January 27, 2026, marked the first anniversary of residents living at Riverview Wellness Village (RVWV). The launch of this new recovery-based housing model integrated five foundations for stability. In one comprehensive project, These include:

  • Housing

  • Access to medical care

  • Recovery services

  • Economic opportunity

  • Social support

The first resident arrived on January 27, 2025. Residents who have completed twelve months are preparing for permanent housing.

The Office of Community Wellness and Recovery, alongside service provider partners (Gaudenzia, WES Health System, Merakey, and Black Doctors Consortium) at Riverview, marked this first anniversary, with both a celebration of the year’s accomplishments and actively planning for an even stronger year two.

On February 5, 2026, all of our provider partners and staff came together for a retreat. The time spent was to affirm what is working well and what can be improved. As we move forward and continue to deepen the impact of the model, the goal is to grow. This can only happen through learned experience, innovation, and collaboration.

Visual of Guiding themes for the retreat 

 

  At the start of the day, the group recapped the success of year one.

  • RVWV welcomed its first resident on January 27, 2025. By January 2026, it had reached 92% of the 234 Recovery House’s licensed capacity.

  • As of January 2026, over 60% of campus residents are now stabilized on site for 90 days or more.

  • 100% of residents are diagnosed with SUD

    • 87% have experienced co-occurring mental health needs and 89% have experienced street homelessness.

  • 100% of residents have access to primary medical care, SUD/MAT treatment, and mental health services on campus. This results in over 1000 onsite interventions per month.

  • Care connections have been made with DBHIDS and Philly Home at Girard. It provides low barrier beds to facilitate recovery journeys from Kensington.

Service provider partners shared their own reflections on year one

  • “The greatest accomplishment has been seeing members remain clean and sober for the first time in their lives for longer than one month. In addition, several members have received all required documentation for housing opportunities, and others are receiving and accepting job offers.”
  • “Many of our residents have also reunited with their families.”
  • “Opening the doors! Only those of us who were here touring the vacant buildings will truly understand how big of an accomplishment that actually was.”

 

Group Photo from Retreat

Skill-building and Collaborative Practice

Guest speaker Mike O’Bryan, founder and CEO of Humanature, is a dedicated practitioner and researcher in the fields of community development, organizational culture, and human well-being. His work is fueled by the intersections of developmental science and design. Something that resonates across both public and private sectors.

Mike spoke to the group about organization collaboration and problem solving through human entered design. This problem-solving technique that combines lived experience, lived expertise, and professional experience. It allows team members to learn from each other and make improvements by design.

To test the practice, members of all agency partners worked through a series of exercises. They collaborated to co-design plans for campus improvements at Riverview Wellness Village. All in preparation for year two.

To break down barriers and silos, the February retreat was vital to the emerging One Philly wellness model at Riverview. Staff left excited by the chance to collaborate and put in place best practices. Even more excitingly, creating an environment where staff and residents can thrive.