs, makeshift shelters, or none at all, on sidewalks, under bridges, in parks, empty fields, lots, etc., of upcoming service days. Each service day, the teams visit the encampment sites to offer individuals services, such as rides to a City intake center where staff can help find shelter space, Stranded Traveler Assistance, behavioral health, drug or medical treatment, and other similar services. The Sanitation Department team further assists by cleaning up accumulated trash.
*Service days are not the same as formal, encampment resolutions, which, while social services-led, involve many more City of Philadelphia departments and nonprofit partners and follow specific protocols regarding personal property storage, notification, and other requirements.

Mar

13

Event

OHS Service Connections/Site Clean-ups

All Day
Event

OHS Service Connections/Site Clean-ups

March 13, 2026
All Day
A Service Connection/Site Clean-up will occur today at:
- 5^th Street and Callowhill Street
- 6^th Street and Callowhill Street
- 200 N. Camac Street
- 11^th Street and Race Street
- 10^th Street and Ludlow Street
About Service Connection/Site Clean-up Days
Office of Homeless Services Encampment Resolution Team (ERT) staff members join the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services’s (DBHIDS) Homeless Street Outreach Team (Outreach) and the City’s Sanitation Department to conduct Service Connection/Site Clean-up Days.* OHS’s ERT staff schedules and leads service connection clean-ups at various selected outdoor encampment locations in Philadelphia.
How it Works
The teams post signs in advance to alert people living in tents, RVs, makeshift shelters, or none at all, on sidewalks, under bridges, in parks, empty fields, lots, etc., of upcoming service days. Each service day, the teams visit the encampment sites to offer individuals services, such as rides to a City intake center where staff can help find shelter space, Stranded Traveler Assistance, behavioral health, drug or medical treatment, and other similar services. The Sanitation Department team further assists by cleaning up accumulated trash.
*Service days are not the same as formal, encampment resolutions, which, while social services-led, involve many more City of Philadelphia departments and nonprofit partners and follow specific protocols regarding personal property storage, notification, and other requirements.
Mar

13

Event

Kensington Service Connections/Site Clean-ups

All Day
Event

Kensington Service Connections/Site Clean-ups

March 13, 2026
All Day
Service Connection/Site Clean-ups will occur today at these Kensington locations:
- 709-711 E. Allegheny Avenue
- Reach Street and Allegheny Avenue
- 800 E. Allegheny Avenue (multiple locations)
- 3100-3102 Kensington Avenue
- 1800 E. Orleans Street (both sides)
- 2800 Kensington Avenue (multiple locations)
- 1800 E. Somerset Street (multiple locations)
- 400 E. Somerset Street (both sides)
- 2700 Kensington Avenue (under bridge)
- 2000 E. Sterner Street
- 2000 E. Silver Street
- 1800 E. Harold Street
- 1800 E. Huntingdon Street
- 1800 E. Clearfield Street
About Service Connection/Site Clean-up Days

Office of Homeless Services Encampment Resolution Team (ERT) staff members join the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services’s (DBHIDS) Homeless Street Outreach Team (Outreach) and the City’s Sanitation Department to conduct Service Connection/Site Clean-up Days.* OHS’s ERT staff schedules and leads service connection clean-ups at various selected outdoor encampment locations in Philadelphia.

How it Works

The teams post signs in advance to alert people living in tents, RVs, makeshift shelters, or none at all, on sidewalks, under bridges, in parks, empty fields, lots, etc., of upcoming service days. Each service day, the teams visit the encampment sites to offer individuals services, such as rides to a City intake center where staff can help find shelter space, Stranded Traveler Assistance, behavioral health, drug or medical treatment, and other similar services. The Sanitation Department team further assists by cleaning up accumulated trash.

* Service days are not the same as formal, encampment resolutions, which, while social services-led, involve many more City of Philadelphia departments and nonprofit partners and follow specific protocols regarding personal property storage, notification, and other requirements.