PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia’s homeless service organizations continue to receive recognition for their innovative approaches, this time winning a $1.5 million grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLB) and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA).
The program is through a new statewide funding initiative called Home4Good.
The grant funds ten local programs ranging from preventing evictions to helping veterans, youth, and people with disabilities who are facing or experiencing homelessness.
The Office of Homeless Services will administer the grant, which funds programs at ten local organizations, including Philadelphia’s new Youth Access Point, where people ages 18-24 experiencing homelessness first interact with the City’s support programs.
“We are thrilled,” said Liz Hersh, Director of Philadelphia’s Office of Homeless Services. “Home4Good gives Philly a chance to try new ways to help homeless young adults, people with disabilities or serious illnesses, veterans, families, and returning citizens. We are tremendously proud of our providers and their can-do approach. And, it’s exciting to have new state and national funders helping Philly.”
The latest grant is another signal that Philadelphia is a national leader in developing progressive, human-centered solutions to homelessness, empowering providers and local organizations with the tools to succeed.
The grant also includes $70,825 going directly to the Office of Homeless Services to support a mobile assessor who can physically travel to those facing homelessness instead of requiring them to physically travel to traditional intake settings.
The mobile assessor will also be bilingual in English and Spanish to better reach Philadelphia’s Latinx community.
The full program and recipient list includes:
Drueding Center – Drueding Rental Assistance Program (DRAP)
$59,267 to support shallow rent subsidies and case management for young families to shorten transitional housing stays.
Valley Youth House
$125,074 for capacity building for The Synergy Project, specialized street outreach service for youth, and support for the newly established Youth Access Point.
Turning Points for Children – YVLifeSet
$100,000 to support permanent housing and job placement for youth ages 17-22; this leverages $1.8M from other sources.
Utility Emergency Services Fund (UESF)
$223,470 to support housing and services for up to one year for 10 homeless veterans released from prison.
Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network
$50,000 to support eviction prevention, homelessness diversion, and support services for 50 households along with identification of eviction triggers through a diagnostic tool.
Action Wellness – Pathway Home Project
$140,000 to support housing stability for 15 people with a chronic illness for up to 12 months.
Friends Rehabilitation Program – Homelessness Prevention and Diversion Program
$400,000 to prevent homelessness through time-limited rental assistance, moving costs, transportation, and furniture to prevent shelter entry.
SELF/UAC – Homeless and Medically Fragile: Bringing Them Home4Good
$228,689 to support a pilot program to assist medically fragile people experiencing homelessness reduce shelter stays.
DePaul USA – Keys to Stability
$40,000 to provide rapid rehousing for 45 single men transitioning from emergency shelter.
Families Forward Philadelphia – Shallow Rent Subsidy Program
$50,000 to support shallow rent subsidies for 25-30 low-wage working families with children to exit homelessness.
Office of Homeless Services – Mobile Assessors
$70,825 grant to hire mobile assessors to expand access to homeless services.