Blue Ribbon Finalist: Inn of Amazing Mercy,  Project HOME

The mission of the Project HOME community 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. They strive to create a safe and respectful environment where we support each other in our struggles for self-esteem, recovery, and the confidence to move toward self-actualization. Project HOME provides supportive services at 22 locations across Philadelphia. Project HOME's supportive housing programs at their 18 residences offer permanent, affordable housing for individuals and families who had been homeless.

The Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia is ground-zero of the opioid crisis in the city and perhaps the nation and located in its center is Temple University Hospital (TUH) Episcopal Campus. Listed on the City’s historic register, some of TUH’s buildings fell out of use, including its School of Nursing. Project HOME was able to transform the 52,600 SF building into the Inn of Amazing Mercy, providing 50 permanent supportive housing units for those in recovery, four housing units and group living space for those needing immediate respite, and an engagement center which provides physical space to work with Project HOME’s Outreach Coordination Center (OCC) and Mobile Health Services and space for education and employment services.

Project HOME’s partnership with TUH began with the acquisition of the property and created an opportunity for ongoing collaboration to develop health-connected housing and healthcare support services. To convert the 120-year-old School of Nursing academic and dormitory building into supportive housing and related uses, the architectural firm of Cecil Baker + Partners was brought on board to stabilize and modernize the existing structure to meet current building standards for life safety and accessibility.

Project HOME’s unique program for smaller yet fully equipped units for individual residents challenged rigid building codes. To deliver both quality and quantity of housing units the development team had to seek variances by demonstrating that accessory communal living, dining, and kitchen space on each floor provides extension of the living space and lends opportunity to establish community within the building. Funding partnerships with the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA), Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA), Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC), and private investors not only provided the financing but held the developer team to account to meet agency (and Project HOME’s own) requirements for equitable employment opportunities during construction. The Inn of Amazing Mercy is just now welcoming its first residents! The opportunity to reclaim this beautiful, historic building and create safe, affordable, and supportive housing within its walls is a testament to the commitment and determination of Project HOME to meeting the needs of some of our most vulnerable residents.

PACDC congratulates Project HOME for being recognized as a Blue Ribbon finalist!