Pew Announces $6.8M in Grants Supporting Philadelphia Region's Vulnerable Adults

Editor's note: This page was updated on May 4, 2020, to clarify that a grant was awarded to HIAS Pennsylvania.

PHILADELPHIA—The Pew Charitable Trusts announced today that it will provide $6.8 million over the next three years to 38 Philadelphia-area nonprofits serving some of the region’s most vulnerable adults, including those struggling with homelessness, mental health issues, and extended unemployment. The funding will help organizations address these residents’ critical needs, including those related to and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This support will focus on agencies addressing three core areas: helping adults with multiple and complex needs—such as those experiencing homelessness, survivors of domestic violence, and people with significant behavioral health or substance use problems—transition toward independence and stability; helping people with limited work skills obtain employment through education, training, and job placement; and using evidence-informed approaches to improve behavioral health outcomes.

“Even before COVID-19, the Philadelphia region was already home to a large number of working-age adults striving to overcome complex challenges, including those related to behavioral health, employment and financial instability, and the ability to meet basic needs such as food and shelter,” said Kristin Romens, project director of the Pew Fund for Health and Human Services in Philadelphia, which has supported hundreds of health and social services organizations in the region since 1991. “The pandemic and its impacts on emotional and physical health, as well as on jobs and the economy, are likely to increase the share of these individuals in the region.”

“For 29 years, Pew has been pleased to support local agencies dedicated to assisting the most vulnerable people in our community,” Romens added. “Now, more than ever, we are incredibly thankful to these organizations for their efforts and compassion.”

The Pew Fund for Health and Human Services assists local nonprofits that serve individuals and families in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties. In recognition of the challenges that many of these organizations face in adjusting their services as a result of the pandemic, the Pew Fund will allow its current grantees—94 nonprofits with a total of 109 open grants serving vulnerable adults; the elderly; and children, youth, and their families—flexibility in using their awards. They may, for example, shift their funding from project to operating support, modify their grant deliverables, extend grant and reporting deadlines, and revise their payment schedules. The goal is to enable grantees to make the crucial day-to-day decisions about how to most effectively use their Pew resources to carry out their missions and address critical community needs.

Following is a list, categorized by funding goal, of the 2020 grants that the Pew Fund for Health and Human Services has awarded to organizations serving vulnerable adults in the Philadelphia region. For more on Pew’s support for Philadelphia and the organization’s grantees during the COVID-19 pandemic, click here.

Goal 1: To help adults with multiple and complex needs move toward independence and stability.

AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania—$150,000
To provide legal services to Philadelphia-area residents living with or at risk of acquiring HIV.

Bethesda Project—$275,000
For continued operating support to provide housing and other services to chronically homeless individuals.

Broad Street Ministry—$227,000
For continued support of the Hospitality Collaborative to provide meals and assistance in obtaining services to homeless and other low-income people in Philadelphia.

Community College of Philadelphia Foundation—$225,000
For the Single Stop program to help low-income community college students access public benefits to strengthen their financial independence and stability.

Compass Working Capital Inc.—$250,000
For the Family Self-Sufficiency program to help households that receive federally subsidized housing build assets and financial capacity.

La Comunidad Hispana—$180,000
For continued operating support to provide health care, social services, education, and job placement assistance to low-income residents in Chester County.

Delaware County Women Against Rape—$100,000
For continued operating support to provide comprehensive services to victims of violent crimes in Delaware County.

Depaul USA—$105,000
To provide housing and other services to homeless individuals in Philadelphia.

Domestic Violence Center of Chester County—$145,000
For continued support of services for victims of domestic violence in Chester County.

Drexel University—$225,000
For continued support of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities to improve the financial stability and behavioral health of low-income Philadelphians.

Drueding Center—$150,000
To provide residential and community-based case management to young women transitioning to permanent housing in Philadelphia.

Face to Face—$120,000
To provide meals, health care, and legal and social services for vulnerable adults in northwest Philadelphia.

Family Services of Montgomery County, PA—$180,000
To support the Parenting Inside Out program and provide case management services to currently and previously incarcerated women.

HIAS Pennsylvania—$180,000
To support social services for low-income immigrants and refugees in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Homeless Advocacy Project—$120,000
For continued support of legal assistance for homeless individuals in Philadelphia.

Interim House Inc.—$160,000
For continued support of a life skills and work readiness program for Philadelphia women who struggle with mental health issues and substance use disorders.

Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA)—$182,000
For continued support to provide nutritious meals and counseling for people with chronic or serious illnesses.

Project HOME—$351,000
For continued support to provide comprehensive services to homeless individuals.

Temple University Beasley School of Law—$116,000
For continued support of legal services for low-income people with chronic or terminal illnesses.

Goal 2: To enable low-skilled, unemployed, and underemployed adults to obtain and retain sustainable, competitive employment.

AHEDD—$105,000
For continued support to facilitate employment for young adults with disabilities in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Career Wardrobe—$125,000
For continued operating support to provide workplace attire and life skills classes to people entering the workforce.

Center for Employment Opportunities—$250,000
To support employment services for Philadelphians returning to the community from incarceration.

Community Integrated Services—$180,000
To help individuals with disabilities in southeastern Pennsylvania participate in evidence-based job training and placement services to succeed in the workplace.

Delaware County Community College Educational Foundation—$100,000
For continued support of New Choices, which provides assistance to low-income people in Chester and Delaware counties.

Horizon House—$180,000
To expand employment services for adults with serious mental illness.

Local Initiatives Support Corp.—$150,000
For continued support of LISC Philadelphia’s Financial Opportunity Centers and career training programs to improve low-income individuals’ independence and stability.

Philabundance—$162,000
For continued support of the Community Kitchen to provide food-service training and employment opportunities for low-income Philadelphians.

Tech Impact—$154,000
To support technology training and job development services for unemployed and underemployed young adults in Philadelphia.

Women’s Opportunities Resource Center—$200,000
For continued operating support to offer small-business training and related services to low-income individuals.

Year Up Inc.—$200,000
To support technology and business training along with job development services for young adults in Philadelphia.

YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School—$250,000
For continued support of career training and job placement assistance for young adults without a high school diploma.

Goal 3: To use evidence-informed approaches to improve vulnerable adults’ behavioral health outcomes.

Action Wellness—$210,000
For continued support to provide behavioral health services to individuals with chronic illnesses.

Crime Victims’ Center of Chester County Inc.—$163,000
For continued support to provide assistance to survivors of sexual assault and abuse, as well as other crime victims.

Esperanza Health Center—$170,000
For continued support of integrated behavioral health consultation services for low-income Philadelphia residents.

Inglis Foundation—$170,000
To support a peer specialist program providing behavioral health services to people with complex physical disabilities.

Joseph J. Peters Institute—$220,000
To provide evidence-based treatment to individuals with significant behavioral health challenges.

Penn Foundation Inc.—$175,000
For continued support to provide comprehensive psychiatric rehabilitation services to adults with mental illness.

Women Against Abuse—$200,000
For continued support to provide behavioral health services to victims of domestic violence living in the organization’s Philadelphia shelters.

The Pew Charitable Trusts is committed to helping Philadelphia by informing discussion on important policy issues facing the city, partnering with local institutions to encourage a thriving arts and cultural community, supporting the health and welfare of the region’s most vulnerable populations, and pursuing civic initiatives to strengthen the area’s appeal to residents and visitors alike. Learn more at pewtrusts.org/Philadelphia.