Check out the scene from the annual Lancaster Jazz & Arts Festival! It was a beautiful day to see some unbelievable jazz performers, shop and eat from local vendors, and honor members of the community! Stay tuned for more recaps of the day to come.
Presented by HopePHL and the 16th Police District Advisory Council, the 6th Annual Men’s Wellness Day took place over Father's Day weekend. The event celebrated fathers, promoted health, and honored Juneteenth all while fostering community and creating a perfect opportunity to spend the day outside in perfect summer weather. Valuable resources were available for attendees from our partners. The DJ played danceable hits while everyone enjoyed popcorn, cotton candy, and treats from the ice cream truck to cool down. Hot dogs and snacks were generously provided by the Police District. It was a great event that showcased the importance of prioritizing men’s wellness in the community.
Check out this month's edition of the HopePHL Perspective, our Policy newsletter to learn how you can help support getting more funds to support students facing homelessness, why collecting data on infants-toddlers experiencing homelessness is important, and upcoming events!
The term ‘equity’ has been talked about for many years, but what does it mean for Pennsylvania’s thousands of young children experiencing homelessness?
A public health institute asserts that “equity is a solution for addressing imbalanced social systems. Justice can take equity one step further by fixing the systems in a way that leads to long-term, sustainable, equitable access for generations to come.” The Merrian-Webster website defines equity as ‘refers to fairness or justice in the way people are treated.’ Many of us working in either the homeless housing and early childhood education systems have been asking "are children facing homelessness given equal access to high-quality early learning opportunities?" The answer lies in the data. Many organizations are collecting data on this population but do not report it to a single entity for analysis. In the past year we have been working with our allies to encourage state and local officials to foster inter-system cooperation to improve our understanding of the prevalence and needs of infants and toddlers experiencing homelessness. If we do not know the participation rates of these children in programs like Head Start, home visiting, childcare, and others, we will not be able to answer the question. HopePHL was recently awarded a $150,000 Housing for Everyone grant from the TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®. HopePHL is one of 37 non-profit organizations selected from more than 450 applicants to receive a Housing for Everyone grant as part of the TD Charitable Foundation's annual grant program that has helped support organizations providing affordable housing and affordable housing services since 2005.
We are so excited to be nominated for two categories in Metro Philly's Best 2024! Our Lancaster Avenue Jazz & Arts Festival has been nominated for Best Annual Event/Festival and HopePHL has been nominated in the Best Not For Profit category.
You can vote once a day from May 10th-August 9th. Vote daily in each category and share! Thank you for being part of our community and believing in our mission! The Neighborhood Advisory Committee's Earth Day: Resource Fair at Saunders Park Greene set the scene for a wonderful day to celebrate the Earth and support our neighbors! Thank you to our Community Legal Service partners for providing free legal assistance regarding Utilities Shut-off Prevention and Tangled Title Property Deed Transfers. Health and Wellness resources were also provided by both Penn Medicine and Sayre Health Care Center! Additionally, we enjoyed amazing giveaways, such as, fruit trees, yard trees and bushes from UC Green, and Smoothies made with a Self-powered (pedal bike) blender from Greener Partners. Participants also engaged in guided meditation and Martial Arts activities, while enjoying a live musical performance from Kenny Sykes and books from the Reading Captains!
The City of Philadelphia Division of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) invited community partners to provide input on the draft 2022-2023 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report which will be released for public testimony in May. HopePHL’s response was presented by Trish Downey, Senior Director of External Affairs. Eleven other groups provided testimony, including Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, Community Legal Services, and Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia. HopePHL operates several programs in partnership with DHCD, such as:
HopePHL’s testimony can be downloaded using the button in this article. It was submitted to the public record around 2:45pm on March 12, 2024. We are grateful for DHCD’s continued support and for the opportunity to provide recommendations. HopePHL looks forward to partnering with the city to preserve housing stability, prevent homelessness, and offer temporary housing and services to youth and families experiencing homelessness. The NAC at HopePHL presented the "Getting Your House in Order" brunch at the Enterprise Center for the public and members of the United Block Captains Association. The event included presenters from various organizations and was kicked off with Alice Wright, the President and Founder of the Block Captains Association. Following Alice, speakers from Clarifi, New York Life, and Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania gave general overviews of their work and how they could potentially help members of the community. Senator Hughes also made an appearance at the Enterprise Center and briefly talked about the importance of school funding after mingling and taking some pictures with those in attendance.
The presentation portion of the event was wrapped up with the main speaker, Dot Goldberger of Community Legal Services, Inc., discussing tangled titles. The remainder of the event was dedicated to the attendees checking out the different organization's tables after hearing what each organization's presentations. The representatives were then able to discuss on a more specific and personal level the help they could provide and the next steps to be taken. These free events are a great opportunity for community members to get information and access to resources that they may otherwise not know about or are difficult to obtain. |
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