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Honoring, Recognizing and Congratulating Project H.O.M.E. for achieving 25 years of providing exceptional services to the homeless population in the City of Philadelphia.
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WHEREAS, Since its beginning in 1989, Project H.O.M.E. has been a leader in providing comprehensive and effective services to persons who experience chronic homelessness; and
WHEREAS, using a holistic approach to tackling homelessness and poverty, the acronym H.O.M.E. stands for Housing, Opportunities for Employment, Medical Care, and Education; and
WHEREAS, Headquartered at 1515 Fairmount Avenue in North Philadelphia, the internationally known agency has developed more than 600 housing units, providing housing for approximately 760 residents, has helped more than 8,000 people get off the streets, kick their addictions, find jobs and new housing and employs about 290 individuals, almost 30 percent of them former clients; and
WHEREAS, Project H.O.M.E. is used by many cities and organizations across the country as a model for combating homelessness and has drawn praises from the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development; and
WHEREAS, The mission of the Project H.O.M.E. is to empower adults, children, and families to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty to alleviate the underlying causes of poverty, and to enable all of us to attain our fullest potential as individuals and as members of the broader society ; and
WHEREAS, Founded by Joan Dawson McConnon and Sister Mary Scullion, both Philadelphia natives, the two began to work together in 1988 on a project called the Night Winter Coalition, working with a team of volunteers taking to the streets to ask chronically homeless men to come in from the cold at a temporary shelter in a vacant recreation center donated by the City of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, In 2009, Time Magazine named Sister Mary as one of the World's most 100 Influential People, among the likes of President Obama, Oprah Winfrey and the late Senator Ted Kennedy; and
WHEREAS, In 2011, Sister Mary and Joan received the University of Notre Dame's 2011 Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics for their efforts on ending homelessness; and
WHEREAS, Due the work of Project H.O.M.E. and other alike organizations, Philadelphia's homeless population declined by 2.3 percent in 2013 from its 2012 level; and
WHEREAS, Project H.O.M.E. operates facilities throughout North Philadelphia, Center City and West Philadelphia, including the Honickman Learning Center and Comcast Technology Labs, in North Philadelphia, offering both adult-education and after-school programs for children and teens; and
WHEREAS, Most recently, Project H.O.M.E. opened the JBL Soul Homes, a 55 unit facility for low-income tenants and the formerly homeless. Next year, Project H.O.M.E. expects to open a health-care center, the Stephen Klein Wellness Center, at 21st Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue which will have doctors from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and a YMCA; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Council of the City of Philadelphia hereby honor, recognize and congratulate Project H.O.M.E. for providing 25 great years of excpetional service to the city's most vulnerable population.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Sister Mary Scullion and the staff of Project H.O.M.E. as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.
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