The city of Philadelphia has a proud nickname — do you know what it is?
Since taking on a project that aims to get a home for homeless veterans, the city’s nickname of The City of Brotherly Love reached a whole new level of meaningfulness!
As more than 1300 veterans live on the streets, city governmental agencies and advocacy groups have tried to create homes for veterans since early 2013.
US Secretary of Housing and Urban development, Julian Castro said, “You have actually done it! You have effectively ended veteran homelessness. The thing is that we can’t stop our work until every single veteran has a place to call home in the United States.”
However, the project is not over yet. They became the partner with the Philadelphia Housing Authority and HELP USA to remodel the Spring Garden School, which was constructed in 1927, to apartments.
City officials and representatives of HELP USA announced their reconstruction plan to change the unoccupied building to veteran’s sweet homes. It is HELP USA’s fifth project in Philadelphia.
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David Cleghorn from HELP USA interviewed, ”It would have been far too expensive and a shame to tear it down. We haven’t gotten any pushback or a single negative comment on this project. The building has been an eyesore for a while and a safety issue that needed to be addressed. People are excited about it.”
The apartment will include 37 units for low-income seniors and 12 units, especially for homeless veterans. The budget is met by grants and private donations.
curbed.point 7 | com/2012/6/19/10360432/gallery-inside-the-ruin-of-spring-garden-public-school">Curbed Philadelphia
Cleghorn continued, “All of these projects are immensely successful.point 168 | Once these vets are in our apartments, they have support services right there on site.point 240 |
What keeps them there is that they really form a community of shared military experience.point 75 | They look out for one another.point 100 | They’re happy and proud of where they live, and that makes us happy and proud.point 166 | Our housing projects in Philadelphia started in the late ’90s.point 221 |
Some are for seniors 55 and up and others are for veterans, many of them formerly homeless and recovering from substance abuse, others with mental health conditions or disabilities.point 153 | We try to fill needs when there’s a need.point 188 | We’ve built houses for people with HIV, victims of domestic violence and communities that live with mental health conditions.point 297 |
It’s a no-brainer for veterans.point 29 | They’ve made sacrifices for us and they deserve to have a place to live.point 90 | It’s the right thing to do.point 114 | ”point 117 | 1
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HELP USA collaborated with Drexel University and other partners in the community and succeeded in providing services for seniors and veterans.
The project includes healthcare, employment, counseling, and mentorship programs. This apartment should start having their first residents by the end of 2018. I can’t wait to see when it’s done! It’s the most amazing initiative I’ve heard about when it comes to helping out homeless vets.