PIHN children, teens and college kids are looking great and getting off to an awesome start for the new school year. Students received uniform gift cards and bookbags stuffed with school supplies for the upcoming school year at three PIHN Back to School gatherings held in our Northwest office last week.

SUPER Big thanks to:

• First Presbyterian Church in Springfield
• Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill
• Faith Lutheran Church
• & Jeane’s Hospital Employees of Temple Health

Finally, a special thanks to Cradles to Crayons Philadelphia for providing their efforts in making sure that the big kids and thousands of other Philly children, had all they needed too. Together, you have provided us with over 250 bookbags for our children this school year!

We seek members who share our values and reflect the diversity of our congregations and constituencies to help further PIHN’s mission. If this is you, please email LaVerne M. Jones at lavernemjones@gmail.com or call Rachel Falkove at (215) 247-4663 ext. 136

Thanks to City Councilperson, Jannie Blackwell, families who experience
homelessness will have more options toward resolving housing insecurity.

After meeting with members of the Family Service Provider Network (Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network, HELP USA, Darlene Morris, and PEC) the Councilperson pledged to find new resources for families.  She convinced City Council the following week to add the $800,000 for prevention services, each year for the next 5 years.

The funding will be used for:

• Flexible financial assistance
• Short-term rental assistance
• Back rent
• Security Deposits/1st/Last month’s rent
• Utility Assistance, moving costs, transportation, furniture
• Housing Stabilization/Case Management
• Mediation
• Access to mainstream services

The Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services, which will manage the new funds, had only been able to provide such assistance to 28 percent of those who sought to help.

The Interfaith Service Project is a College Program on Islam including a one-week road trip that engages 25 ShiÔÇÖa, Ismaili Muslims between the ages of 18-25, who come from across the country. The program aims to experimentally teach students more about their faith, heritage, culture, and identity, as well as how they fit among other faith communities. As a part of this experience, students learn more about living their faith through service to other faith communities.┬á Together, these students painted 3 rooms at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Lawncrest, cleaned the Social Hall and also cleaned the grounds around the church.

According to Helen Tobin, a member of Church Council, ÔÇ£These students were so remarkable. It was truly amazing to see all that got done in just 3 hours of work! ÔÇ£

 

When the students finished their projects, the students and church members went outside to take photos and celebrate their work.┬á They shared songs about love and peace in Arabic, Hebrew and English, and ended with ÔÇ£Let There Be Peace on EarthÔÇØ. Helen summed up the day saying ÔÇ£This is the way we should live. …WouldnÔÇÖt it be wonderful?ÔÇØ

- PIHN receives Homeless to Housed Donations
from Regional Offices of Federal Agencies -

A BIG THANKS to the employees at these Regional Federal Offices:

• Department of Navy, Philadelphia Operations Center
• Federal Executive Board (CFC)
• Housing and Urban Development – Region 3
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Security Exchange Commission
• Veteran’s Administration
• Federally Employed Women, Philadelphia

A PIHN Call to Action!

Please Ask your Congressional Representative to
Support the Homeless Children and Youth Act (HCYA)

Dear Friends of Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network:

As you may have heard, on April 1st, 2019, the Homeless Children and Youth Act (HR 2001, HCYA) was reintroduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Stivers (R-OH-15) and Congressman Loebsack (D-IA-2).

A GIANT Thank You
to Our Community of Support!

This past Saturday, PIHN hosted one of our most remarkable Empty Plate dinners ever thanks to our supportive community throughout the city! A truly extraordinary evening of reaching milestones and paving the way toward a future where every child has a place to call home.

GIANT shoutout to our sponsors, the 70(+) restaurants who donated the delicious food, Platemakers, Open Hearts on Tour for our first year of LIVE music, the Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia for honoring us as a “Zone of Peace”, our large support net of volunteers, and finally to our lead dinner sponsor Giant Food Stores for their amazingly generous 3-year grant award announcement of $81,000 to expand our services in Northeast Philadelphia and for helping our dinner run smoothly.

THANK YOU for all of your tremendous support, we could not have done it alone.

Photos of the evening coming soon…ÔÇìÔÇìÔÇì

Families Count!

Let’s Make Sure that ALL
Experiencing Homelessness are Counted

(PIHN Executive Director, Rachel Falkove & PIHN Family, Bruce Thomas)

Last Wednesday night, an army of volunteers fanned out across the greater Philadelphia area to count the number of people sleeping on the street combined with those sleeping in shelter. The Annual Point-in Time Count (PIT) is required by the Department of housing and Urban Development to measure how municipalities across the country are doing in the national goal to eliminate homelessness and determine funding for services needed for the year ahead.

Family advocates note that the PIT frequently overlooks families, who are a hidden part of the homeless population. If families cannot find room in a shelter or don not want to be divided up, they will hide their homelessness, staying in cars, hotels, substandard properties, sleeping on couches, and living doubled up in other crowded, tense, living situations. They will rarely stay on the street because if they do, they may lose their children to the child welfare system.

(FSPN coalition appeals to City Officials)

PIHN, along with a coalition of 20+ agencies of the Family Service Provider Network (FSPN), participated in a “Families Count – Uncovering Family Homelessness” Press Conference hosted by City Council members Domb and Gym, and joined by Council members Blackwell and Greenlee. This conference was held to reauest city departments to commit to collecting more accurate data to represent themany hidden families and children who interface with their departments, but are not in shelter or visible for the PIT Count.

PIHN alumni, Bruce Thomas, spoke on behalf of the many uncounted families and told of his family’s 10+ year-long journey living with families and friends, without services, supports or a housing plan. Only upon making the decision to come into shelter did things finally begin to come into place for them. After a year in our congregational shelter, Bruce’s family moved into PIHN’s Church Lane House that was so beautifully renovated last sumer thanks to many generous supporters. He, Jen, and the children recently received PHA housing and we are making plans to move in another family in to the house shortly. We would all like to thank Bruce for sharing his family’s story with City Council members and the press.

“It’s the people that you don’t see, who need help also.
They didn’t know about me and my family for 10 years.” – Bruce Thomas

(Left to right: Joe Willard of People’s Emergency Center, Councilman Allan Domb, & Daniel Ferrell of HelpUSA)

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