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News & Publications

Promoting Sustainability Across Our Lives

4/3/2025

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Earth Day, celebrated annually on April 22, emphasizes our collective duty to protect the planet and promote sustainability. It aims to raise awareness of environmental issues such as climate change and pollution, encourage action at all levels, and celebrate progress in conservation.

In Philadelphia, both HopePHL and Vault + Vine exemplify this mission through their commitment to sustainability and community empowerment. Omari Baye, Director of Early Childhood Programs at HopePHL, connects these two spaces to foster environmental and social resilience.


Vault + Vine, located at 3507 Midvale Avenue in Philadelphia, embodies environmental stewardship and community care. The black woman-owned café and plant nursery, co-owned by Diana Baye (Omari’s wife), offers locally sourced breakfast and lunch options, a consignment space for local artisans, and a licensed plant nursery.

Omari volunteers at Vault + Vine, tending to plants and helping to maintain the space. His connection to Vault + Vine extends into his work at HopePHL as he often incorporates plants and natural elements from the café into the Children’s Services Department at HopePHL’s Families First Building. These touches create a calming and supportive environment for him and the Children’s Services team, who often work with children and families at-risk. 

A key feature of Vault + Vine is the East Falls Community Fridge, a food pantry with the slogan "take what you want and leave what you can." This shared resource, supported by volunteers and initiatives like Fresh Food Connect, provides access to fresh food to community members. Fresh Food Connect links local gardeners with hunger relief organizations to redirect surplus produce, supporting community fridges and food pantries in East Falls and Greater Philadelphia. This initiative promotes sustainability by reducing food waste and enhancing access to healthy food, in line with Earth Day's goals.

As Earth Day 2025 approaches, HopePHL and Vault + Vine remind us that building sustainable communities involves nurturing both the planet and its people. 

We hope to see you at our Earth Day event on April 22nd!

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Help Advocate For Homeless Education

6/6/2024

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Forty-eight charter schools and the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) stand to lose nearly $3 million in support for the thousands of students and their families who experience homelessness during the school year. HopePHL's school-based programs, such as Thrive, depend on these critical funds to provide the best support to students.
 
These funds were provided by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) via Pennsylvania’s ‘Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness’ (ECYEH) program. The ECYEH program is the only federal education program that removes barriers to enrollment, attendance, and reduces truancy caused by homelessness.
 
The schools used this money to expand their capacity to provide staffing, train school personnel, and provide direct services like short-term housing support, uniforms, transportation, motel stays, summer programming, school supplies, and more.
 
WHAT ADVOCATES ARE ASKING FOR: Advocates are asking Mayor Parker and the Philadelphia City Council Assembly for $3 million in General Funds to continue much of the expanded support for students experiencing homelessness. We are meeting with City Council and members of the Parker Administration to convince them of this needed support.  
 
ACTION ALERT: Contact the Mayor and City Council and ask them to “Fund homeless education by investing $3 million.”   
 
Contact Mayor Parker: Mayor’s correspondence form | Office of the Mayor | City of Philadelphia 
Contact City Council: Use their websites to send your message: Council Members - Philadelphia City Council (phlcouncil.com) 
 
Learn more about our school-based programs here
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Analysis of Federal Reserve Bank's Report on Early Learning

6/14/2023

 
Preschool student and teacher
​A family’s homelessness can be prolonged for longer periods of time by a lack of childcare.
 
HopePHL’s Building Early Links for Learning (BELL) project works to help parents and homeless housing provider agencies find high-quality childcare, navigate through applications, and much more. However, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the number of available early learning programs. Numerous efforts at the national, state, and local level are working to get the early learning system back to pre-COVID levels, but long-term systemic problems like low staff wages, inadequate number of subsidies, and a lack of infant/toddler childcare hinder the system’s recovery.
 
The Federal Reserve’s Early Care and Education Work Group has produced a series of reports on the status of childcare as it relates to its mission of sustainable employment. This paper is a summary of its most recent report, which can be found here.  
 
Who should read this paper: HopePHL is summarizing the report for the homeless housing system, other human service systems and policy makers because the availability of childcare affects all industries. In addition, there are numerous advisory councils and coalitions preparing early childhood education (ECE) policy work to offer to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Philadelphia’s future Mayor, and current and future City Council members. Information in this paper serves to add to the body of knowledge about ECE to a non-ECE audience.
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BELL April Newsletter Published

4/19/2023

 
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The latest news from the BELL Project is here. Click on the Read More button for updates on the Week of the Young Child, Everyday Learning Play Spaces and more.
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Everyday Learning Play Spaces: A Child Friendly Space!

4/6/2023

 
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The Early Learning Play Spaces (ELSP) team has recently been hard at work on our Child Friendly Space at the Darlene Morris Love and Care family housing program. Based on ideas and feedback we received from the staff and families there, we are happy to provide a space for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, older siblings, and caregivers to enjoy together. We transformed an unused room to accommodate an infant and reading corner, writing desk, kitchen and dress-up station and much more!  

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The BELL Project Celebrates the Week of the Young Child

4/6/2023

 
Man doing a demonstration for  children
On Wednesday, April 5th, The BELL Project joined the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in celebrating Work Together Wednesday as part of the Week of the Young Child. The day focused on cooperation and teamwork, which aligns perfectly with the BELL Project's mission. The Week of the Young Child is an annual event that highlights the needs of young children and their families, as well as the programs and services that meet those needs.

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‘Thank you’ Representatives Evans, Scanlon, Wild, and Boyle!

4/3/2023

 
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Recently, local Congressional members proposed increasing support for two key programs that support thousands of Pennsylvania's children and youth experiencing homelessness. A bipartisan "Dear Colleague" letter was circulated in the U.S. House of Representatives, calling for $800 million for the McKinney-Vento Act's Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program and $300 million for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) program in the FY2024 budget.

The EHCY and RHYA programs have been underfunded for several years, but the American Rescue Plan delivered increases to these programs, thanks to bipartisan support that seized on the opportunity to expand services. As a result, Pennsylvania received a one-time allocation of $32 million to serve over 30,000 children and youth experiencing homelessness, compared to the usual budget of less than $6 million. This increase helped 8,000 children and youth experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia.
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We are happy to report that Congresspersons Dwight Evans (Philadelphia), Mary Jo Scanlon (Delaware), Susan Wild (Lehigh), and Brendan Boyle (Philadelphia) have signed onto the letter. The next step is for the House Appropriations Committee to decide whether to support this effort. We are reaching out to PA-based Appropriations Committee members Guy Renschenthaler (14th District, SW Pennsylvania) and Matt Cartwright (8th District, NW Pennsylvania), and we ask advocates in those regions to contact their representatives.

Leading & Educating: Omari Baye

2/28/2023

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Watch the Presentation
Omari Baye sitting on a bench in front of greenery.
Omari Baye, Manager of HopePHL's Building Early Links for Learning Project, participated in a webinar hosted by SchoolHouse Connection with Tracy Duarte, Director of the PA Head Start State Collaboration Office. They co-presented to an audience of emergency housing providers, education administrators, and liaisons working to support children and youth experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.
“Using Data to Advocate for Infants & Toddlers Experiencing Homelessness in Pennsylvania” focused on strategies BELL and PA HSSCO uses to actively engage stakeholders in the early education, emergency housing, and early intervention systems in-order to mitigate barriers to Early Childhood Education enrollment for children and families. ​
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Leading & Educating: Sarah Vrabic

2/28/2023

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HopePHL’s own Sarah Vrabic, Manager of Everyday Learning Play Spaces, delivered an interactive workshop for the Tennessee Association of Infant Mental Health. The workshop was titled “Seeing the Unseen: How can we best support young children and their families experiencing homelessness?” 
​​Sarah tackled topics such as:
  • how experiencing homelessness may affect a young child and their family
  • research findings that show when parents feel supported, their children display better social-emotional functioning, and
  • actionable ways to support children and caregivers through a relationship-based and trauma responsive lens  

Read More
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Family Service Provider Network Releases Mayoral Policy Brief

2/7/2023

 
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The Family Service Provider Network, brought to you by HopePHL, has developed a list of recommendations for consideration by the candidates for Mayor of Philadelphia. For more information about the Family Service Provider Network, email ​[email protected]
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  • Home
  • About
    • I Need Services
    • History
    • Leadership
    • Join Our Team
    • News & Publications
    • Annual Report
  • Programs
    • Adult & Family Services >
      • Family Empowerment Service
      • Family Housing
      • Parenting Collaborative
      • Parents as Teachers Home Visiting
      • Rental Assistance
    • Community Based Services & Community Development >
      • Community Outreach
      • Maynes Family Digital Learning Lab
      • Lancaster Avenue
      • Neighborhood Services
      • Rental Assistance
      • Food Relief
      • Arts & Culture
    • Early Childhood Children's Services >
      • Baring House Crisis Nursery
      • Building Early Links for Learning
      • Children's Work Group
      • Everyday Learning Play Spaces
    • School Age Children's Services >
      • Community Schools
      • The Thrive Project
      • Truancy Intervention & Prevention
    • Youth & Young Adult Services >
      • Arise Housing
      • Community Connectors
      • Community Navigator
      • Youth Emergency Service
  • Policy & Advocacy
  • Events
    • BELL Summit
    • Lancaster Avenue Jazz Festival
  • Donate
    • Wishlist
  • Contact